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Westpeak owners seek $240m for 312,000 sq ft plot

A HUGE freehold residential site will come on the market soon in the form of the collective sale of Westpeak Condominium along West Coast Walk. Its majority owners have agreed to a collective sale of the 311,829 sq ft freehold site and are seeking a price of about $240 million.

This is one of the bigger freehold collective sale sites in recent years. They are awaiting approval from the authorities for the sale of some adjoining state land of about 50,546 sq ft before launching Westpeak’s collective sale.

The $240 million asking price works out to about $360 per square foot of potential gross floor area inclusive of development charges estimated at $20 million and about $15 million for the state site. A new condo on the site could break even at about $560 to $600 psf, say analysts.

The $360 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr) unit land price is higher than the $340 psf per plot ratio fetched in December for the Balmeg Court site atop Balmeg Hill boasting seaviews.

However, that site has a five-storey height restriction, unlike the Westpeak Condominium site which can be redeveloped up to 24 storeys high. The site is zoned for residential use with a 2.1 plot ratio (ratio of potential gross floor area to land area). Westpeak and the adjoining state site add up to about 362,375 sq ft and can be redeveloped into a condo with nearly 761,000 sq ft of gross floor area, sufficient for more than 600 units averaging 1,200 sq ft.

Owners of Westpeak’s existing 152 units stand to receive $1.5 million per apartment, $2.3 million per townhouse and $2.7 million for each penthouse, based on the $240 million asking price for the en bloc sale.

These sums are about 50 to 55 per cent more than what the units would fetch if sold on an individual basis, according to Savills, which is marketing Westpeak.

The project’s original developer, Asia Industrial Development, owns 36 units in the development, representing about 26 per cent of share values in the estate, and is among the majority owners that have agreed to the en bloc sale.

Asia Industrial Development’s other projects include West Peak Terrace, some bungalows along Rochalie Drive, terrace houses in Still Road, Mia Place in the Fort Road area and, most recently, Duet, an apartment development at the corner of Holland and Farrer roads.

‘Westpeak is probably one of the largest freehold development sites currently available,’ says Savills (Singapore) executive director Ong Beng Kheong.

Source : Business Times - 15 Feb 2006

Prime plot can house posh shops, a hotel and 2 condos; a bungalow site is also on offer

WATER views - lake or ocean - are up for grabs with the imminent release of new sites in the exclusive residential enclave Sentosa Cove.

The Lakefront Collection comprises coveted residential bungalow sites beside Serapong Lake, while a prime site that can house posh shops, restaurants, a hotel and two condominiums is also on offer.

The Quayside Collection, as the prime 48,611 sq m site is known, is unique in the Cove as it will be the only commercial site for sale and foreign developers are believed to be keen. Developers can bid for the combined hotel and commercial site and omit the condominium plots, but will not be allowed to bid for only the condominium sites.

But investors are unlikely to forgo these plots, given Sentosa Cove’s latest seafront condominium plot sold at $638.62 per sq ft (psf) per plot ratio (ppr) - 82 per cent higher than the first plot two years ago.

‘The condo plots are the carrots. Developers would be able to sell the condo units to finance part of the hotel and commercial portion,’ said Knight Frank director of research and consultancy Nicholas Mak.

He expects the condominium sites, which face the water, to fetch $400-$450 psf ppr. There is space for up to 236 units in the two six- storey projects. ‘The hotel and shops would have a longer payback period, particularly as the hotel would face competition from the other hotels on Sentosa,’ he added.

The seven-storey, five-star 320-room hotel will be the only hotel in the Cove. It will add to the existing 800 hotel rooms on Sentosa as well as new hotels under construction.

The Quayside Collection will be sold through a two-envelope system. Parties have until April 28 to submit their price and concept proposals.

Sentosa Cove, the company overseeing the planning and development of the area, will award the site in the third quarter. And by the end of the first quarter, it will launch the Lakefront Collection, comprising 15 bungalow sites beside Serapong Lake. The site will be sold en bloc to a developer, which will be allowed to build structures and amenities such as a verandah over the water.

The 12,327.2 sq m Lakefront Collection has the last bungalow sites to be offered for sale in north Sentosa Cove. Only three other bungalow sites in the north Cove launched earlier remain unsold.

Sentosa Cove will also soon offer the north Cove’s last condominium site. This has a four-storey height limit and could accommodate up to 160 units. The other available plots in Sentosa Cove are in the southern section. These will be marketed later this year.

So far, Sentosa Cove has sold 57 per cent of its planned 2,518 residential units.

Source : Straits Times - 15 Feb 2006

Foreigners and permanent residents account for 60% of buyers

Prices for bungalow plots in Sentosa Cove have hit a new high of $500 per square foot, up from the starting price of $260 psf when they were first launched in December 2003. And the buyer of the most expensive piece of land there is a Thai national.

Interestingly, Thais make up only 2 per cent of foreigners who have been snapping up the waterfront properties.

There are 214 bungalow plots in the Northern Precinct of Sentosa Cove and foreigners and Singapore permanent residents currently account for 60 per cent of the buyers.

According to Sentosa Cove Pte Ltd (SCPL), Malaysians form the biggest group of buyers, having so far bought 44 plots (or 23 per cent) out of 193 plots sold.

Indonesians bought 40 plots (21 per cent), followed by the Chinese who bought 27 plots (14 per cent) and the British and Indians who bought 15 plots each (8 per cent).

A mix of other nationals from Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Sweden, Taiwan, the Philippines and Denmark bought the remaining 52 plots.

Bungalow plots in Sentosa Cove have rocketed to $500 psf from the starting price of $260 psf when they were first offered in December 2003.

