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AMBERVILLE was snapped up yesterday for the bumper price of $183 million and in the process became the first former HUDC estate to be sold collectively.

Its 168 owners have plenty to celebrate. The price exceeded their reserve of $171 million and each will get an average $1.089 million for their unit, at least 85 per cent above market value, said sale manager Knight Frank.

‘For a 99-year site, it’s a record price,’ said Ms Tang Wei Leng, director of property consultancy DTZ Debenham Tie Leung.

Far East Organization outbid rivals City Developments, Wing Tai and MCL Land for the Katong site in a tender process that closed on Tuesday.

Its price translates into $396 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), after accounting for a development charge of about $35.2 million and a differential premium of $23.8 million to top up the lease from 71 years to 99 years.

Knight Frank said the price indicates ‘developers’ confidence in the property market’. The price also surpassed recent prices of nearby sites. Centrepoint paid $280 psf ppr in 2001 for a nearby 99-year leasehold site, which is now home to the 612-unit Cote d’Azur next to Parkway Parade.

Recent freehold collective sales in the Katong area were also made at lower levels: Maryland Point site went for $351 psf ppr and the Sea View condominium site for about $370 psf ppr.

Knight Frank said the Amberville site is a ‘rare and substantial’ one where Far East can capitalise on the unblocked views of the sea and East Coast Park.

Amberville is likely to break even above $600 psf to $650 psf. Knight Frank said it can accommodate a condominium of up to 36 storeys, with 474 units of 1,200 sq ft on average each.

The firm also brokered the sale of Eng Cheong Tower, the first 99-year leasehold property to be sold en bloc, and the deal that sparked interest in collective sales of such leasehold properties.

Other ex-HUDC estates, such as Pine Grove and Farrer Court, also hope to land a collective sale.

Next week, the tender closes for the 342-unit Minton Rise - the first ex-HUDC estate to get in-principle approval for a lease top-up to 99 years.

Source : Straits Times - 19 Jan 2006

INDONESIA’S Lippo Group continues to grow its footprint in Singapore. It is close to signing a deal to buy a 55 per cent stake in the freehold 79 Anson Road office block for about $90 million from Pramerica Asia, formerly known as GRA Singapore, sources say.

The purchase price works out to around $830 per square foot, based on the previously reported 108,000 sq ft net lettable area (NLA) that Pramerica Asia owns in the building.

The other 45 per cent of the 23-storey building, which has a total NLA of 197,238 sq ft, is owned by the Central Provident Fund Board, according to earlier reports.

Pramerica Asia will exit the investment with a loss. It bought its space at 79 Anson Road in 2000 for about $135 million or $1,250 psf.

The transaction is Lippo’s second major office acquisition in Singapore in the past couple of years. In August 2004, it bought a substantial interest in 78 Shenton Way - now known as Lippo Centre - in a $151 million transaction that translated to $505 psf of net lettable area. The property is on a site that had about 78 years left of its original 99-year lease then.

Lippo also bought Newton Heights through a collective sale in February last year for $43.6 million. It plans to redevelop the freehold site into a 120-unit condo that is slated for launch this year.

The group’s Singapore-listed vehicle Auric Pacific last month bought Bukit Timah Mansions through a $15.4 million en bloc sale. The property, between Balmoral and Keng Chin roads, is said to have a site area of about 20,000 sq ft. Factoring in an estimated development charge of about $6 million, the acquisition price works out to a land cost of about $510 psf of potential gross floor area. The existing property is a seven-storey block with 10 apartments. There are also car parking lots and a swimming pool.

Lippo has been scouring the island for property investments. It has been bidding at major government land tenders in recent months - including the Business & Financial Centre facing Marina Bay, the plum Orchard Turn site tender which closed last month, and yesterday’s tender for the former Glutton’s Square site also in Orchard Road. Lippo emerged as the second-highest bidder in the Glutton’s Square tender.

Source : Business Times - 19 Jan 2006

Site is first privatised HUDC estate to be sold en bloc

FAR East Organization has made its first residential land acquisition in Singapore’s private sector since the property market peak in 1996-97.

It has bought Amberville at Katong - making it the first privatised HUDC estate to be sold in a collective sale - for $183 million.

This works out to a higher-than-expected $396 per square foot per plot ratio inclusive of an estimated development charge of $35.2 million and $23.8 million to top up the site’s lease from the remaining 71 years to the original 99 years.

Market watchers see Far East’s move - after such a long absence from the private residential scene - as significant.

‘The giant has finally woken up,’ says Knight Frank executive director Foo Suan Peng, whose firm brokered the Amberville sale. ‘It’s an indication from an experienced developer monitoring the market for some time that the current recovery will be for real - not short-lived like we saw in 1999.’

Owners in other HUDC privatised estates will no doubt be hoping that the Amberville purchase will boost their chances of en bloc sales too.

