Galven Tan leaves Savills to joins Knight Frank Singapore as new CEO

It is with deep regret that we announce the departure of Galven Tan, Deputy Managing Director of Investment Sales and Capital Markets, from Savills Singapore. Marcus Loo, Savills Singapore Chief Executive Officer, commented: “Despite a tough COVID period, the team led by Jeremy Lake and Galven had delivered significantly to the firm’s performance. We thank him for his contribution to Savills in our journey to become a market leader in the investment agency business.”

Commenting on his departure from Savills, Tan stated that he had “thoroughly enjoyed his time at Savills” and is now moving on to a leadership position at another property consultancy firm.

It is understood that Galven Tan is joining Knight Frank Singapore as the new Chief Executive Officer of the company. However, he declined to comment on the move.

The position of Group Managing Director at Knight Frank Singapore has been vacant since Wendy Tang left the company on June 2nd, 2022. Tang had been with Knight Frank Singapore since April 2019. When announcing her departure, the company stated that they would begin “a recruitment process to appoint a new group managing director shortly”, 17 months ago.

Galven Tan had been with Savills for about two years since November 2019. Before Savills, he had been Executive Director of Capital Markets at CBRE for 15 years. He had joined Savills alongside Jeremy Lake and two other colleagues from CBRE’s Investment team, Yap Hui Yee and Sophia Lim.

As Deputy Managing Director of Investment Sales and Capital Markets at Savills, Tan was heavily involved in many important deals. These include the collective sale of Tanglin Shopping Centre for $868 million to the Tanoto family-owned Singapore-based property development and investment firm, Pacific Eagle Real Estate in February 2022. In September 2021, he was also instrumental in the en bloc sale of former Flynn Park condo in Pasir Panjang to the joint venture between Hoi Hup Realty and Sunway Developments for $371 million.

He was also responsible for the sale of the Thiam Siew Avenue sites to Hoi Hup and Sunway joint venture for $815 million in November 2021. The developers had to pay a further development charge of $284 million.

In April of this year, Tan brokered the sale of the four strata-titled office levels at Solitaire on Cecil, including a unit on the seventh floor for $50.483 million ($4,050 psf). He successfully sold all four units to a single buyer for $162.8 million ($4,300 psf).

The Marina Gardens Condo is situated in the heart of the bustling Marina Bay district, right at the centre of the URA Master Plan’s comprehensive transformation plan of this iconic Singapore waterfront. The plan proposes major urban redevelopments to create a vibrant waterfront city, with improved infrastructure, amenities and recreational areas. Residents of Marina Gardens Condo can look forward to an enhanced lifestyle, with improved transportation connectivity and convenience, greater access to leisure and entertainment, and the unique opportunity to invest in an up-and-coming prime district.

At the same time, the plan also has significant impacts on the value of property in the area, with a steady rise expected for the foreseeable future. The Master Plan has taken a holistic approach to urban development, with both immediate and long-term benefits for the area’s residents, making Marina Gardens Condo an especially desirable place to invest.

Tan commented: “During my time at Savills, the team had transacted several high-profile deals of which I am very proud, and I am leaving the team in good shape.”

Looking ahead, Jeremy Lake, Managing Director of Investment Sales and Capital Markets at Savills, assures that the team remains “totally committed to [their] clients” and is “very busy working on a number of active projects”, with several key collective sales assignments on Orchard Road valued at over $1.3 billion launching soon. He also mentioned how fortunate the team is with the “considerable bench strength” of his colleagues, especially Yap Hui Yee and Sophia Lim who are capable of thriving in the space left by Galven Tan.