Those on the hunt for prime freehold Good-Class Bungalows (GCB) now have another possible property to consider - a 29,483 square foot (sq ft) site with an indicative price of S$48 million on Joan Road in District 11.

Located within the Caldecott Hill GCB Area, 14 Joan Road sits on a regular-shaped land parcel with a 53-metre frontage and depth of 55 metres, giving it “strong potential” to be subdivided into two lots for two GCBs, said marketing agent Knight Frank.

Should the plot be subdivided, the new owner can apply to the authorities for a second access on Olive Road, which it backs into, said Mary Sai, Knight Frank’s executive director of capital markets. She added that the property’s squarish shape and good terrain makes it easy to build on.

The site’s indicative guide price works out to approximately S$1,628 per square foot (psf), which compares favourably to a recent, record-breaking transaction along Olive Road; that property sold for S$50.2 million or about S$1,800 psf on a land area of 27,909 sq ft. The April deal made that sale the largest in absolute terms in the area.

There was another Olive Road GCB that transacted in June last year for S$36 million, or approximately $1,537 psf on a land area of 23,424 sq ft.

Available for sale by private treaty, 14 Joan Road is currently registered to the three sons of the original owner, a man who has lived in the house for over 40 years.

Sai noted: “Well-located GCBs like these remain highly sought-after, as they are tightly held for long-term wealth preservation and capital appreciation.”

The GCB is near the former Caldecott Broadcast Centre site, which has been tentatively earmarked for redevelopment into 15 full-fledged leasehold GCBs.

Nicholas Keong, Knight Frank’s head of private office, said: “Given the limited availability of prime landed homes, coupled with strong demand from foreign ultra-high-net-worth families that are willing to pay rental premiums for such properties, we expect this listing to draw strong interest.”

Bungalows in the 39 gazetted GCB Areas are the most prestigious form of landed housing in Singapore, with strict planning conditions to preserve their exclusivity and low-rise character.

Among other things, a minimum plot size of 1,400 square metres (about 15,070 sq ft) is stipulated as the planning norm for newly-created bungalows in GCB Areas.

One generally has to be a Singapore citizen to be allowed to buy a landed property in a GCB Area.

Credit: Business Times