Jeffrey Cheah, founder and executive chairman of Sunway.

Ian Teh for Forbes Asia

Sunway MCL—the Singapore-based developer controlled by Malaysian billionaire Jeffrey Cheah—and its partner China’s CSC Land Group placed the highest bid for a prime residential site near in the city-state’s main shopping district, amid booming property demand in one of the world’s most expensive real estate markets.

The partners offered S$751 million ($581 million) for a 99-year leasehold residential site at River Valley Green, near the Orchard Road shopping precinct and the Singapore central business district. The bid for the 123,957 square feet (11,516 square-meter) site, equivalent to S$1,730 per square foot per plot ratio, is about 22% premium to the price paid by Malaysian billionaire Quek Leng Chan’s Guocoland in February 2025 for an adjacent plot.

“The optimism is supported by robust sales in earlier launches,” Tricia Song, head of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia at CBRE said in a research note. Since Guocoland started marketing the 455-unit River Modern residential condominium in March this year, about 93% of the project has been sold, according to CBRE.

Other projects in the same vicinity have done well, data compiled by CBRE showed. Wing Tai Holdings’ 524-unit River Green condominium is 94% sold, while the 706-unit Zyon Grand—which is being developed by billionaire Kwek Leng Beng’s City Developments and partner Mitsui Fudosan—is 90% sold. The 596-unit Promenade Peak of Allgreen Properties—controlled by Robert Kuok, Malaysia’s richest person—is 71% sold.

If the River Valley Green plot is awarded to Sunway MCL and CSC, the partners plan to build a premium high-rise residential development with over 500 units across two 36-storey towers, Sunway MCL said in a statement. The site is the last parcel of residential plot to be auctioned by the government in the area.

"The site presents an opportunity to introduce a new residential development in one of Singapore’s most established and sought-after neighbourhoods,” Lee Tong Voon, CEO of Sunway MCL said in the statement.

The River Valley Green site is attractive as it sits next to the Great World commercial complex, the Great World MRT station and close to several schools as well as entertainment destinations such as Robertson Quay and Clarke Quay.

Sunway has been stepping up investments in Singapore in recent years. In September 2025, it acquired MCL Land for S$739 million from Hong Kong Land. Last week, Sunway MCL submitted the second-highest bid for a 99-year leasehold residential site at Peck Hay Road in Singapore’s upscale Newton district. The site was awarded to City Developments and partner Hong Realty, with a top bid of S$542.4 million.

Cheah transformed Sunway from an obscure tin-mining company over the five decades into one of Malaysia’s biggest conglomerates with interests in construction, education, healthcare, infrastructure and real estate. With a real-time net worth of $5.1 billion, he is among the country’s wealthiest.