| Work Detail |
An unusually large freehold semi-detached house located at 10B Green Lane off Tanjong Katong Road, affectionately called “The Glass House” because of its many windows, has gone on sale at a much lower price than what it could fetch in better market conditions. The 3,356 sq ft property with 11-metre frontage has a huge built-up area of approximately 9,000 sq ft. The seven-bedroom, six-bathroom house is going for about $7.2 million, which translates to $2,145 psf on the land area. The original two-storey semi-D was demolished to make way for the new three-storey house with an attic. A glass lift made from tempered glass was installed inside, while a wrap-around swimming pool was added to create the effect of a river around the house. Construction work took almost three years to complete and cost $3 million. The current owner, Rani Rai, a business owner in her 30s, bought the property back in 2013. Her brother Ahjay Rai, a public relations professional, told PropertyGuru that the asking price would just “break even”. “Initially, the plan was for five family members to move in, but my sister decided that it was too large to maintain. That is why she wants to sell it,” he said, adding that the house can easily accommodate up to 15 people. The idea to build a house made almost entirely of glass came about after his sister saw many similar properties in London and New York, said Rai. “She has always wanted to live in a glass house, simply because it creates the illusion of space and also allows for more light to come in, making the rooms brighter.” He isn’t sure how many glass panels were used in the home, but said: “I was told by the glass suppliers that we used up two months’ worth of their supply for this house.” In fact, special permission had to be granted to install the glass panels, said Rai. “Under the Building and Construction Authority’s (BCA) guidelines, there are limitations on the length, height, and number of glass windows because of safety issues. The BCA’s safety officers had to come in and check that the house would be safe before they would allow us to install the windows.” In addition, many of the windows are more than four metres tall, larger than what is typically allowed in Singapore homes, which usually range from 2.8 to three metres in height. “A lot of the windows are made from one single glass pane, which makes it very expensive,” noted Rai. Of the seven bedrooms in the house, five are bigger than most three-room flats, said Rai, while most of the bathrooms are the size of small bedrooms in HDB flats and condominiums. He also shared that the marble flooring was handpicked from Italy and India. PropNex property agent KT, who declined to give her full name, is marketing the home. She revealed that the nondescript street is home to several wealthy individuals, many of whom have lived there for generations. They include Eric Cheng, the CEO of local property firm ECG, and the bosses of Fatty Weng Restaurant and the famous Punggol Nasi Lemak. This probably explains why there are so few transactions in the area. URA Realis data shows that no landed properties in Green Lane have been sold in the past two years. Only two apartment units at the freehold Signature Residence were resold for about $2 million earlier this year. According to KT, the property has been on the market for about a month, and viewings are by appointment only. So far, interest from potential buyers has been healthy, with about “five to six viewings in one day”. “The feedback from prospective buyers is that they like the house, but they don’t know what to do with such a large space,” said KT, who reckons it would appeal to big families looking to accommodate multiple generations. Another selling point is the location, which is within proximity to the Paya Lebar and Dakota MRT stations, ONE KM mall and Haig Road Market and Food Centre. Said Rai: “We received an offer for $6.32 million, but of course we rejected the amount as it is not even the breakeven price. We understand that the market is not as buoyant as it used to be, so the price is negotiable, but it has to be a fair offer.” If not for the stringent property cooling measures, particularly the Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) framework, Rai believes the price would have been much higher. “Many agents told us that this property would have easily sold for more than $8 million during better market conditions, simply because of its size. “Whoever buys this property has to have a long-term view. Once the market picks up, the price is just going to go sky-high.” |
