Singapore’s Green Bus Company founding family sells bungalow for $43M

The price works out to S$2,274 per square foot (US$ 19,127 per square meter) based on the property’s land area of 24,190 square feet (2,247 square meters), EdgeProp Singapore reported, citing a caveat lodged on March 6.

The property was sold to Elevate Land, a company established in January with real estate development as its primary business.

The bungalow, built in the 1950s and owned by the family of Green Bus co-founder Ong Chin Chuan, had served as a multi-generational home for over 70 years and was once occupied by four generations.

The bungalow sold by the family of Green Bus Company co-founder Ong Chin Chuan. Photo from JLL’s website

It was first put on the market last July with an asking price of S$60 million before being relaunched a few months later at S$55 million.

Located near Tan Kah Kee MRT station on the Downtown Line, the site is close to several schools, such as Nanyang Primary School, Raffles Girls’ Primary School and Hwa Chong Institution, as well as the Coronation Shopping Plaza.

The land is zoned for three-storey mixed landed housing. PropNex, the marketing agent, said the site could be redeveloped into various configurations, including four detached houses, a mix of detached and semi-detached homes, or up to 10 units comprising semi-detached and terrace houses, subject to regulatory approval.

Landed properties in prime districts such as 9, 10 and 11 are “highly desirable” due to limited supply and their “longstanding prestige,” according to Marcus Chu, CEO of real estate agency ERA Singapore, as quoted by The Edge Singapore.

The Green Bus Company was one of the earliest operators of cross-border public bus services in Singapore, according to The Straits Times.

Originally known as Rochor Bus Co, it was co-founded in 1935 by Ong and was merged into United Bus Company in 1971, creating one of three major groups formed from the consolidation of 10 private operators.

Two years later, the government stepped in to restructure the public bus system and established Singapore Bus Services, which later became SBS Transit—currently the city-state’s largest public bus operator.

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