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Paterson Tower in District 9 is sold for $266 million over the weekend

SEVENTY-TWO owners of apartments at Paterson Tower will walk away with an average $3.7 million each in the largest collective sale deal since 2000.

The District 9 site was sold en bloc for a whopping $266 million over the weekend to Mr Simon Cheong’s SC Global, a boutique developer known for prestigious luxury projects such as The Ladyhill in the Nassim Hill area and The Boulevard Residence at Cuscaden Walk.

The lucky owners each stand to rake in roughly twice what their apartments would have fetched had they sold them individually.

The sale is the biggest since Cairnhill Court was sold for $315 million at the height of collective sale fever in 2000.

And it was a case of persistence paying off for Paterson Tower residents, who unsuccessfully put their 29-year-old estate up for sale six years ago with a price tag of $240 million.

An owner who asked not to be named said he was ‘happy with the sale’.

But he added: ‘It’s not as much of a jackpot as people perceive it to be. Replacing this apartment in the same location will cost a lot of money. I probably will get an apartment outside of the Orchard Road area.’

The deal comes amid a rush of collective sales and launches this year, with at least 12 sites being snapped up since the start of this year.

Property owners are putting their apartments on sale as the market shows signs of recovering, in a bid to cash in on the improving sentiment.

Earlier this month, Eng Lok Mansion at Napier Road made waves as the most expensive collective sale in history in terms of unit land price, fetching $1,218 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr).

Paterson Tower, which has twice the gross floor area of Eng Lok, will fetch $1,064 psf ppr.

The 19-storey block will be torn down to make way for a high-end luxury development with apartments selling at more than $2,000 psf, Mr Cheong told The Straits Times yesterday.

‘I think we paid a fair market rate for the site, as it’s one of the largest sites in the Orchard Turn area,’ he said.

With a potential gross floor area of 254,112 sq ft, the Paterson Tower site can accommodate a 24-storey condominium with about 108 units of 2,000 sq ft each, said real estate agent United Premas, which marketed the site.

Property consultants told The Straits Times yesterday that while high, the price fetched by Paterson Tower was no surprise. In fact, the sale price was below the residents’ asking price of $280 million.

Mr Lui Seng Fatt, head of investments at Jones Lang Lasalle, said: ‘The supply of prime sites in Districts 9 to 11 is still quite tight, especially sites that are sizeable enough to produce more than 100 units.’

Source : Straits Times - 20 Mar 2006