Officials raise eyebrows with multibillion-dollar land swap with king's son: 'Pretty sure he would rather just develop the land'

A multibillion-dollar land exchange between Singapore's government and the son of Malaysia's king has turned heads.

As Bloomberg reported, Ismail Ibrahim, the Regent of the neighboring Johor state, is the eldest son of Malaysia's king.

His family has owned a valuable parcel of land in Singapore's wealthy Tyersall Park — which inspired some of the setting for the film Crazy Rich Asians — for several years.

That estate comprises part of what Bloomberg estimates to be a $5.7 billion family fortune, but it has sat vacant for several years.

Now, Ibrahim is looking to develop it into what Bloomberg describes as "a multibillion-dollar luxury residential development."

But when he approached the Singaporean government in 2021 with these plans, it instead suggested a trade: It would acquire his parcel of land and give him an equally valuable plot in a nearby area, where he could develop his luxury homes.

The primary motivation behind this swap, Bloomberg explained, is that Ibrahim's parcel of land sits close to Singapore's Botanic Gardens — a historic and cultural attraction that has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

By granting Ibrahim an alternative piece of land, Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) noted that he can complete his development plans further away from the gardens.

That said, prior to any development, Ibrahim's proposal will still be "subject to environmental studies and assessment from government agencies," Bloomberg observed. The land that the Singaporean government acquired will remain undeveloped in the near future.

In a Reddit post about the trade, Singapore residents chimed in with their thoughts and opinions. Generally, commenters seemed to agree that both parties benefited equally — they just wondered what would happen to Ibrahim's new estate, which is worth roughly $3 billion.

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"He could make into some kind of historical site for Istana Woodneuk, open to tourists," one person said optimistically, hoping for the preservation of the abandoned palace.

But another pointed out that "unless the Government was willing to push him to commit to something of this nature as part of the negotiations (I highly doubt it), I'm pretty sure he would rather just develop the land … and sell them off."

Another agreed with that assessment: "There's never such a thing as having too much money," they said.

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