AN associated firm of Roxy-Pacific Holdings has bought the freehold Toh Tuck Apartment site for $33.9 million.

Mequity, which is 45 per cent owned by Roxy-Pacific’s wholly owned subsidiary Roxy Land, will finance the purchase internally and through bank borrowings.

Roxy-Pacific said yesterday the acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on its consolidated earnings and net tangible assets per share this financial year.

The site – in the Bukit Timah area – is 40,449 square feet in area and has a plot ratio of 1.4, which allows it to be rebuilt to five storeys.

The amount Mequity paid equates to $687 per sq ft per plot ratio, including an estimated $5 million development charge.

The seller is Aik Hwa Trading, formerly a small-time developer but now in the building materials business. The existing project comprises 13 units in a four-storey block. The average size of each unit is 2,400 sq ft.

Jeff Goh, head of investment sales for HSR, which marketed the site, said that including the additional 10 per cent gross floor area allowance for balconies, 75 units ranging in size from 590 sq ft to 1,660 sq ft can be built on the site.

‘A new apartment could fetch an average of $1,300 psf,’ he said.

Source: Business Times, 31 Aug 2010

A 16-unit walk-up apartment block in Pasir Panjang has been put up for collective sale for between $26 million and $30 million in the latest addition to the en bloc revival.

The freehold site, at 252 to 258 Pasir Panjang Road, is near the future Haw Par Villa MRT Station and covers 28,263 square feet.

Under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s 2008 Master Plan, it is zoned for residential development with a gross plot ratio of up to 1.4 and an allowable height of up to five storeys.

The total gross floor area allowed is about 43,523 sq ft, after including the additional 10 per cent balcony space, according to marketing agent Credo Real Estate.

The asking price “translates to a land rate of approximately $597 psf to $689 psf on potential GFA, including balconies”, said Mr Karamjit Singh, managing director of Credo.

He added that there would be no development charge. Credo said the site may be configured into about 40 apartment units with an average size of 1,000 square feet.

Ms Christina Sim, director of investment at Cushman and Wakefield, says the asking price is reasonable since the site is freehold and close to major research and educational institutions like Science Parks 1 and 2 and the National University of Singapore.

The tender closes on Sept 23.

Source : Today, 24 Aug 2010

Freshly launched unit at The Scala in Serangoon also up for auction

OWNERS of Newton View have climbed aboard the collective-sale bandwagon, putting their estate up for tender with an indicative price of $153-155 million.

The freehold residential development at 26 Newton Road (between Newton and Novena MRT stations) sits on a 37,577 square foot site with a plot ratio of 2.8 and a permissible gross floor area (GFA) of 105,215 sq ft.

Including an extra 10 per cent of space for balconies, the GFA can go up to 115,737 sq ft. Savills Singapore is handling the tender and expects the winning developer to be able to build a condominium with about 80 units averaging 1,300 sq ft each.

The developer will have to pay an estimated development charge of some $582,000. At the indicative price, the overall cost of the site would work out to $1,460-$1,479 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr).

Savills’ investment sales head Steven Ming reckons Newton View’s location is a selling point. ‘New developments in the area have been substantially sold, reflecting the location’s desirability,’ he said.

Separately, a two-bedroom unit at The Scala in Serangoon – fresh from a developer’s launch last month – has been put up for auction.

Industry watchers say it is unusual for an owner to sell a residential property at auction so soon after a launch. Hong Leong Holdings rolled out the 99-year leasehold 468-unit project in the last week of July. According to official data, 68 units were left that month.

Jones Lang LaSalle is handling this owner’s sale. Its head of auctions Mok Sze Sze said the seller is a regular client who has put other properties up for auction previously, and is confident of selling the unit this way.

DTZ’s senior director for investment advisory and auction, Shaun Poh, said owners typically auction units some time after launch, when a project is close to obtaining its temporary occupation permit (TOP) or has been substantially constructed.

Source: Business Times, 19 Aug 2010

THE collective sale market continues to gain momentum, with two freehold residential sites at Paya Lebar and Hougang up for tender.

