Ex-HUDC estate in largest en bloc sale
Owners in the 583-unit Waterfront View project to each get about $660,000
OWNERS at an ex-HUDC estate in Bedok Reservoir Road hit the jackpot yesterday after the site was snapped up in Singapore’s largest-ever collective sale.
Each unit at the 99-year leasehold Waterfront View will get about $660,000 - about 65 per cent above the average price of $400,000 the owners could expect on the open market.
The sprawling 583-unit project was sold for $385 million after talks with FCL Peak, a joint venture between Frasers Centrepoint and Far East Organization. The tender was due to close tomorrow.
It is the biggest collective sale transaction in terms of number of units, size and absolute price, said Ms Tang Wei Leng, director for investment advisory services at DTZ Debenham Tie Leung (SEA), which brokered the deal.
Ms Tang said the successful deal will drive the collective sale interest of owners of other leasehold sites.
Waterfront View, with a land area of 809,037 sq ft, dwarfs Westpeak Condominium in West Coast Walk, which, at 311,829 sq ft, had been the biggest freehold collective site sold in recent years.
It is also the second former HUDC estate to be sold after Far East bought the 168-unit Amberville site in Marine Parade Road in January.
The Waterfront View deal brings the total value of collective sales of residential sites so far this year to a whopping $3.1 billion, already well up on last year’s record of $2.2 billion, according to Credo Real Estate.
There were 49 collective sale deals last year, compared with 30 so far this year. FCL Peak’s offer works out to $241 per sq ft of potential gross floor area, inclusive of an estimated differential premium of about $102.2 million to upgrade the site’s 78-year lease to 99 years.
It was above the owners’ $380 million asking price but below the $450 million they had earlier hoped to get at an expressions-of-interest exercise that closed last November.
About 82 per cent of the owners have agreed to the sale, meeting the minimum 80 per cent requirement.
The owners have come a long way since the management council first explored the idea of selling the estate en bloc. The idea was initially raised before last January’s sale of Eng Cheong Tower, which kick-started the collective sale interest in 99-year leasehold projects.
‘Then, some property consultants told us the site was too big so we thought we’ll look at an alternative, which was developing the estate ourselves,’ said the estate’s management council chairman, Mr Kevin Tan, a Waterfront View resident since 1989.
‘But most of the owners preferred to sell it en bloc so we went ahead to look for a consultant. This year, we got the 80 per cent approval in four weeks.’
FCL Peak could develop between 1,400 and 1,600 high-rise units of 1,300 to 1,500 sq ft aimed at upgraders.
Frasers Centrepoint chief executive officer Lim Ee Seng said in a statement yesterday: ‘Upgraders are core to, and will underpin the recovery of the whole Singapore property market. We intend to deliver a high quality product with full condominium facilities.’
Record deal
Some key figures about Waterfront View:
Land area: 809,037 sq ft
Number of units: 583
Selling price: $385 million
What’s being planned: Between 1,400 and 1,600 high-rise units of 1,300 to 1,500 sq ft aimed at upgraders
Source : Straits Times - 25 May 2006
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