SCPL chairman Jennie Chua says that the current 60/40 ratio of foreigners to locals is ‘about right’, so any fears of Sentosa Cove becoming an exclusive enclave for foreigners will recede for now.

Still, Sentosa Cove is only expected to have about 10,000 residents in its 2,600 homes (which include the condominium developments there). Visitors, most of whom are tourists, hit 5.1 million in March last year, and projected visitor arrivals for 2008 is eight million.

Giving an indication of the positioning of the island is Sentosa Leisure Group chief executive Darrell Metzger who said: ‘Sentosa is fast gaining international recognition as one of the most exciting leisure destinations in Asia and one that is increasingly appealing to the higher-end tourist and business traveller.’

‘Higher-end’ tourists will also be targeted by the new five-star hotel SCPL hopes will get built at Sentosa Cove.

The hotel is part of a bundle of development sites called the Quayside Collection being offered to any developer, local or foreign, who can come up with the best proposal, on the best terms.

Apart from paying for the land, and coming up with an acceptable concept and design, the developer will also have to pay a percentage of its earnings to Sentosa Leisure Group.

‘All the hotels here pay between 5-15 per cent of its revenue as part of the partnership agreement with us,’ revealed Mr Metzger.

The Quayside Collection is the only commercial site for sale within Sentosa Cove and covers 48,611 square metres.

It will consist of a 320-room five-star hotel, a three-storey waterfront commercial site and land parcels for two six-storey condominium developments next to the hotel.

SCPL highlighted that the hotel and commercial sites are to be key components of the development and potential developers can choose not to buy the residential sites.

However, the residential sites will not be for sale on their own. The hotel and commercial components will have to be open to the public. But being a high-end development, this will nevertheless be a very select group of people.

Source : Business Times - 15 Feb 2006

ANOTHER ageing office block in the Central Business District could be turned into apartments as the inner-city takes on an increasingly residential flavour.

The latest building likely to face a makeover is the Euro-Asia Centre, a 29-storey building in Hoe Chiang Road. Property agent Colliers International has put it on sale after winning provisional permission to convert it into flats, though the new owner may prefer to retain it for purely commercial use.

The freehold block near Keppel Towers and Singapore Technologies Building sits on 49,442 sq ft of land and has a lettable area of 193,000 sq ft. The block was built around 1983 with 16 storeys, but had a 13-floor extension added in 2004 at a reported cost of $80 million.

Industry sources expect it to fetch $128 million to $132 million, or about $660-$680 psf. They said it is a forced sale as the building’s owner, property group Euro-Asia, has hit financial difficulties. Euro-Asia’s founder P. L. Kua was heavily into property from the early to mid-1990s and bought land and stakes in Seaview Hotel and ANA Hotels.

Colliers International said it obtained the outline planning permission late last year for a 35-storey residential building with ground level commercial use. Its director for investment sales, Mr Ho Eng Joo, said: ‘Inner-city living is quite the ‘in’ thing now. Sales at the Icon and The Sail@Marina Bay have done very well.’

The Icon is in Tanjong Pagar; The Sail@Marina Bay is in the New Downtown area.

Potential buyers of the Euro-Asia Centre could convert and refurbish the new extension block into apartments or redevelop the entire property for residential use, said Mr Ho.

Far East Organization started the trend to inner-city living in 2004 when it obtained provisional permission to convert Natwest Centre in McCallum Street into a residential development. Buildings such as 1 Shenton Way and Asia Chambers in McCallum Street have followed suit.

‘Developers generally expect to reap higher returns from converting an old office block to apartments…because of the recent popularity of inner-city living and the declining rentals they are likely to get from ageing office buildings,’ said Knight Frank’s research director, Mr Nicholas Mak.

The tender for the Euro-Asia Centre, which is being leased out at up to $3 per sq ft, will close at 3pm on March 22.

Gains in most global equity markets were largely behind the positive returns and they also helped offset effects of rising interest rates and oil prices.

Source : Straits Times - 14 Feb 2006

Euro-Asia Centre, located at the crossroads of Hoe Chiang Road, Lim Teck Kim Road and Cantonment Road, has been put up for sale by tender. The mortgagee property is expected to fetch between $125 million and $135 million, or $650 to $700 per sq foot of net lettable area estimated at 193,000 sq ft.

Euro-Asia Centre was once a jewel in property and shipping magnate P L Kua’s portfolio. Mr Kua was particularly active in the property market in the 1990s. He is currently chairman of Thai-listed container feeder operator Regional Container Line.

Marketing agent Colliers International says the tender for the 29-storey commercial building will close at 3 pm on March 22.

The freehold development sits on a land area of 49,442 sq ft (4,593.4 sq m) and has a gross floor area of 244,233 sq ft (22,690 sq m). It comprises a 16-storey block completed in 1983, and another 12 floors from the 18th storey onwards completed in 2004.

A Colliers statement yesterday said the site is designated for commercial development in the 2003 Master Plan, with an allowable gross plot ratio of 5.6. The permissible building height is up to 35 storeys.

Potential buyers can, however, choose to build a residential project in its place. Outline planning permission has been obtained for the property to be redeveloped into a 35-storey residential building with commercial use on the ground level at a plot ratio of 5.6.

Colliers’ director for investment sales, Ho Eng Joo, says Euro-Asia Centre offers potential investors an opportunity to acquire a freehold office building in the Central Business District with potential growth in capital value and rental income.

The development is within several minutes’ walk to the Tanjong Pagar MRT station. The area is predominantly commercial and is next to the financial and shipping districts. Amenities available in the vicinity include banks, food centres, hotels and government offices.

Source : Business Times - 14 Feb 2006