Forrest Li’s spouse buys a bungalow in Gallop Road adjacent to the one he redeveloped
Li paid S$26,000,000 or S$1,722/sqft in December 2018, for the bungalow adjacent on a 15,100 square foot site. This bungalow was redeveloped to a two-storey detached home with a pool, a basement, and an attic.
Ma purchases the property of Gordon Ku’s children, the late kidney specialist who founded Kidney Dialysis Foundation. Dr Ku died on February 20, 2023.
Both bungalows are in the Gallop Road/Woollerton-Park GCB Area. Sea is a New York listed company founded, chaired and led by Li, a man in his 40s.
Li founded Garena (an online gaming business) in 2009. Shopee, a digital financial service unit SeaMoney and the ecommerce platform Shopee were later added. Sea was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Sea announced that 2023 would be its first ever profitable year. Earnings of US$162.7million will reverse a loss in 2022 of US$1.7billion. The analysts had expected US$301.7million.
Revenues for the quarter rose by 4.9 per cent, to US$13.1billion from US$12.4billion in the year before. This exceeded analysts’ predictions of US$12.9billion.
Shopee’s profits from the first and second quarters of 2023 boosted earnings. E-commerce revenues for 2023 grew by 23.5%, to US$9billion from US$7.3billion in 2022. The business unit recorded a US$550.5million loss for the entire year.
Li, originally from Tianjin holds a bachelor of engineering degree from Shanghai Jiaotong University. He moved to Singapore in 2012 after earning an MBA from Stanford University. He was awarded Businessman of The Year 2019/2020 by The Business Times at the 35th Singapore Business Awards held in November 2020.
In his speech of acceptance, the self made billionaire said that Singapore took him in when he was a nobody. I came to Singapore with little savings and a student loan debt of a hundred thousands dollars. My wife and i could only rent a bedroom in a HDB flat with three rooms in Braddell.”
Singapore’s GCB Areas have the most exclusive form of landed property. They are subject to strict planning rules that preserve the bungalows’ exclusivity and low rise character. Planning norms for newly constructed bungalows in GCB Areas include a minimum lot size of 1,400 sq m (15,070 sq ft).
There are only 2,700 of these properties on the entire island.
Singapore citizens are generally required to own a landed home in a GCB Area.
An old house in Cornwall Gardens is being sold for slightly more than S$36,000,000. The price comes out to S$1,875 psf, based on a land area of 19207 sq ft. According to BT, 10 to 15 percent of the area will need to be set aside as road reserve. A Singaporean in their 30s is the buyer. She is in early childcare, education and is a businesswoman. The agreement was signed around mid-2023, with an option to buy being exercised by this month.
Bloomberg reported recently that the youngest son of UOB Chief Executive Wee Eecheong has purchased a bungalow on Ford Avenue. The bungalow is valued at S$39.5million. The price is S$2,020/sq ft on a land area of 19554 sq ft.
Other deals include a bungalow located in Gallop Road, which sold for S$26.5 Million or S$2,059 PSF on an area of approximately 12,870 square feet. A property on Garlick Avenue was also S$19.5 Million or S$1,885 PSF on 10,345 Sq Ft.
List Sotheby’s International Realty (List SIR), based on its analysis of URA Realis caveats information, has transacted seven deals worth nearly S$200M in GCB Areas this year. In total, last year there were 18 deals worth S$432.5million.
There are deals where the buyer has not made any caveats.
Estimates suggest that this figure will be at least S$700m by 2023. For example, four bungalows located in Nassim Road purchased by members of Fangiono’s family who are behind Singapore listed palm oil producer First Resources for nearly S$295 Million.
Ma Liqian purchases the property from the children who founded Kidney Dialysis Foundation, the foundation that was founded by the late kidney specialist Gordon Ku.
Forrest Li, SEA Ltd’s boss, has expanded his family’s market presence in the Good Class Bungalows Market (GCB), near the Singapore Botanic gardens.
Ma Liqian Li’s wife is purchasing a S$42.5m old bungalow adjacent to the one Li is almost finished renovating. Both properties sit on land that is freehold. Ma pays S$2,544 for each square foot of land. The total area is 16,703 sq ft. The site is located on a large lot.
The couple are Singaporeans.
