Collection of five penthouses at Marina Bay Residences for $138 mil
By Valerie Kor and Cecilia Chow
/ EdgeProp Singapore |
SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - A portfolio of five penthouses spanning the 50th to 55th floors of Marina Bay Residences has been put on the market at a price tag of $138 million. The penthouses are to be sold as a collection, says Tristar Properties, the exclusive marketing agency for the properties.
When combined, the five penthouses have a total strata area of 28,258 sq ft across five floors. This would be larger than the 21,108 sq ft triplex penthouse that British tycoon James Dyson had briefly owned, which was situated on the 62nd to 64th floors of Wallich Residence, perched on top of Guoco Tower at Tanjong Pagar. The super penthouse at Wallich Residence had changed hands again last October for $62 million ($2,937 psf).
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If the asking price of $138 million for the Marina Bay penthouse collection is achieved, this translates to $4,884 psf. In psf terms, this will be the highest after the sale of a 3,509 sq ft junior penthouse on the 61st floor of Wallich Residence that fetched $17.5 million ($4,987 psf) in January 2020. (See table.)
Super-sized, ultra-luxury homes desired
The triplex penthouse has a double-volume ceiling height of more than 7m at the living and dining area (Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
Edwin Yip, associate director of Tristar Properties, says there have been enquiries in recent months from ultra-high net worth (UHNW) overseas buyers in search of super-sized penthouses in Singapore.
“In our dealings with overseas UHNW clients looking for ultra-luxury homes in Singapore, some have commented that even the biggest penthouses in Singapore do not have enough bedrooms nor space to accommodate their family’s needs,” he says.
Using Wallich Residence’s super penthouse as a reference since it is considered the largest penthouse in Singapore, the 21,108 sq ft space comes with five bedrooms, plus a swimming pool and roof terrace.
What most UHNW buyers covet though are the Good Class Bungalows (GCBs), which are considered landed housing and therefore restricted to Singapore citizens only, says Tristar’s Yip. “We saw the opportunity to work with the owners of the penthouses at Marina Bay Residences to conceptualise a new product segment that is truly a ‘one-of-a-kind trophy asset’ that is even larger than what is currently available,” he says. The result? “A 24-bedroom mansion in the sky,” he quips. And it is even bigger than the built-up area of most GCBs, he adds.
Amalgamation, customisation of space
In conceptualising the space, Tristar Properties sought advice from Meinhardt Group, the original civil, structural, mechanical and electrical consultant for all five high-rise towers at Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC).
MBFC is made up of the three Grade-A office towers (Towers 1, 2 and 3) and two residential towers, the 55-storey Marina Bay Residences, and the 66-storey Marina Bay Suites. MBFC includes the 179,000 sq ft Marina Bay Link Mall in the basement, which provides direct access to the Raffles Place and Marina Bay MRT Interchange Stations. The architect of MBFC was New York-based Kohn Pederson Fox or KPF.
The spacious master bedroom in the triplex penthouse (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
A $4 billion integrated development, MBFC was developed by a consortium made up of CK Asset Holdings (former Cheung Kong Holdings), Hongkong Land and Keppel Land.
Meinhardt Group came up with various configurations that were structurally feasible for the amalgamation of the penthouses. These configurations combine all five penthouses or even just two or three of them. That way, prospective buyers have flexibility in terms of customising their living spaces, explains Yip. They could therefore have the flexibility of amalgamating some of the units for their own use, and keeping the others for lease. For instance, two of the penthouses are currently tenanted.
Tristar also collaborated with interior designers LivSpace to create virtual interiors of the 24-bedroom, five-storey sky villa. “This helps them visualise the space,” says Yip.
The penthouses
The 25m pool on the 54th floor of the triplex penthouse (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
The largest of the five penthouses in the skyscaper is the 11,012 sq ft triplex penthouse, with living and dining area of double-volume ceiling and full-height glass windows offering 270-degree views of Marina Bay and the CBD on the first level.
There are five bedrooms on the first level of the triplex penthouse, while the second level contains an entertainment room, a pantry, sauna, shower, and a 25m swimming pool and viewing deck. A staircase leads to the roof top, which can be converted into an observatory given its vantage point, says Yip.
The triplex penthouse can be linked to the adjacent four-bedroom duplex penthouse which spans the 52nd and 53rd floors as they are separated by a non-structural wall that can be removed, explains Yip.
The dining area in the triplex penthouse (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
Three other simplex penthouses on the 50th, 51st and 52nd floors are on the same stack as the triplex penthouse and therefore enjoy the same 270-degree view of Marina Bay. They measure 4,478 sq ft, 4,489 sq ft and 4,672 sq ft respectively, and feature five bedrooms each. All the penthouses within Marina Bay Residences are served by two private lifts.
While the amalgamation of five penthouses within Marina Bay Residences is the most ambitious thus far, this is not the first time that owners have done so within the tower, says Yip. An example can be found at two neighbouring four-bedroom units located directly above each other on the 38th and 39th floors, which are connected via an internal staircase.
‘Unrivalled view’
The penthouses at Marina Bay Residences offer a 270-degree panoramic view overlooking the iconic Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay and the CBD.
The view of Marina Bay from the viewing deck at level 54 (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
Marina Bay Residences had created a stir when it was first launched in December 2006. All 428 units in the development were snapped up within three days. The penthouses were so hotly contested that they were sold in a closed-door, private auction. The average price achieved over the three days was $1,850 psf.
Four of the five penthouses including the triplex penthouse were purchased in December 2006 for a total of $65.75 million by a family office. The fifth penthouse, located on the 50th floor, was purchased for $14.18 million in Dec 2006 and sold a year later for $16.16 million. The current owner, a private investor, had purchased it in 2013 for $13.88 million. The owners of the five penthouses have therefore, decided to offer their penthouses for sale collectively.
The 99-year leasehold Marina Bay Residences was the first of the two residential towers to be launched and was completed in 2010. The other tower was the 221-unit, 99-year leasehold Marina Bay Suites. Positioned as a luxury development with exclusively three- and four-bedroom units as well as penthouses, it was launched in 2009 and completed in 2013.
The highest psf price achieved at Marina Bay Residences to date was in 2011 when a 2,368 sq ft, four-bedroom unit on the 46th floor changed hands in the sub-sale market for $10.34 million ($4,368 psf), based on caveats lodged with URA Realis.
However, if the portfolio of penthouses were to be sold at its asking price, it would set a new price benchmark for Marina Bay Residences, and also the entire bay area. “There is no comparable Singapore penthouse of this magnitude and with this unrivalled view,” says Tristar’s Yip.
Check out the latest listings near Marina Bay Residences, Wallich Residence, Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC), Marina Bay Suites, Marina Bay MRT Interchange Stations
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