Real-life Crazy Rich Asians Palace belongs to Crown Prince of Johor

Within untended jungle that was formerly Tyersall Park, just next to the Botanic Gardens in Singapore, sits the ruins of Istana Woodneuk. Abandoned, and having been through both fire and decay, the palace had been built by the ancestors of the 34-year-old Crown Prince of Johor, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim.

Bloomberg reports that the Crown Prince is the current registered owner for the land, which could fetch as much as $3.5 billion (RM14.27 billion) if sold for development, according to estimates. 

The sprawling 210,875 square meter plot is right in the heart of Singapore, which is one of the most expensive cities in the world where nearly 8,000 people are crammed into every square kilometre. 

“Owning a piece of land in Singapore is certainly a privilege as land is the most precious resource in the city-state,” Christine Li, a senior director and head of research for Singapore at Cushman & Wakefield Inc was quoted as saying by the publication. “Over the past five decades, land prices have appreciated significantly. This has fueled wealth creation for older generations. Many also aspire to own a landed property as it is a status symbol for the well-heeled.”

In the hit book Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan, the fictitious Young family inhabits a sprawling ancestral home, set within Singapore’s Tyersall Park.

Once an ever larger plot, the Singapore government has in the past, acquired chunks of the land to extend the Botanic Gardens, a Unesco World Heritage site. In 1990, one piece was bought for S$25 million and another 98,000 sq m piece in 2009 was acquired for an undisclosed amount.

The Crown Prince’s father, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar’s other assets include a 22% share in Malaysia’s Forest City, a $100 billion (RM407.78 billion) as well as stakes in a variety of public companies from 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd. to telecoms firm REDtone International Bhd.

The estimated $3.5 billion (RM14.27 billion) that the land could fetch was arrived at by a calculation by Alan Cheong, a senior director at brokerage Savills Plc. However, cashing in on the undeveloped area is restricted as it is zoned for “special use of green space,’’ meaning development for other purposes, such as residential or commercial.