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3 developments have combined freehold land area of 137,500 sq ft

CAPITALISING on the momentum for collective sales, three separate residential developments off Thomson Road are joining forces to put the properties up for en bloc sale.

The properties are Lock Cho Apartment, Comfort Mansion and a walk-up apartment block at Jalan Datoh and Jalan Raja Udang.

In terms of permissible gross floor area for redevelopment, the properties together could be the largest collective sale launched so far this year.

The three properties together have a freehold land area of around 137,500 square feet.

A piece of state land of 40,500 sq ft could be incorporated into the project, boosting the total to about 178,000 sq ft.

In terms of potential GFA, it comes up to 500,000 sq ft, given the site’s plot ratio of 2.8 and a height control of 36 floors.

In their first collective sale attempt, the owners are hoping to get $160 million for the combined site, or around $350 per sq ft per plot ratio, factoring in the development charge and state land costs of $14 million.

If successfully sold at $160 million, the owners are expected to get between $300,000 and $500,000 each, a 60 to 80 per cent premium over individual sale.

‘The launch of the Lock Cho Apartment and its adjoining developments marks the first large-scale residential collective sale site in the Thomson Road vicinity in recent years,’ says Tan Hong Boon, executive director of Credo Real Estate, who is handling the sale.

He added: ‘The launch of this centrally located site is timely as the locality experiences an almost absence of such a coveted large site, which many developers are seeking to acquire.

‘We feel it would be more appealing to developers if we can offer them a critical mass in size with regular plot shape for them to enjoy greater efficiency and economies of scale in construction and marketing.’

Mr Tan believes that such a large site will attract listed companies that are at least mid-sized.

He reckons developers can break even on the site at between $580 and $600 per sq ft of potential saleable floor area, with 400 apartment units of about 1,200 sq ft each.

At present, Lock Cho Apartment is a 140-unit development, Comfort Mansion has 17, while the walk-up apartment has eight units.

The apartments are around 30 to 40 years old, Credo says.

The tender for the properties will close on March 27.

Source : Business Times - 23 Feb 2006

ANOTHER group of homeowners have jumped on the increasingly popular collective-sale bandwagon.

This time, it’s the folks at Suffolk Apartments, off Newton Road, who are asking for $29 million collectively through a public tender.

At present, the freehold site has 24 apartment units. Sitting on 20,384 square feet of land, it has a gross plot ratio of 2.8 and a height restriction of 36 storeys.

CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), the marketing agent for the project, said the owners are asking for around $510 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr), inclusive of a development charge of $108,698.

Over 80 per cent of the owners of Suffolk Apartments have agreed to the collective sale, the property’s first attempt.

If they are successful, CBRE’s associate director of investment properties Charles Hoon estimates that the price fetched will be a 55 per cent premium over what each owner would get if they had sold their apartments individually. On average, each owner would receive around $1.2 million.

Mr Hoon reckons that the winning bidder for the site could develop a 36-storey condominium with some 50 units of about 1,100 sq ft each.

He also told BT that the winning developer could break even at about $800 psf, based on the $29 million price.

With the property’s proximity to the Newton and Novena MRT stations in the popular Novena area, Mr Hoon said there have been ‘quite a few enquiries’ about the site from interested developers, though he declined to name them.

Recent collective sale successes around the prime Orchard Road area have generated attention.

Angullia Mansion at Angullia Park, for instance, went to Far East Organization earlier this month at a land cost of $1,058 psf ppr inclusive of development charges.

The tender for Suffolk Apartments will close on March 24.

Source : Business Times - 22 Feb 2006

TWO large freehold residential sites have been put on the market through collective sales - Paterson Tower in prime district 9 with a price tag of $280 million, and Rose Garden at Amber Road with a $167 million price tag.

The asking price of $280 million for Paterson Tower, which is being marketed by United Premas, works out to a unit land price of $1,164 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr). No development charge is payable.

BT understands, however, that the actual reserve price set by the majority owners of Paterson Tower is much lower. The sale was initiated some months ago, before the recent escalation in land values in the Orchard Road belt, as seen by the sale of the 99-year leasehold Orchard Turn site in December at $1,020 psf ppr and this year’s collective sale of the freehold Angullia Mansion for $1,058 psf ppr.

Paterson Tower was last put on the market in 2000 with a reported indicative price then of $240 million or $996 psf ppr. But the owners failed to get the price they were seeking then.

The 114,547 sq ft plot, on an elevated spot at Paterson Hill, is zoned for residential use with a 2.1 plot ratio (ratio of potential maximum gross floor area to land area). It can be redeveloped into a new 24-storey condo with about 120 units averaging 2,000 sq ft each. Based on the $280 million or $1,164 psf ppr asking price, the break-even cost for a new condo will be about $1,600 psf, say property analysts.

The collective sale proceeds will be split equally among owners of the present 72 apartments. Using a figure of $280 million, they will receive about $3.88 million per unit, which is more than double the $1.85 million to $1.9 million that the apartments could fetch if sold on an individual basis, according to United Premas.

