A record transaction for a shophouse has taken place in District 1. Located at 21 Boon Tat Street and a part of the Telok Ayer Conservation Area, the 999-year leasehold site has bagged S$16.5 million in price which translates to a rate of S$4,259 psf taking into account its 3,874 sq ft built-up area.

The property agents for this sale stated that this was a record high psf for a District 1 conservation shophouse.

It needs to be mentioned that the prices didn’t breach the S$4,000 psf figure for the past 12 months in this area.

The last big deal happened in August where a 64 Club Street located shophouse that also had 999-year lease tenure bagged S$3,880 psf for the 5,618 sq ft built-up area.

As per media reports James Heng, the founder of Duck & Hippo Group has bought this shophouse using one of his entities.

The local group has been on a buying spree off late and had recently acquired Big Bus Tours, biggest open-top sightseeing tours operator in the world that has its headquarters in London.

Big Bus Tours was officially launched on September 13 and since then seven brands that were owned by Duck & Hippo Group have been working under the Big Bus Tours banner.

Acquisition price for this deal is still shrouded in mystery. It has been understood that Mr Heng shall work with Big Bus Tours in the capacity of a consultant to ensure smooth transition.