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Tender for the freehold site closes on March 3

THE owners of The Vermont at Peck Hay Road in the Cairnhill area are the latest to put up their prime district homes for collective sale, tapping the current uptick in the luxury residential market.

The indicative price for the freehold Vermont is about $76 million, translating to $750 per square foot of potential gross floor area inclusive of an estimated development charge of $9 million. Based on this, a new condo on the 40,375 sq ft freehold site could break even at about $1,100 psf, say analysts.

CB Richard Ellis, which is handling the sale of The Vermont, says recent collective sale transactions in District 9 include Emerald Lodge at $803 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr) and Habitat II at $876 psf ppr.

The Vermont site is zoned for residential use with a 2.8 plot ratio and a maximum height of 20 storeys under Master Plan 2003.

The tender for The Vermont closes on March 3.

Property agents and home owners in the prime districts have been busy launching collective sale tenders, riding on the current upturn in sentiment in the luxury housing segment. That has improved developers’ appetites for replenishing their landbanks.

Recent launches include Eng Lok Mansion near Botanic Gardens, Angullia Mansion near Orchard MRT Station and Kim Yam Mansion off River Valley Road. In addition, there is a slew of properties at various stages of readiness for an en-bloc sale launch in the prime districts like Cairnhill, Angullia Park, Orchard Boulevard, River Valley, St Thomas Walk, Ardmore Park and Nassim, say property consultants.

With a relatively huge potential supply of en-bloc sites slated for release this year, and finite demand from developers, the race is on to get collective sales organised quickly and tenders launched as soon as possible.

The Vermont comprises two apartment blocks at 9 and 11 Peck Hay Road. The project was built in the mid-1980s.

Source : Business Times - 16 Jan 2006

11 Kampong Glam shophouses also among properties put on market
RIDING on the current improvement in property sentiment, several investment-sales properties came on the market yesterday.

They include two collective sales at Braddell Park and Lorong K Telok Kurau. Both are offered for sale in separate tender exercises.

As well, a six-storey serviced apartment in the Tiong Bahru/Outram area is going on the block. And in the Kampong Glam area, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is auctioning 11 unrestored conservation shophouse lots on March 8. The shophouses will have to be restored and are being sold on a 99-year leasehold tenure.

In May last year, URA auctioned 10 parcels of unrestored conservation shophouses. The sale prices ranged from $360,000 to $600,000 per parcel, or $295 per square foot to $440 psf of site area.

CB Richard Ellis, which is marketing Braddell Park, says the property is expected to achieve $42 million. This works out to about $330 psf of potential gross floor area (GFA).

No development charge will be payable to tap the full development potential of the 91,361 sq ft freehold site as the location has a high base density equivalent to a 2.072 plot ratio (ratio of potential GFA to land area).

This is much higher than the 1.4 plot ratio stated for the site in Master Plan 2003, which also zones the site for residential use. The site may be developed up to five storeys high.

Another collective sale site launched yesterday comprises two apartment buildings - K Garden and Wen Yuan Court - and a bungalow at 16 Lorong K Telok Kurau, being marketed by Jones Lang LaSalle. Developers may bid for the three properties, adding up to 46,473 sq ft in freehold land area, individually or combined.

Sources say the price expectation for the combined three is around $25 million, which works out to about $386 psf per plot ratio, including a development charge. The site is zoned for residential use with 1.4 plot ratio and a maximum height of five storeys.

Over in the Tiong Bahru area, Colliers International is marketing a six-storey serviced apartment at 3 Seng Poh Road which sources say has an indicative price of about $12.5 million. The freehold property is said to be put up for sale by mortgagee United Overseas Bank. The mortgagor was Kim Koon Garment Industries, BT understands.

The property has a land area of 9,143 sq ft and a GFA of 27,451 sq ft. The building has an eating house on the first storey, a car park on the second and third storeys, and 61 serviced apartments occupying the upper levels.

Colliers’ executive director Grace Ng, who will be auctioning the property on Feb 8, says buyers may continue operating the building as a serviced apartment or apply to convert it into a boarding house/budget hotel.

Source : Business Times - 12 Jan 2006

Owners said to be asking for $108m, slightly more than the top bid in 1999

ANGULLIA Mansion, a stone’s throw from Orchard MRT Station, is back on the collective sale market - and this time the owners are said to be asking for $108 million or about $960 psf of potential gross floor area including a development charge of about $12.5 million.

This is slightly more than the $105 million top bid the freehold property drew when it was previously put on the market in late 1999. The requisite approval level from majority owners could not be secured then. But this time around, owners of 20 of the 21 apartments are understood to have signed the collective sale agreement at a price of about $108 million. The last owner is expected to do so soon.

Keck Seng group, which is said to own four apartments at Angullia Mansion, has consented to the collective sale.

A price tag of $960 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr) is about 10 per cent higher than the highest unit land price fetched for a collective sale last year - $876 psf ppr for Habitat II. However, DTZ Debenham Tie Leung, which is marketing Angullia Mansion, has set its sights on an even higher benchmark - the $1,020 psf ppr at which the 99-year leasehold Orchard Turn site was sold to CapitaLand and Sun Hung Kai Properties last month.

CapitaLand has since given a breakdown of its bid, imputing a land price of $1,130 psf ppr for the project’s retail component which will make up 70-75 per cent of total gross floor area, while the land value for the residential component is a lower $700 psf ppr.

