Motor trade entrepreneur Karsono Kwee’s Eurokars Group is expanding its property ownership in the prime Leng Kee motor belt. Eurokars is understood to be buying 23 Leng Kee Road for S$33 million from Yong Lee Lee & Company. Eurokars Group already operates out of the building, which among other things houses the showroom and service centre for Mazda, for which the group is the authorised distributor in Singapore. The group declined to comment when approached by BT earlier this week. 23 Leng Kee Road is on a site with a land area of nearly 40,000 sqft; the site has 99-year leasehold tenure starting July 1954, which leaves about 34.5 years’ balance lease.
Under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Master Plan 2014, the site is zoned for Business 1 use with 2.5 plot ratio (ratio of maximum gross floor area to land area). Typically, clean and light industrial and warehouse uses are allowed in Business 1 zone. The acquisition will further boost the group’s dominance in terms of property ownership in the locale. Eurokars Group is the largest privately-owned car agency in Singapore. Besides Mazda, it represents Porsche, Rolls-Royce, Mini and McLaren here. Among the properties the group owns along Leng Kee Road and are Nos 5, 11, 27 and 29.
Based on information on the Eurokars Group website, No 5 houses the McLaren showroom and No 11 is home to Eurokars Pre-Owned (the group’s used car business). The mini showroom is located at No 27, while No 29 houses both the Porsche and Rolls-Royce showrooms. The group is expected to move the Rolls-Royce showroom to its new corporate headquarters development coming up along the nearby Kung Chong / Chang Charn roads. The site on which the facility is being developed was brought in 2011 for over S$20 million, according to an earlier media report. The new headquarters will replace the group’s current headquarters at 12 Sungei Kadut Avenue, which is on a site with just few years’ remaining land lease.
Mr Kwee, who is Eurokars Group’s executive chairman, has been investing in buildings for his sprawling car business. Recently, the group opened a S$70 million facility at 27A Tanjong Penjuru in the western part of the island. This is a 438,000 square foot integrated warehousing, servicing and car pre-delivery centre. In 2015, the group spent S$28 million to turn its Mazda showroom at 5 Ubi Close into a full 35-showroom, service and after-sales facility, according to a media report at the time. Five years ago, Mr Kwee spent S$45 million rebuilding the Porsche and Rolls-Royce showroom in Leng Kee Road.
In Indonesia, the group represents Porsche, Rolls-Royce, Maserati, Mazda, BMW and 3M Automotive Film products. Eurokars also has a stake in a Rolls-Royce dealership in Nanning, China and owns a Mazda dealership in Perth. Eurokars has an annual turnover in excess of S$500 million.