Huttons is handling the sale of Charlesville, a five-storey 18-unit development at Upper Paya Lebar Road. Sixteen of the 18 owners have agreed to the sale and the asking price is around $31 million.

The site is 34,160 sq ft and has a plot ratio of 1.4. Charlesville’s existing gross floor area (GFA) is about 42,000 sq ft, but a developer can build a new project with a GFA of up to 52,600 sq ft, including an additional 10 per cent of space allowed for balconies.

A development charge of about $2.9 million will be payable. The tender for Charlesville closes on Aug 18.

Not too far away at Jalan Naung, the four-storey 20-unit Naung Court is also up for sale. Jones Lang LaSalle is handling the tender, and the indicative price is $28-30 million.

The 32,689 sq ft site has a gross plot ratio of 1.4 and can accommodate a five-storey project. The winning developer can build a project with a GFA of up to 45,764 sq ft, subject to payment of a development charge of around $2.7 million.

Naung Court is within walking distance of Hougang MRT station, Hougang bus interchange and Hougang Mall.

Jones Lang LaSalle national director and investments head Stella Hoh reckons the site will attract strong interest, pointing out that new residential launches in the vicinity have enjoyed good take-up rates.

For instance, in June, Kheng Leong sold 173 of 200 units launched at The Minton at Lorong Ah Soo. The median price was $871 per sq ft.

Ms Hoh said Naung Court site is a ‘good bite size’ for private investors, contractors and developers. The tender closes on Sept 14.

Source: Business Times, 11 Aug 2010

The two articles, ‘Selling en bloc? Big gains unlikely’ by Ms Joyce Teo and ‘Signs of another en bloc rush’ by Mr Karamjit Singh and Ms Pamela Kow (July18), present contrasting views on collective sales.

The sub-prime crisis in the United States is a grim reminder of what can happen even to property prices when the momentum of the market is arrested.

The current abysmally low interest rates could tempt even normally prudent financial institutions to extend support to mega building projects, whose promoters mostly have to rely on outside funding.

Those of us who are older have seen enough ‘it can’t happen here’ scenarios to be less sanguine.

Credo Real Estate’s optimism is apparently not shared by others more personally involved.

Where I live, after six months, the elected collective sales committee issued the statement that estate agents who were approached agreed that ‘the estate has potential but sentiment for en bloc sale is relatively weak’.

Narayana Narayana

Source: Sunday Times, 8 Aug 2010

Eyeing the mid-end segment, it will redevelop Balestier site for $80 million

(SINGAPORE) Industrial property developer Global Orion is making its first foray into the local private residential market with a freehold project at Balestier.

It is eyeing the mid-end segment, and hopes to establish itself by offering ‘affordable luxury’.

Global Orion’s director Satia Narjadin shared these plans with BT. The firm sealed the first collective sale of the year when it bought an industrial building at 6 Jalan Ampas in February, and it will be redeveloping the site into a new condominium.

The firm expects to invest a total of around $80 million in the yet unnamed project, which could have about 100 units. The launch is expected to take place in the first quarter of next year, and prices will be in line with those of new projects in the area.

According to caveats lodged with the authorities in June, units of upcoming developments nearby changed hands at $1,029-$1,506 psf.

Global Orion ‘wants to be here for the long haul’ and it is designing its first residential project in Singapore carefully, Mr Narjadin said. For starters, it is not keen to offer shoebox units – the smallest one at this development will measure at least 500 sq ft.

The firm also wants its projects to be both functional and aesthetically pleasing. ‘I don’t want to have to shield my eyes when I go past some of my projects,’ he quipped.

Global Orion was incorporated in 2006 and is a family business. Mr Narjadin’s father started out in the building materials industry more than 40 years ago, and the family has been developing residential and commercial projects as and when opportunities arose, in a few markets such as Indonesia and Australia.

It was on entering the Singapore market that the family decided to set up a vehicle to focus on property development.

