A group of Hong Kong- and Singapore-based investors has paid a knock-down price of US$150 million ($196 million) for a former landmark property in Beverly Hills, they announced Tuesday.

Joint Treasure bought the eight-acre (3.2-hectare) property next to the Beverly Hilton — for less than a third of its sale price of about US$500 million in 2007 — at auction from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim's bank, Inbursa.

 

The 9900 Wilshire Boulevard site, formerly home to the upscale Robinson's Beverly Hills department store, was owned by the U.K.'s Candy Brothers, but fell into foreclosure this year and was acquired by Inbursa, a lender.

 

The site, bought for US$148.3 million, is at the junction of Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards in the heart of Beverly Hills.

 

The new owner is a group comprising three partners — Chow Tai Fook Group of Hong Kong; Wee Cho Yaw Family Group of Singapore and David Chiu of Far East Consortium International (0035.HK), a commercial property and hotel developer.

 

They intend to develop the site with 235 condominiums and 17,000 square feet (1,579 square meters) of retail and restaurant space, under a plan given permission by local authorities in ‘This is an incomparable site that cannot be replicated, and we intend to build a superb project offering world-class luxury residences,’ said Daniel Yiu, senior adviser to Joint Treasure.