Singapore’s shoebox king goes big in Glitter Strip penthouse project

Singapore property tycoon Ching Chiat Kwong, who made a fortune developing tiny units in Asia, is behind a $150m Sovereign Islands development offering 10 sprawling homes.

Artist's impression of the new luxury project on Sovereign Island.

Singapore property tycoon Ching Chiat Kwong earned his moniker the “shoebox apartment king” after making a fortune developing compact units throughout Asia.

But there will be nothing miniature about Mr Ching’s latest development – a $150m luxury penthouse development on the Gold Coast’s Sovereign Island that the richlister is so enthusiastic about he has already purchased one for his family.

The project, which has received development approval from Gold Coast City Council, reflects post-Covid strength in the luxury property market on the Glitter Strip.

Mr Ching, whose Singapore-listed Oxley Holdings has developments across Singapore, the UK, Ireland, Cambodia, Malaysia and China, purchased the Sovereign Island land in 2015 and waited for the right time to launch the project known as the Sovereign Collection.

The development will include just 10 homes with deep water moorings and direct ocean access in an area where properties are regularly valued in excess of $20m.

“We are now poised to bring this vision to life and will soon create a landmark development that will redefine luxury living in Australia,” Mr Ching said.

Core Property Partners managing director Nathan Andersen, who is marketing the project, said the growing maturity of the luxury market on the Coast had given Mr Ching confidence to proceed with the project.

Singapore tycoon Ching Chiat Kwong will develop only 10 luxury penthouses.

“He has always envisaged something very special for the project and it’s fair to say that the evolution of the Gold Coast luxury market has now allowed us to really say the time is right,” he said.

“We have now achieved approval through the Gold Coast City Council for 10 opulent luxury residences. It’s very much on the basis of less is very much more.”

Mr Andersen said the tycoon’s close connection with Australia had convinced him to purchase one of the penthouses which have a starting price of more than $8m up to more than $25m and with floor sizes ranging from 500sq m to 1350sq m.

“His children attend university in Australia so he’s got a close affiliation with the local market,” he said.

“He really sees this as a project that could easily belong in Singapore or in the Middle East.”

Construction of the project is expected to start in the second quarter of next year, with completion expected by the end of 2026.

Mr Andersen said high-net worth individuals, both local and from overseas, were being targeted in a marketing campaign.

“It’s fair to say that in his first five or six years of owning this property, the market just wasn’t there,” he said.

“Mr Ching didn’t want to rush into this and just do another apartment building. Apartment living for ultra-high net worth individuals or families just hadn’t really evolved as much on the Gold Coast.

“The Covid period very much changed that and these people have very much been drawn up from the likes of Point Piper and Vaucluse. There also has been real strong interest from Auckland.”

Overseas investors brought thousands of homes across Australia – with residential purchases by foreign buyers totalling $5.3bn. Federal Treasury date shows more than 4700 homes were purchased by foreign investors in the first nine months of 2023.

Hong Kong investors purchased more than 400 homes, with an estimated residential real estate value of $300m, followed by Vietnamese buyers snapping up 259 properties and Taiwanese buyers picking up 272 homes across Australia.

Singapore's Ching Chiat Kwong is the developing luxury project on the Gold Coast.

Mr Andersen said that with some apartments going for around $25m “no cost will be spared in relation to the finishes”.

“You’ll have three internal levels together with an entire rooftop, with a pool, barbecue areas and a fire pit,” he said.

“This is creating apartment living that really sits very much in context with the surrounding mansion-style houses of the island but as well as the connection to the water. It is penthouse-style living that is different from the rest of the Gold Coast where you can be 20, 30, 40 storeys in the air.”

Mr Ching, a former policeman, who owns Sovereign Village Centre and the marina that flanks the entrance to the island, is known for marketing apartments not more than 300sq ft (28sq m) in size.

His commitment to the Sovereign Island project reflects growth in luxury property prices in Australia. Australian property roses higher than the global average last year, according to the latest Knight Frank Wealth Report.

Gold Coast ranked 38th in a list of prime price appreciation (defined as the top 5 per cent of each market by value) across 100 global cities.

Knight Frank reported luxury price growth in the Gold Coast at a more conservative rate of 4.1 per cent during 2023.