Property firm jointly owned by ‘Palm Oil King’ Kuok Khoon Hong abandons Singapore bungalow plans, sells site for over $268M

The plot, which spans 752,014 square feet (69,864 square meters), was purchased in 2020 by Perennial and Kuok for S$280.9 million with plans to develop the biggest cluster of leasehold Good Class Bungalows in Caldecott Hill, a neighborhood largely made up of freehold GCBs.

Filings show that Perennial owns 40.2% of the land, with Kuok owning 50% and the remainder held by Perpetual Capital VCC, an entity backed by a Southeast Asian sovereign wealth fund. Kuok and his Singapore-listed food conglomerate, Wilmar International, together own nearly half of Perennial’s shares.

"We had originally planned to redevelop the site to build large Good Class Bungalows (GCBs)," a Perennial spokesman said on Wednesday, as quoted by The Business Times.

"With our pivot towards a healthcare-centric (complemented by healthcare real estate) strategy, we are availing the site for sale so that resources can be recalibrated to focus on our core business."

GCBs are the most coveted type of landed housing in Singapore. Restricted to designated zones, these homes must sit on plots of at least 1,400 square meters and be no taller than two stories, according to guidelines from the Urban Redevelopment Authority. There are around 2,700 GCBs located in 39 zoned areas across the city-state.

The Caldecott Hill site that previously housed broadcaster Mediacorp. Photo from W Residences Singapore - Marina View's website

The Caldecott Hill plot previously housed local broadcaster Mediacorp, whose facilities have since been demolished. Unlike most mansions that are freehold in Singapore and therefore more desired by the wealthy, this site is leasehold and due to be returned to the state in 2093.

It was put on sale with a guide price of more than S$350 million, with real estate consultancies Savills and Delasa appointed as joint marketing agents for the expression of interest exercise, which will close on Jan. 15, 2026.

The site is currently zoned for "civic and community institution" use and a land betterment charge of S$250 million is required to convert it to residential use and refresh the lease to 99 years. That pushes the effective cost to roughly S$600 million, or about S$798 per square foot (US$6,606 per square meter) on average.

Perennial had earlier proposed building a senior and assisted-living complex with a park on the site, but the URA rejected the plan in 2024. The previous owner’s 2015 bid to put up a 550-unit condominium was also turned down, according to Bloomberg.

Authorities have suggested that they will only support the development of two-story bungalows on the land. The site can accommodate more than 60 such bungalows, each with a minimum plot size of 800 square meters, according to an outline approval previously issued to Mediacorp.

Eugene Lim, key executive officer at property agency ERA Singapore, said the site’s 99-year leasehold tenure is unlikely to deter interest, given its location in one of the city’s most coveted landed enclaves.

"With a leasehold tenure, it is likely to be priced more attractively than comparable freehold homes in the same area," he told The Straits Times.

Often referred to as the "Palm Oil King," Kuok cofounded Wilmar in 1991 and built it into one of the world’s biggest palm oil producers. He and his family ranked 14th on Forbes’ list of Singapore’s 50 richest individuals and families in September with a net worth of US$3.9 billion. He is also a nephew of Malaysia’s richest billionaire Robert Kuok.