Singaporean billionaire Philip Ng buys Yamba, Scotland Island's finest heritage home
Yamba, the idyllic Pittwater retreat, has been sold for $7 million after Foreign Investment Review Board approval to interests associated with the Singaporean based property development company, Far East Organization which is headed by billionaire Philip Ng from Singapore's richest family.
Philip Ng and his brother Robert have an estimated US$10.6 billion net worth, according to the most recent Forbes Rich List.
The prized Scotland Island trophy property will be used as a retreat for the Far East family following the companies' recent expansion into Sydney via the purchase of prime commercial property, the Clocktower Square complex in Sydney as part of its growth and diversification strategy.
Far East Organization also owns a 13.7 hectare site in St Helena, Greensborough, Melbourne with plans to develop into an integrated residential community and is buying the Harbour Town Centre in Perth.
Since its 1960s establishment by Philip Ng's father, Ng Teng Fong, the Far East Organization has developed nine sites on Orchard Road into major shopping malls, the most recent being Orchard Central, along with hotel and health care interests. Over the 53 years, the Far East Organization has undertaken more than 730 developments in the residential, hospitality, retail, commercial, and industrial sectors, including 44,000 or one in six private homes in Singapore. The developer of hotels and malls in Singapore and Hong Kong is reported to have annual revenues of US$5.5 billion.
Accessible only by boat, the 7,463-square-metre Scotland Island property has three separate waterfront titles, with two residences, a cabin and a vacant parcel of waterfront land.
Property Observer regards it as one of Pittwater's most significant landholdings, set on the north-western side of the island.
It was built for the Robertson family of Angus & Robertson bookstores, with later owners including the Moran healthcare family.
Source: Google Maps
It was sold through David Watson of LJ Hooker Avalon and Ken Jacobs of Christie's International to Far East Land And Housing Development Company Pte Ltd after the property was featured in an editorial in the International Herald Tribune earlier this year.
Yamba's 1915 renovated and extended five-bedroom house flows onto level lawns, a sandy beach where there are two boat sheds and two deepwater jetties.
It's the largest holding on the 49-hectare island.
Last month Far East Organization signed conditional contracts to purchase the Clocktower Square complex in Sydney, Australia for $72 million and Harbour Town Centre in Perth for $205 million viewing Australia as an "attractive property investment market driven by a stable economy and well-regulated business environment."
The acquisition strategy was to build a more balanced asset portfolio beyond Singapore and Malaysia.
Located in the historic The Rocks precinct within Sydney’s Central Business District, the Clocktower Square complex is a mixed-use development comprising a two level retail shopping centre, a six storey commercial office tower, a 61-room boutique hotel Rendezvous Stafford Hotel and 138 car spaces.
The Clocktower Square property has a 99-year leasehold interest which expires in March 2088. Its site area is 3,599 square metres.
Harbour Town Centre is a two storey shopping centre on a 19,841 square metre Wellington Street holding, one kilometre west of the Perth Central Business District featuring 120 retailers.
Both deals were through Jones Lang LaSalle.
Far East Organization's listed arm, Far East Orchard recently completed a joint venture with Australia-based Toga Group to extend its hospitality management footprint into the Australian market.
Far East Orchard also proposes in a joint venture with Straits Trading Company to acquire hotel sites within Australia on an ongoing basis and to conduct hospitality management businesses.