Global Orion chose to get its feet wet in the industrial property sector. Compared with residential projects, industrial ones tend to involve fewer regulatory issues, and there are fewer details to take care of, Mr Narjadin said.

Entering the industrial sector was a way to ‘get to know how things work, before we can confidently say ok, we’re ready to do a residential project the right way,’ he explained.

Global Orion has four industrial developments under its belt – the latest being Meissa at Pasir Panjang. It will launch the freehold 58-unit project in the third quarter.

The seven-storey building will be suitable for light industrial firms, and units range from 969-3,595 sq ft in size. Prices are likely to be around $700 per sq ft.

While Global Orion is using the industrial sector as a stepping stone to the residential sector, it will not be neglecting the former. The firm aims to have a balanced portfolio of projects, Mr Narjadin said.

Source: Business Times, 5 Aug 2010

It has an indicative price tag of $171m to $175m

BALMORAL Condominium, located in the prime District 10 area, has been put up for sale by tender with an indicative price tag of $171 million to $175 million, or about $1,866 to $1,910 per square foot per plot.

Marketing agent Savills Singapore said over 80 per cent of owners have agreed to the collective sale. A previous unsuccessful attempt at enbloc sale had been made in 2007 at much lower prices.

The 18-year- old redevelopment site sits on about 57,007 square feet (5,296 sq m) of prime residential land located at 16 Balmoral Road.

The site, which has a development baseline of 91,622 sq ft, already exceeds the permissible plot ratio of 1.6 in the 2008 Master Plan. Hence, no development charge is likely to be payable.

Savills said in its press release yesterday that the sale site can potentially accommodate 65 apartments averaging 1,300 sq ft each, subject to a 12-storey height restriction.

Units on the higher floors can enjoy views of Goodwood Hill.

Balmoral Condominium is located along Balmoral Road – an exclusive and popular address which is minutes’ drive to and from the Orchard Road shopping belt, Newton MRT Station, Balmoral Plaza and prestigious clubs such as The Pines and Tanglin Club.

The property is also within a one-kilometre radius of reputable and popular primary schools such as the Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road) and the Singapore Chinese Girls’ Primary School.

‘We expect strong interest for Balmoral Condominium due to the lack of choice residential plots in the prime districts,’ said Suzie Mok, Savills’ director of investment project.

The adjoining Volari development was fully sold at prices surpassing $2,200 psf last year. The tender for Balmoral Condominium will close at 3 pm on Sept 8, 2010.

Source: Business Times, 3 Aug 2010

Redevelopment could yield about 120 units averaging 300 sq ft each

GOLDEN Flower Group, controlled by the family of Indonesian businessman Nico Po, has sold a majority stake in the company that owns a residential site at 55 Devonshire Road. The buyer is an an associate company of Oxley Land.

The deal is understood to have valued the freehold site at about $1,380 per sq ft per plot ratio inclusive of an estimated development charge of under $2 million.

Working backwards, analysts estimate the lump-sum value of the site would be about $50 million for the transaction.

Golden Flower paid $42 million for the site in 2007.

The 13,404 sq ft plot, which is now bare, formerly housed Mayer Mansion, a 10-unit apartment development.

The plot is zoned for residential use with 2.8 plot ratio – the ratio of maximum potential gross floor area to land area – under Master Plan 2008.

Buyer Oxley, which is controlled by Ching Chiat Kwong, was in the news last year when it launched Suites@Guillemard, featuring what is believed to be Singapore’s smallest apartment unit at 258 sq ft.

Since then, the authorities have been approving development applications with apartment components only if the apartments are at least 300 sq ft each, according a BT report last October.

Oxley could redevelop the 55 Devonshire site into a new project with about 120 units averaging 300 sq ft.

The sale of 55 Devonshire was done through a private treaty deal brokered by DTZ.

In a separate transaction, Knight Frank last week sold at auction a property comprising six adjoining freehold shophouses in Desker Road in the Jalan Besar conservation area at $10.3 million.

The freehold shophouses have two storeys and attics.

The seller, believed to be Claremont Group, operates a 25-room hotel on the second and attic floors.

