By Fiona Ho
Sir James Dyson, founder of privately-held British consumer electronics maker Dyson and his wife have become owners of the largest, highest and possibly the most expensive condo ever in Singapore.
The word on the street is that Dyson and his wife, Deirdre, paid a whopping $73.8 million for a triplex super penthouse at the ultra-luxe Wallich Residence.
In this article, we’ve summed up 3 awesome things you need to know about the super penthouse that commanded the jaw-dropping premium!
Check out our in-depth project review for Wallich Residence at Tanjong Pagar Centre here!
1) It’s smacked at the top of the tallest building in Singapore
Image source: Sotheby’s
Singapore-based developer, GuocoLand built the tallest tower in the country with Tanjong Pagar Centre, which stands 290m high. The project is designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the architectural firm behind world-famous skyscrapers such as the Burj Khalifa in Dubai to Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago, in the United States.
The integrated development includes the 38-storey Guoco Tower and Wallich Residence, which occupies up the 39th to 64th floors. At the peak of the tower is the said super penthouse that is now the most expensive ever in Singapore.
Find out more about Tanjong Pagar, a colourful and tidy corner of Singapore’s CBD!
2) It was one of the 11 super penthouses that was for sale around the world
Image source: Knight Frank
In an earlier report, List Sotheby’s International Realty (List SIR) revealed that the super penthouse at Wallich Residence was one of the six super penthouses that were on the market in Singapore, and one of the 11 around the world!
List SIR confers the term super penthouses “only to penthouses that are 10,000 sq ft (929 sq m) and above”. Based on their from 2016 to April 2019, Dyson’s super penthouse at Wallich Residence was the largest of the super penthouses in Singapore. Spanning 21,108 sq ft across three floors, the five-bedroom property comes with a pool, jacuzzi, cabana, entertainment areas as well as a dedicated lift and lift lobby.
To give you an idea of its magnitude, it’s about 30x the size of an average two-bedroom condo!
3) There were only 7 super penthouse transactions in Singapore in over 10 years
Image source: Knight Frank
Due to their ultra-high premiums, only seven super penthouse transactions took place in Singapore between 2006 and 2019, of which three happened over the last four years.
Other mega condo transactions that took place in recent years include a super penthouse at Sculptura Ardmore, which transacted for over $60 million in September 2017. The buyer of the 10,300 sq ft super penthouse unit is rumoured to be Facebook’s co-founder and one of Singapore’s richest men, Eduardo Saverin. He married Singapore-based Indonesian Chinese Elaine Andriejanssen in 2015.
Another notable transaction was the sale of a super penthouse in Le Nouvel, which was sold for $51 million in 2015.
Three penthouses at Goodwood Residence were also bought in 2014, 2013 and 2010, and one at Marina Bay Residences in 2010.
Why Singapore continues to attract the rich and the famous
Aside from Dyson, other notable figures who’d purchased a home in Singapore in recent times include a popular TVB star from Hong Kong and the daughter of a famed Malaysian tycoon.
The city-state’s reputation as a safe haven for investors has without a doubt, continued to attract foreign investors who are interest in wealth preservation and who do not want to be exposed to risks such as political unrest or the changing of governments.
Plus, from a pricing perspective, Singapore properties continue to be seen as being relatively affordable compared to cities such as Hong Kong, often touted as the world’s “most expensive city”.
Further, wealthy investors seeking good buys would likely capitalise on the recent price declines in Singapore properties as an opportunity to enter the market.
Who do you think could be buying a home here next? Let us know in the comments section below!
Home buyers looking for Singapore Properties may like to visit our Listings, Project Reviews and Guides.
Fiona Ho, Digital Content Manager at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories, email fiona@propertyguru.com.sg
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