A penthouse at the 173-unit St Regis Residences was sold by a Japanese property billionaire for $12.2 million or $2,028 psf last month which translates to a staggering loss of $15.8 million, the largest loss incurred from an apartment sale in Singapore, according to media reports.
The 6,017 sq ft unit in Tanglin Road was the talk of the town back in 2007 when Katsumi Tada paid a record-breaking $28 million or $4,653 psf for it. The hefty selling price had offered the previous owner a profit of $12.77 million.
The two-storey unit comes with a swimming pool on the upper floor and overlooks the posh Nassim Road enclave.
Based on data from the Singapore Land Authority, the penthouse was bought by Yun Nam Hair Care owner Andy Chua, who made headlines in 2014 when he forked out US$2.2 million to have a private lunch with US investment mogul Warren Buffett.
The St Regis deal was secured in Tokyo and took merely two weeks to complete instead of the typical eight to 12 weeks, probably because the seller paid in cash or one of the parties was in a hurry, experts noted. Tada is also understood to have left the unit vacant after he acquired it.
Singapore Christie’s Homes Managing Director Samuel Eyo explained that Chua got himself a good deal, as luxury homes in the area are selling for $2,500 psf to $3,000 psf.
Tada may have accepted the offer as he was paying in cash, added Eyo. According to Forbes, he is listed as Japan’s 17th richest man with a net worth of US$1.7 billion. He is the president of Daisho Group which purchased The Westin Singapore hotel from BlackRock for $468 million in December 2013.
Image: Artist’s impression of St Regis Residences.
