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Caveat of $27 mil lodged for Hin Leong boss' Second Avenue bungalow

/ EdgeProp Singapore |

April 23, 2020 5:43 PM SGT

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SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - A Good Class Bungalow (GCB) sitting on a 19,989 sq ft, freehold site on Second Avenue, just off Bukit Timah Road, changed hands for $27 million ($1,351 psf), according to a caveat lodged with URA Realis on April 14 and downloaded on April 22. A title search shows that the property is held by Lim Oon Kuin (more commonly known as “OK Lim”) – the founder of Singapore’s biggest, privately held oil trader, Hin Leong Trading – and his wife, Tan Sook Eng.

The Good Class Bungalow at Second Avenue belonging to OK Lim and his wife had a caveat lodged for $27 million (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

Source: URA Realis, downloaded on April 23, 2020

According to property agents who specialise in the GCB market, the $27 million or $1,351 psf reflected in the caveat was “a fair price”. After all, the last transaction at Second Avenue was for the GCB next door: sitting on a 20,000 sq ft, freehold site, the property fetched $27.5 million ($1,375 psf) in August 2018.

With Lim’s oil empire now submerged in debt, the sale is not surprising. Understandably, there is interest over what other assets Lim owns.

The GCB at Second Avenue isn’t the only one that Lim owns. One street away is a GCB located on a corner plot at Third Avenue. The property sits on a smaller freehold site of 14,575 sq ft and is jointly owned by Lim and his son Chee Meng, according to a property title search.

The GCB at Third Avenue which Lim purchased 25 years ago for $8.95 million ($614 psf). The property is owned jointly with his son, Chee Meng (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)

Lim had purchased the GCB at Third Avenue for $8.95 million ($614 psf), based on a caveat lodged in April 1995. Prices have almost doubled over the span of the last 25 years. Just across the road, a GCB sitting on a 16,276 sq ft, freehold site changed hands for $18.8 million ($1,155 psf), according to a caveat lodged in May 2019. The GCB at Third Avenue is believed to be Lim’s current residence.

Another GCB at Queen Astrid Park, purchased for $46 million ($1,548 psf) in 2017, is held solely by Tan Sook Eng, Lim’s wife.

At Tanglin Hill, Lim also owns a GCB at Tanglin Villas jointly with daughter Huey Ching, who is also a director of Hin Leong Trading. The freehold property was purchased in November 1999, but no caveat was lodged then.

The latest transaction at Tanglin Hill was for a GCB built in the 1980s, which sits on a land area of 16,448 sq ft. It was sold for $31.5 million ($1,915 psf) last October.

It will be interesting to see what Lim will divest next to stave off creditors.

Check out the GCB listings near Second Avenue, Third Avenue, Queen Astrid Park, Tanglin Villas, MRT Stations and Schools

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