Karim family acquires House of Tan Yeok Nee

The house was the sole survivor of the 19th century Four Houses.

Savills Singapore announced the sale of the House of Tan Yeok Nee thru a competitive expression of interest exercise (EOI). The freehold National Monument was constructed in 1882 and is the sole survivor of the 'Four Mansions' built by Teochew tycoons in the late 19th century.

The property is one of the 73 buildings in Singapore gazetted as national monuments. Only nine of those properties are zoned 'commercial' and five are privately owned. It was conferred the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Architectural Heritage Award in 2001 and won a special commendation at the FIABCI Prix d'Excellence Awards in 2002 in recognition of its beautiful and sensitive restoration in 2000 that took 100 Chinese craftsmen to complete.

Savills investment sales and capital markets senior director Yap Hui Yee shared, "The response to the EOI for House of Tan Yeok Nee was overwhelming, and we have received enquiries from many new to market buyers from China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, India, and South Korea. The result is a testament to the strong demand for heritage commercial assets, and we are delighted to broker this transaction which marks one of the largest commercial heritage transactions in Singapore."

The House of Tan Yeok Nee, jointly owned by Perennial Holdings and Charles Quay International, was sold to an entity linked to the family of Bachtiar Karim. The transaction will be completed in May this year. The family had, in 2019, purchased the former Darby Park Executive Suites at Orange Grove Road.