SGHOUSING.COM 新加坡房地产网

Master developer sets new record for bungalow land last month at $1,130 psf

Sentosa Cove Pte Ltd - often criticised in property circles in the past for a lack of transparency - has for the first time revealed minimum reserve prices for its land parcels.

It is offering six seafront bungalow lots for individual bidding starting at $890 per sq ft of land area, as well as two man-made islands on an en bloc basis for development into a total of 38 bungalows. All sites are sold on 99-year leases.

The master developer of the upmarket housing district shaping up on Sentosa Island also revealed yesterday that it achieved a benchmark price of $1,130 psf for a seafront bungalow plot it sold on Oct 12. This surpassed the previous $1,039 psf record in the location set at an auction in August this year.

The two islands that SCPL is offering on an en bloc basis to developers are Sandy, with 145,442 sq ft of land, and Pearl, with 159,737 sq ft. Each can be developed into 19 bungalows. Developers can bid for Sandy Island alone, with a minimum reserve price of $410 psf, or for both Sandy and Pearl, with a reserve price of $403 psf. They cannot bid for Pearl alone. The tender for the islands closes on Nov 22 and the award will be based solely on price.

The latest six bungalow sites that SCPL is offering on an individual basis will be awarded to the highest bidders through an expression-of-interest exercise that closes on Nov 14. The plots range from 8,126 sq ft to 18,555 sq ft. Most have 0.8 plot ratio - the ratio of potential gross floor area to land area.

Six bungalow plots sold on Oct 12 fetched between $942 and $1,130 psf. Singaporeans bought four of the six sites, including the one that went for the record unit land price. The buyers of the two other plots were from Ireland and Malaysia. SCPL started selling land parcels at Sentosa Cove’s Southern Residential Precinct in August this year.

The Southern Precinct will have 918 homes, or 37.5 per cent of the total 2,446 homes to be developed at Sentosa Cove. The rest will be in the Northern Precinct, where SCPL began selling land in late-2003. Land has already been sold for virtually all of the 1,528 homes slated for the Northern Precinct.

Source : Business Times - 1 Nov 2006

If built, the S’pore project will be the first such in Asia

Instead of sporting a Versace bag or wearing the well-known couture’s dresses, shirts or pants, you could be staying in a Versace suite.

Singapore may soon be the site of Asia’s first hotel and condominium by Versace, a name more familiar in the fashion world than housing and hospitality circles.

Arab investors are now talking to the authorities here about a project costing a whopping $1 billion, which would include an ultra-chic, ultra-luxurious hotel with 500-600 rooms.

Sharjah-based Emirates Investment Group (EIG) yesterday announced plans to invest at least $1 billion in Singapore’s hotel and leisure industry. But chairman Sheikh Tariq bin Faisal Al Qassimi, speaking at the official opening of EIG’s Singapore joint venture investment arm Emirates Tarian Capital (Tarian), declined to give details, saying the group prefers to do so only after negotiations are completed.

‘Discussions are at a crucial stage, and it is hoped that we can conclude this investment, which is estimated to be in the region of at least $1 billion, in the coming months,’ he said.

However, BT understands from sources that EIG, already involved in developing a similar eight-storey resort/apartment tower project called the Palazzo Versace Dubai, plans to introduce the Versace brand here. The Singapore Palazzo Versace would only be the world’s third after the Dubai property and the Palazzo Versace Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.

The Gold Coast property - a luxury resort of 205 rooms, 72 condominium units and a private marina developed by Australian listed Sunland group - is the world’s first fashion-branded hotel, and is described as the evolution of the Versace lifestyle, ‘a place of Renaissance splendour and elegance’.

The whopping cost of the Singapore project is due to the House of Versace’s insistence that all furnishings are of its own design and of Italian origin. ‘Every meticulous detail of architecture and decor, down to the delicate china settings, envelops the Palazzo guests in an ambience that is pure Versace,’ an EIG brochure gushes.

Ultra-luxurious condominium units, complete with Versace furnishings, would be sold to help defray the cost of the Singapore project, though owners could lease them back to the hotel.

The Palazzo Versace would not be EIG’s first project here. In a joint venture with local party Koh Ong & Partners Management Services, Tarian recently bought the 36-unit Horizon View condominium in Cairnhill Road for $113 million.

According to Tarian’s managing director, former banker Kunalan Sivapuniam, Tarian, which he founded a couple of years ago and in which he has a 30 per cent stake, has sunk about US$300 million into various other investments here, including some listed companies and other private equity.

‘Strategically located in Singapore and leveraging on its extensive networks, Emirates Tarian is well positioned as the gateway to both capital and investment opportunities in the Middle East and Asia,’ Sheikh Tariq, a member of Sharjah’s ruling family, said yesterday. ‘Although opportunities across different sectors and industries will be of consideration, the group will be focused on exploring opportunities to invest in the hotel and leisure sectors in Asia.’

The group also intends to explore opportunities for Shariah-compliant financial products, as well as the feasibility of setting up a branch of its Karachi-based Emirates Global Islamic Bank, which was established in December 2004 and has six branches in Pakistan.

China, which has a sizeable Muslim community, and Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, are also high on EIG’s list of investment plans in the Far East.

Sheik Tariq said that while the group obtains returns in ‘three digits’ on its investments in the Middle East, it will settle for returns of at least 15-20 per cent here.

Source : Business Times - 1 Nov 2006