Angullia Mansion has a land area of 44,730 sq ft. The site is zoned for residential use with a 2.8 plot ratio under Master Plan 2003. The maximum height is 36 storeys.

The site can accommodate about 56 units averaging about 2,000 sq ft. DTZ is expecting strong demand for the site given the improved take-up rate for luxurious and lifestyle apartments. In the vicinity, units in SC Global’s BLVD project fetched prices of as high as $2,200 psf in October last year, DTZ pointed out in a statement.

The tender for Angullia Mansion closes on Feb 9.

Source : Business Times - 11 Jan 2006

OWNERS of apartments at Angullia Mansion - a short walk away from the plum, hotly-contested Orchard Turn property site - are hoping to cash in on this upswing in the area’s prestige.

They have become the latest owners of an ageing property prepared to sell en bloc.

Property consultancy DTZ Debenham Tie Leung, which is handling the sale, said the freehold 21-unit seven-storey property, just off Orchard Boulevard near the Four Seasons Park project, could match or surpass the $1,020 per sq ft per plot price that the Orchard Turn site notched up. This works out to $115 million.

Last week, The Esquire in the Mt Elizabeth area was launched for collective sale at an expected price at $791 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr).

‘With the proposed Orchard Turn development, Angullia Park will potentially be one of Singapore’s most posh residential addresses,’ DTZ Debenham Tie Leung said. It expects the property to attract ‘very keen interest’ given the improved take-up of luxury apartments, citing the success of the nearby BLVD, which has consistently achieved record prices, the highest being $2,200 psf last October.

DTZ Debenham Tie Leung’s director Tang Wei Leng said that given the Orchard Turn price, Angullia Mansion, within walking distance of the Orchard Turn site, ‘is likely to achieve prices at the same level or more’.

This is not the first time Angullia Mansion has been put up for sale. The 44,730 sq ft site was offered for sale back in December 1999, the year that private home prices shot up 33 per cent. In contrast, the estimated rise last year was 3.8 per cent.

Back then, the tender attracted five bids. The highest price offered was $105 million, said DTZ, when the owners reportedly wanted about $120 million, excluding development charge. A unit there last changed hands in November 2002 at $2.25 million, or $871 psf.

An industry source said the project is unlikely to obtain the Orchard Turn price: ‘That’s a different kettle of fish. Orchard Turn has a huge mall and it is on top of Orchard MRT station.’

Angullia Mansion can be developed into a 36-storey condo with 56 units of about 2,000 sq ft each. To jack up the plot ratio to 2.8, an estimated development charge of $12.5 million is payable, DTZ said. The tender closes on Feb 9.

Source : Straits Times - 10 Jan 2006

More potential sellers are entering market and raising prices to unattractive levels

LAST year was a collective sale bonanza for lots of home owners but prospects of a repeat performance this year are not looking so hot.

It is the old story of supply and demand. The 37 collective sale deals last year were more than double 2004’s number, but quite a few developers have now replenished their land banks and do not need more until they sell their projects.

On the other hand, some owners have raised their asking prices to unattractive levels, said property consultancy Knight Frank. More potential sellers in the collective sale market mean more choices for developers, who can be more selective about the sites they target, consultants said.

Take Orchard Road, which is hotter than ever, thanks to the Government’s rejuvenation efforts and the strong bid for the prime Orchard Turn site.

‘The good price achieved for the Turn site and a similarly good price expected for the Somerset site will raise price expectations for properties in the vicinity,’ said Knight Frank executive director Foo Suan Peng.

Orchard Road is seen as a blue-chip strip regionally so sites in the area generally have no trouble luring developers with deep pockets.

The area’s recent developments have been a godsend for owners who have managed to cash in, like those in Emerald Lodge at Emerald Hill Road. Knight Frank said the site was sold last week to a foreign private investment firm for $45.2 million. The owners have reaped more than 50 per cent over what their units would have got individually.

But for those who have yet to sell, unrealistic demands could well backfire. If their asking prices are above what the market can bear, developers will go elsewhere, said Mr Foo.

Owners at the 30-unit The Esquire at Mount Elizabeth know the feeling. They put their block up for collective sale last May for $32 million. There were no takers then, but they relaunched the site on Thursday at the same price, hoping Orchard Road fever might spur developers to open their pockets wider.

Credo Real Estate executive director Tan Hong Boon, said the relaunch is timely after Orchard Turn sold for a higher than expected $1.38 billion. He said there were 10 projects in the Cairnhill area looking to sell collectively, including Horizon View and The Vermont, but their success will depend a lot on their expectations.

Knight Frank’s Mr Foo has already seen some owners raising their expectations. Chesterton International research head Colin Tan said Orchard Road is the ‘playground’ for investors and prices would have raced ahead of fundamentals.

Last year’s total investment sales rose to about $13.5 billion, up an impressive 59.4 per cent over 2004, said Knight Frank. ‘Residential collective sales blossomed to a height of activities that was not witnessed since the boom of 1999,’ it added, citing the $2.09 billion of deals done last year.

Its research director, Mr Nicholas Mak, said the strong momentum in collective sales could continue this year amid economic growth and a positive property market outlook. But to a large extent, rising asking prices could reduce the number of deals done, he said.

Source : Sunday Times - 8 Jan 2006