The Real Crazy Rich Asian Palace Is Worth a Cool $3.5 Billion

In the heart of Singapore, one of the most expensive cities in the world, there’s a sprawling, vacant plot of private land 30 times the size of The White House.

Just down the road from the U.S. embassy and bordering condos worth S$4.5 million ($3.3 million) each, the swathe of untended jungle hides the remains of two abandoned palaces and would be worth a cool $3.5 billion if sold for development, according to one estimate. In a city where almost 8,000 people are crammed into each square kilometer and real estate prices are among the world’s highest, it is one of the greatest urban anachronisms in Asia.