Sources say that the Far East Organization group owns six apartments, equivalent to about 10 per cent of share values in the estate. Far East is not among the majority owners who have so far consented to the collective sale, although BT understands that it may join in when a buyer is found.

Over in the Katong area, Rose Garden in Amber Road was last put on the market in 2003 with a reserve price of $169.2 million, or $422 psf ppr. No development charge is payable. However, owners failed to get the price they wanted back then, when the benchmark for the area was the $372 psf ppr paid for the Sea View Hotel site by Marco Polo Developments, now known as Wheelock Properties (Singapore).

This time around, Rose Garden’s owners feel more hopeful about being able to achieve the price they are eyeing, given last month’s sale of the 99-year leasehold Amberville site for $396 psf ppr. While the Amberville site clinched by Far East boasts a superior location with direct sea views, Rose Garden has the superior tenure.

Rose Garden’s current official expected price of $167 million indicated by marketing agent PropNex works out to $416 psf ppr, although sources say the reserve price the majority owners have agreed to for the latest collective sale agreement is much lower - under $400 psf ppr.

Source : Business Times - 21 Feb 2006

Evan Lim & Co beats three other bidders for prime site in en bloc sale

ANOTHER prime property has gone for collective sale - for $32 million - showing that momentum is continuing to pick up in real-estate en-bloc deals.

This time, it is The Esquire, an 11-storey, 30-unit apartment block on Mount Elizabeth, near the famed hospital and behind The Paragon Shopping Centre. Its owners - both investors and owner-occupiers - had failed in earlier attempts to sell the entire block.

Evan Lim & Co, a general building contractor and property developer, beat three other bidders with its $32 million offer.

The price buys a building on a land area of about 16,067 sq ft and a gross plot ratio of 2.8.

The present structure can be replaced by a building of up to a maximum of 36 storeys.

In addition to the $32 million, a $3.59 million development charge is payable. Taking that into account, Evan Lim’s purchase price is about $791 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).

‘This is the highest residential land rate achieved in the Mount Elizabeth/Emerald/Cairnhill location in recent years, and is the third highest in the vicinity of Orchard Road, just after the recent sales of the larger Angullia Mansion and Habitat II,’ said Tan Hong Boon, executive director of Credo Real Estate, which brokered the deal.

Angullia Mansion went to Far East Organization for a land cost of $1,058 psf ppr inclusive of development charges earlier this month, while Habitat II was sold to Wheelock Properties last year for $876 psf ppr.

Mr Tan said Evan Lim could build 20 luxury apartment units with an average 2,000 sq ft size, or 60 boutique units of 700 sq ft each.

He added that each of the 30 apartment owners will get about $1.07 million from the sale, representing a 65 per cent premium over what the apartments would have fetched individually.

Source : Business Times - 21 Feb 2006

ANOTHER day, another sale en bloc.

But this one has caught the property sector’s eye for its size, prime location - and potential payoff for the lucky owners.

The sale of freehold 114-unit Casa Rosita in Bukit Timah could reap the owners $1.7 million each if the property meets their asking price of $300 million. That is 70 per cent above the last sale in the block - a 118 sq m unit that sold last July for $1 million.

The property has huge potential, given its choice location and size - at 267,425 sq ft, it is the largest residential collective site to go on sale in a prime district.

CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) will be marketing it in Hong Kong, China and Indonesia from Monday but the firm has already received interest from a major, privately held Hong Kong-based developer that has residential projects here. Tenders close on March 22.

The previous largest site was the 243,796 sq ft Belle Vue in Oxley Walk, sold by CBRE to Wing Tai last October for $227.3 million. CBRE said it also marketed Belle Vue overseas.

Sentiment in the luxury property market has clearly picked up and recent collective sale deals done at better-than-expected prices have encouraged many owners to revise their asking prices, said consultants.

About 84 per cent of the owners of Casa Rosita agreed to the collective sale, initially demanding $255 million for the property last year. But they revised their asking price to $300 million in line with the recent upswing in luxury home prices.

This prices the block at about $752 per plot ratio inclusive of an estimated development charge of $21.7 million.

Casa Rosita, which was developed by City Developments and completed in 1986, has units ranging in size from 118 sq m to 299 sq m. Its sale is just the latest in what is already turning out to be a busy year.

At least seven collective sale sites were launched in January while this month, sites such as Haig Gardens in Katong and Kai Sheng Court together with an adjoining pair of semi- detached houses at Mar Thoma Road were launched for sale.

And these come after what was a record year for collective sales of residential sites in 2005.

The increased demand has already had an effect on price. Far East Organization last week bagged the freehold Angullia Mansion off Orchard Boulevard for $120 million or about $1,060 per sq ft (psf) per plot.

This compares with the price of $1,020 psf per plot for the prime Orchard Turn site.

DTZ Debenham Tie Leung investment director Tang Wei Leng said of the sale: ‘We have probably achieved the first significant benchmark transaction of the year which is set to boost market confidence.’

Meanwhile, a handful of contractors and developers have placed bids for a collective site at Braddell Park. Its tender closed yesterday.

Source : Straits Times - 16 Mar 2006