Olive Road GCB sold at record $50.2m to grandson of tycoon Wee Thiam Siew

The grandson of property tycoon and hotelier Wee Thiam Siew has bought a GCB at Olive Road for $50.2 million earlier in April. This transaction broke the record for the Olive Road GCB area previously set by the $36 million ($1,537 psf for the 23,424 sq ft site) purchase by Secretlab CEO Ian Ang last June.

In fact, according to Business Times, the GCB bought by Wee Hian Nam is just opposite Ang’s GCB. With a freehold land area of 27,909 sq ft, this translates to around $1,800 psf. The report quoted Newsman Realty managing director KH Tan that the plot is on an “elevated, upward-sloping land above the road level”. The two-storey house is also said to be ripe for redevelopment.

According to our Researcher data, there were only 11 transactions in the Olive Road GCB area for the past five years, with a price appreciation of 0.56 per cent.

Nevertheless, GCBs are highly sought after by ultra HNWIs, given their scarcity. The BT article also shared, based on research from List Sotheby’s International Realty’s analysis of Realis data, that 19 GCBs amounting to $511 million have been sold so far this year (as of April 26).

There are also plans to redevelop the former Caldecott Broadcast Centre at the nearby Andrew Road into 15 99-year leasehold GCBs. Perennial had bought the 752,015 sq ft site for $280.9 million in December 2020. This would also be the first major 99-year GCB site to be launched.

Purchase comes after selling freehold plots in the largest land sale since 2018 cooling measures

Notably, Wee’s purchase comes after his family sold two freehold land parcels at Thiam Siew Avenue for $815 million in November last year.

A joint venture between Hoi Hup Realty and Sunway Developments had bought the land plots. According to Wong Swee Chun, Chairman and Managing Director of Hoi Hup Realty, the plan was to develop two luxury high-rise condos comprising more than 800 units.

Measuring 263,794 sq ft, the sale also marked the largest land sale since the 2018 cooling measures.

ALSO READ: O.K. Lim's Bukit Timah GCB to be sold for $33.39m

This article was first published in 99.co.