Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, the Regent of Johor state, owns a 21.1 hectare parcel along Holland Road, valued at billions of dollars, near Singapore’s Botanic Gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and colonial-era landmark.
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Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, crown prince of Johor. Photo by AFP |
The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore announced in a news release this week that Ismail “plans to develop his land,” and an agreement has been reached to exchange an adjacent parcel with him.
Under the deal, Ismail will transfer 13 hectares of his land nearest to the Botanic Gardens to the Singapore government, which will provide him with 8.5 hectares of nearby state land “of comparable value,” according to the authority.
The arrangement would help ensure that the properties built on Ismail’s land are further away from the Botanic Gardens, it added.
The estate is located in Tyersall Park, the inspiration for the 2018 film ‘Crazy Rich Asians.’ Discussions about turning the land into a multibillion-dollar luxury residential project have been ongoing for years.
The area, close to numerous embassies and the prominent Orchard Road shopping district, hosts some of Singapore’s most expensive real estate, particularly good class bungalows, which often sell for tens of millions.
Bloomberg reported in 2021 that Ismail, also the Crown Prince of Johor, was negotiating with local authorities to develop a group of high-end homes on the land.
Since then, his father, Ibrahim Iskandar, has gained significant political influence and became Malaysia’s monarch last year due to his leadership of Johor, a state bordering Singapore.
The royal family’s wealth was estimated at $5.7 billion last year, with the Singapore estate forming a substantial portion of it.
The reconfigured 16.6 hectare land held by Ibrahim could be valued at approximately SGD3.67 billion to SGD3.83 billion ($2.9 billion to $3 billion), according to Nicholas Mak, chief research officer at Mogul.sg, who noted the plot could support a mix of condominiums and landed houses.
Given the four-storey height restriction in the area, residential developments there could be low-rise luxury apartments or even Good Class Bungalows, said Alan Cheong, executive director for research and consultancy at Savills Singapore, as reported by Business Times.
