Page 80 - Forbes - Asia (July - August 2018)

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Singapore’s 50 Richest

CHING CHIAT KWONG

Thinking

Outside the

Shoebox

The founder of Oxley Holdings and the king
of compact apartments in Singapore is facing
headwinds in residential real estate.

BY JANE A. PETERSON
rriving in a royal blue Hokkien, a Chinese dialect. He’s ani-
Rolls-Royce, Singapore mated yet relaxed, and full of laughter.
tycoon Ching Chiat Tucked into the leafy Serangoon
Kwong seemed in cel- heartland, amid hipster cafes and hawk-
Aebratory mood despite er centers, Ainity was designed to hit
the stormy weather outside. It was June Oxley’s sweet spot—buyers in the city-
2, launch day for phase one of Ain- state’s mass market, most of them eager
ity, a 1,042-unit condominium built by to upgrade from what are called HDB
his homegrown property irm, Oxley ats, built and subsidized by Singapore’s
Holdings, and the fourth of his 11 local Housing Development Board.
launches scheduled for 2018. Ching and his partners bought the
Ching, once known as Singapore’s site “en bloc”—which is when 80% of
shoebox king for building a string of the owners in a condominium approve
compact apartment condos, has never selling the entire building to the highest
missed an Oxley launch—he has wit- bidder, usually at a premium—at the
nessed 41 through the years, not only bargain price of $614 per square foot
in Singapore but also across Europe and last July. “I am a step faster than the
Asia. Fresh from a business trip to Viet- rest,” Ching mused, noting competitors
nam and wearing a Dsquared2 T-shirt Keppel and Wing Tai followed his early
that read “icon,” the 52-year-old found lead and bought a site nearby two weeks MUNSHI AHMED FOR FORBES
two of his three local equity partners, later at the substantially higher price of
both old friends, and began chatting in $710 per square foot.

78 | FORBES ASIA JULY / AUGUST 2018