The hotel will close as Claremont has undertaken to give the new owner vacant possession of the second floor and attics along with the ground floor of one of the units, which serves as the hotel’s entrance and lobby.

The other five ground- floor shop lots are tenanted with leases expiring at various times from year-end to June 2011.

The six shophouses have a combined land area of 6,664 sq ft and a total gross floor area of 11,500 sq ft.

Source: Business Times, 3 Aug 2010

After failed 2008 attempt, it is making another bid, this time with adjoining vacant plot

THE revival in the collective sale market this year is continuing, with a small development and adjoining land parcel in the Novena area the latest to go on sale.

The 50-unit Pastoral View and the vacant plot have a combined asking price of about $130 million to $150 million.

The two sites in Bassein Road have a total land area of 51,395 sq ft and can be built up to some 143,906 sq ft of gross floor area and a height of 36 storeys. They are near Novena MRT station.

Credo Real Estate, which is marketing the freehold sites, said the buyer can choose to build a high-rise tower comprising 140 apartments with an average size of 1,000 sq ft each.

The price translates to a land rate of $904 to $1,043 per sq ft per plot ratio, said its deputy managing director Tan Hong Boon.

This includes a modest development charge of about $157,000 for the plot at 11 Bassein Road to redevelop it.

No development charge is payable for the 10-storey Pastoral View, which was previously put up for sale in early 2008 at an asking price of $95 million without the adjoining plot.

But the market had turned for the worse by the time the tender closed in April that year, and it was not sold.

Credo said buyers can opt to tender for the combined sites or either one.

Pastoral View alone is 34,193 sq ft in size and going for $86.6 million to $100 million. If the sale goes through at the minimum asking price, the estate’s owners will stand to reap at least $1.04 million to $4.56 million each, depending on their unit’s size.

The smaller adjoining plot at 11 Bassein Road is 17,203 sq ft in size. The asking price for the plot alone is about $43.4 million to $50 million. A search shows that it is owned by OCBC Bank.

So far this year, at least 16 sites worth $786 million have been sold en bloc, compared with just one last year at $100.8 million, said Credo.

More sites are expected to be put up for collective sale this year, said Mr Tan.

Source: Straits Times, 27 Jul 2010

OCBC, which has owned a site at 11 Bassein Road in the Novena area since the 1940s, has teamed up with the owners of Pastoral View next door who are doing a collective sale, to sell the two properties together.

Both Pastoral View, which is at 7 Bassein Road, and OCBC’s site, at 11 Bassein Road, are freehold.

‘The sellers are expecting offers in the region of $130-150 million. This translates to a land rate of $904-1,043 per sq ft per plot ratio, after factoring in a marginal development charge of about $157,000 payable for No. 11 Bassein Road, to redevelop the site up to a 2.8 gross plot ratio. No DC is payable for Pastoral View,’ said Tan Hong Boon, deputy managing director at Credo Real Estate, which is marketing the two properties.

More than 80 per cent of owners by share value and strata floor area at the 50-unit Pastoral View have signed a collective sale agreement. OCBC’s next door property is an empty site.

The two sites have a combined land area of 51,395 sq ft and can be developed into a new condo with a gross floor area of 143,906 sq ft. This allows for a 36-storey project with 140 apartments of average size of 1,000 sq ft.

The site is zoned for residential use with a 2.8 plot ratio under Master Plan 2008.

Interested parties can bid for one or both sites.

‘We believe developers would find the enlarged site more attractive because it would offer economies of scale and broaden their offering,’ said Mr Tan.

There will be space for the winning developer to build a showflat before Pastoral View residents move out, Mr Tan said. This means that the developer can market the new project earlier, reducing holding costs and market risks.

Novena is home to office and retail blocks such as United Square, and hospitals such as Tan Tock Seng.

Credo believes that the new residential project will attract medical professionals and medical tourists.

Near Pastoral View, units at D’Ixoras have changed hands at more than $1,240 psf in the past two months, based on caveats lodged.

Source: Business Times, 27 Jul 2010