House of Tan Yeok Nee on the market, priced from $93 million
The former mansion of a wealthy businessman located at 101 Penang Road -- more widely known as the House of Tan Yeok Nee -- has been put up for sale by expression of interest (EOI). The property is jointly marketed by Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) and Propnex Realty on behalf of its owners, a joint venture between Perennial Real Estate and a Chinese investor.
The indicative price on the property is at least $93 million, or about $1,590 psf based on strata area of 58,480 sq ft, and $3,190 psf based on current lettable area. The house sits on a freehold, 26,321 sq ft site.
The House of Tan Yeok Nee, formerly the Asian campus of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business is now a TCM Centre (Credit: C&W/PropNex)
The current owner is Perennial Real Estate and its Chinese joint venture partner which reportedly paid $73 million for the property in 2013. They then tied up with Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to set up Ming Yi Guan, which opened last year as Beijing Hospital TCM’s first facility outside China.
Prior to being a TCM centre, the House of Tan Yeok Nee was home to the Asian campus of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business since 2000, following an extensive, $12 million-restoration by a Wing Tai-led consortium. The latter had purchased the property as part of the former Cockpit Hotel site in 1996 for $380 million.
The site has since been redeveloped into the 265-unit VisionCrest condominium and the 11-storey office block, VisionCrest Commercial, which were completed in 2007. However, the House of Tan Yeok Nee, which was built by a wealthy Teochew businessman in the 19th century, was conserved as it was gazetted a national monument in 1974.
In 2007, German fund manager, Union Investment Real Estate purchased the House of Tan Yeok Nee from the Wing Tai-led consortium. Five years later, the German fund divested the property to a special-purpose vehicle of ERC Holdings, the holding company of Entrepreneur’s Resource Centre founded by Singaporean entrepreneur Andy Ong. He subsequently sold the property to the Perennial joint venture in 2013.
The new buyer will be able to take advantage of the “unique architectural features” and central location to explore other uses for the property, such as office, recreation club, community centre or hotel, says Shaun Poh, C&W director of capital markets.
According to PropNex Realty’s Loyalle Chin, a specialist in conservation shophouses and heritage assets, there’s “pent-up demand for freehold conservation assets by family funds and ultra-high net worth individuals.” The EOI will close on July 12.
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