THE wife of Alibaba Group co-founder Jack Ma has bought three adjoining shophouses on Duxton Road in the Tanjong Pagar area.

Zhang Ying, a Singapore citizen, paid about S$45 million to S$50 million for 70, 71 and 72 Duxton Road, The Business Times understands. The properties are on commercial-zoned sites with 99-year leasehold tenures starting from September 1988, leaving a balance term of about 63.5 years.

Standing on a total land area of 3,239 square feet (sq ft), the shophouses have three floors and an attic each. A major refurbishment of the properties is nearing completion.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) nod for the addition and alteration works is for an integrated development comprising the three shophouses, with change of use from shop to restaurant for the first storey. The upper levels are for office use, and the refurbishment includes the addition of a lift.

Kerry Hill Architects was engaged by the seller – an entity linked to a Singapore-based property investment group – for the revamp. The total built-up area of the shophouses is said to be about 10,700 sq ft. The properties are in the Tanjong Pagar Conservation Area.

The price reportedly paid by Zhang for the trio of shophouses works out to around S$4,200 to S$4,600 per square foot (psf) on the estimated built-up area.

Market observers view this price range as being on the high side, saying that conservation shophouse deals in the Duxton area have typically not exceeded S$4,000 psf on built-up area. A point to note, however, is that the shophouse trio Zhang bought will be on a newly refurbished basis.

“Moreover, this is a special buyer (who is) prepared to pay a high price for a property that is in a somewhat discreet and quaint part of District 2,” said a market observer.

Private clubhouse?

A shophouse investor said: “The Ma family may have intended for the asset to be for their own occupation. (For example), to use it as a private clubhouse to entertain their friends and associates. That said, they could end up leasing the property.”

The seller acquired the three adjoining shophouses for a total of S$22.2 million through separate deals in 2018. It bought 70 Duxton Road for S$7.55 million from a company owned by Alan Choe, a former head of the URA and also former chairman of Sentosa Development Corporation.

The seller picked up 71 Duxton Road for S$7.35 million from a doctor, and No 72 for S$7.3 million from Kwek Lee Hoon, the sister of Hong Leong Group executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng.

Transactions in the shophouse market slowed sharply in the fourth quarter of 2023. A report released last month by PropNex Realty based on caveats analysis showed that there were only 15 shophouse sales in the fourth quarter of 2023 – a 60 per cent plummet from the 37 deals in Q3 2023.

This was the lowest quarterly figure since 2010. The property agency attributed the muted sales to the soft economic outlook as well as heightened due diligence after the anti-money laundering blitz in August last year.

For the whole of 2023, the shophouse market recorded 131 deals amounting to about S$1.14 billion, shrinking from the 2022 tally of 191 deals totalling S$1.63 billion.

This was the slowest annual sales volume since 2019, when 123 shophouses fetched a total of S$916 million, according to caveats data.