James Dyson sells Singapore’s highest residence at a loss

Vacuum magnate paid $54M for penthouse a year ago

James Dyson and Guoco Tower (Getty; Wikipedia Commons)
James Dyson and Guoco Tower (Getty; Wikipedia Commons)

James Dyson is taking a $7 million loss on a Singapore’s highest penthouse.

Britain’s richest person is selling the 21,000-square-foot penthouse at the 64-story Guoco Tower to Indonesian billionaire Leo Koguan for $47 million, according to Business Insider. He bought it last year for $54 million.
Dyson’s eponymous company — best known for its vacuum cleaners — moved its headquarters to the Southeast Asian country last year. It was there where the company planned to base an electric car project, but it cancelled that effort last October.

Dyson called the car “fantastic” but not commercially viable and said the company could not find a buyer for it.
Guoco Tower, also known as Tanjon Pagar Center, was designed by Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill and is Singapore’s tallest building at 951 feet. Dyson’s penthouse took up its top three floors, making it not only the highest residential unit in the city, but the tallest point in all of Singapore, period.

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The tower has a mix of office, retail, and residential space. Its 181 residential units are located from the 39th floor and above and start at around $1.5 million.

The penthouse has a private garden and a rooftop terrace to itself, as well as five bedrooms, a 600-bottle wine room, a cabana and a lap pool.

Singapore’s residential market slowed significantly earlier this year when the coronavirus spread across the world, but it picked up in the second and third quarters. July’s 1,080 home sales were the most since November 2019. Pricing was generally flat in the second quarter. [Business Insider] — Dennis Lynch