The old Thong Chai Building, a national monument, set to change hands
The asset – with triple frontages along Eu Tong Sen Street, Merchant Road and New Market Road – comprises the building constructed in 1892 and gazetted as a national monument in 1973, as well as a two-storey annexe built in the 1990s.
The property is being sold by MMT Singapore Properties, a US-incorporated company that is linked to Forever Living Products, a global multi-level marketing health and beauty business selling mostly aloe vera products; the company is headquartered in Arizona.
The incoming owner of 50 Eu Tong Sen Street is understood to be an entity linked to Singapore-incorporated real estate investment company Clifton Partners.
The word in the market is that the all-in cost for the buyer is in the S$45 million to S$50 million range.
The property is on a site area of about 11,730 square feet (sq ft) with 99-year leasehold tenure from August 1994, leaving a balance term of about 68 years. The total built-up area is about 20,000 sq ft.
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After occupying the 50 Eu Tong Sen Street premises for about two decades, Forever Living recently relocated to Carpenter Street.
View of the first courtyard from the second storey shows a roof with concrete ridge frieze, gable walls and ornamental copings. PHOTO: BT FILE
Forever Living's late founder, president and chief executive officer Rex Maughan died in 2021. The company is currently helmed by his son Gregg Maughan, who is the CEO; Aidan O'Hare is the president.
The former Thong Chai Medical Institution, also known as the old Thong Chai Building, was among the first batch of eight buildings that were gazetted as national monuments in 1973.
The status accords the highest level of protection for built heritage, that is, preservation under the Preservation of Monuments Act.
The second courtyard with a view of an original timber screen with the Chinese characters Fu, Lu and Shou – the Chinese deities of good fortune, prosperity and longevity, respectively. PHOTO: BT FILE
Industry observers expect the new owner of 50 Eu Tong Sen Street to refurbish the asset in accordance with guidelines stipulated for national monuments. Potential uses may include suitable wellness, lifestyle or food and beverage concepts.
Clifton has experience restoring and uplifting heritage properties. An example is the conservation shophouse at 75 Maude Road in the Jalan Besar area. This is where Singapore's founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew hid during the Japanese Occupation, to escape a mass screening and almost-certain death.
Describing the former Thong Chai Medical Institution, Vernon Cornelius and Valerie Chew, in an article on the National Library Board website, write: 'The building is considered a historical landmark not only because the institution symbolised the spirit of mutual assistance among early Chinese settlers, but also because it is a rare surviving example of Southern Chinese secular architecture.'
The Thong Chai Medical Institution was built with the support of philanthropic Chinese businessmen as well as funds raised through public subscription, with the British colonial government providing the land.
Completed in 1892, the Thong Chai Medical Institution in Chinatown provided free medical services and herbs to the poor; it was also a centre for activities for the early Chinese community.
The building served as the headquarters of Chinese guilds and the venue for various public meetings. The Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce operated from an office there until 1906.
In 1976, the medical institution moved to a new building in Chin Swee Road and returned the old medical hall to the government, which then spent nearly S$500,000 on extensive restoration and renovation works before the venue was reopened as an arts and crafts centre in 1979.
URA sale of site
The national monument was packaged with an adjacent vacant site and put up for sale in the early 1990s by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
Architect Chan Seng Kee, through Ke-Cho (Pte) Ltd, placed the highest bid of S$3.89 million for the property at a URA tender that closed in April 1994.
His firm Design Environment Group Architects did extensive restoration work on the asset; this included adding a new annexe in the same southern-China architectural style of the original property.
The project was completed in 1998. The original configuration of the interior spaces and courtyards was retained. Skilled craftsmen from China were engaged to restore the old Thong Chai Building's detailed features such as the intricate concrete ridge frieze on the roof, with gable walls and ornamental copings.
The building was tenanted to a pub-disco and later to two restaurants, but all closed within a short time.
Chan then put the property up for sale. In late 2004, it was sold to MMT Singapore Properties. According to an earlier media report, the price was 'under S$7 million'. The premises were spruced up to serve as the new corporate office for Forever Living Products.
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