Two sites are currently on the market - Minton Rise at Hougang and Waterfront View, which faces Bedok Reservoir. Several others are in various stages of preparation including Pine Grove, Gillman Heights and Farrer Court.

The owners’ chances of success will depend on two key factors, besides setting realistic asking prices, says Mr Foo. ‘Number one, how prime the location is. And number two, the size of the site. Many former HUDC estates are on huge sites that could generate 1,000 or more new apartments upon redevelopment. Developers may not want to put all their eggs in one basket, in one location.’

The 218,435 sq ft Amberville site can be redeveloped into a new condo of at least 20 storeys, with around 530 units averaging 1,200 sq ft.

Far East’s breakeven cost is likely to be around $600 psf, observers say.

The site is zoned for residential use with a 2.8 plot ratio - the ratio of potential maximum gross floor area to land area.

The new condo will boast unblocked views of the sea, and the site is next to a foot tunnel that connects with the beach.

The tender for Amberville had attracted four bids when it closed on Tuesday this week. Far East’s offer was the highest.

The other contenders were City Developments, MCL Land and Wing Tai, sources say.

The owners of Amberville’s existing 168 apartments will each receive $1.09 million on average - at least 85 per cent more than what their units would have fetched had they been sold individually.

The sale to Far East is subject to several conditions - including confirmation of the baseline gross floor area, the buyer obtaining outline planning permission for a residential development with a 2.8 plot ratio, in-principle approval from Singapore Land Authority to top up the lease to 99 years, and the nod from the Strata Titles Board.

Source : Business Times - 19 Jan 2006

THE Somerset area looks set to become hot property. Prices for en bloc redevelopment sites there will be closely watched, especially now that the latest land sales exercise by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) at Orchard Road/Killiney Road has received a record bid of $1,085 per square foot per plot ratio.

Chez Bright Apartments at 18 St Thomas Walk is the latest property to go on sale in that area. It is marketed by Jones Lang LaSalle, whose regional director and head of investments Lui Seng Fatt believes that any new residential development on the freehold site would be able to sell at $1,500 psf.

The Somerset site is for a mixed development that may include a residential component.

Said Mr Lui: ‘Based on the highest price tendered for the Somerset site, residential units there would have to sell for between $1,700 and $1,800 psf. And these are 99-year leasehold units.’

After factoring in the freehold status of Chez Bright Apartments, and the ‘near prime’ location, Mr Lui said a 15 per cent discount, or $1,500 psf, for the new development on the St Thomas Walk site would not be unreasonable.

The asking price for the 34,402 sq ft Chez Bright site has been set at $61.3 million (including a development charge of $6.3 million) or $640 psf per plot ratio.

The break-even price is around $960-$980 psf.

Five months ago, a larger site also on St Thomas Walk went to Centrepoint Properties for $210 million, or $601 psf per plot ratio.

The present 12-storey apartment block can be developed up to 36 storeys. With a plot ratio of 2.8, the maximum gross floor area is 96,325 sq ft.

There are several new developments in the area already on sale, including Wheelock Properties’ The Cosmopolitan and Guocoland’s Leonie Studios. Still, Mr Lui feels there will be ample demand from foreigners.

‘Foreign investors, especially those from Hong Kong, are looking for this kind of investment grade properties,’ he said.

Source : Business Times - 19 Jan 2006

A 32-UNIT four-storey apartment building at Pasir Panjang Hill is up for collective sale with an asking price of $28 million for the freehold 63,707 sq ft site.

Based on a plot ratio of 1.4 and an additional development charge of about $5.8 million, the site should cost $370 per square foot per plot ratio, and the breakeven cost will be around $660 psf per plot ratio, according to Jones Lang LaSalle’s regional director and head of investments, Lui Seng Fatt. The firm is also the sole marketing agent for the property.

Last month, MCL Land bought Balmeg Court, also in Pasir Panjang, for $79.2 million. This works out to $340 psf per plot ratio for the 182,555 sq ft site. In the same month, Hoi Hup launched the Foliage, an 88-unit freehold condominium off Pasir Panjang Road, at an average $608 psf.

A new residential development of up to 89,190 sq ft of gross floor area with a maximum building height of five storeys can be built on the Pasir Panjang Hill site, although Mr Lui points out that approval from the relevant authorities and a development charge will apply.

On the renewed interest in en bloc residential sites - there were over 30 in 2005 - Mr Lui believes there is still opportunity to ‘unlock the value of old and outdated property’.

He added: ‘The market value of the apartments at its current stage of obsolescence can only fetch a low market value reflected in the state of the property. Through the collective sales process, investors will be prepared to pay a higher value for the new apartments. In short, the difference between the two will be exactly the premium which the existing owners will be enjoying through the collective sale.’

Source : Business Times - 17 Jan 2006