OWNERS of a Novena condominium have sold their homes en bloc in a deal that will reap them almost twice the market value of the flats.

Studio apartment owners at the Pastoral View in Bassein Road stand to receive gross sale proceeds of just over $1 million while the owner of the penthouse could get as much as $4.37 million under the deal announced yesterday.

That is a collective sale premium of about 80 per cent to 90 per cent over current market values, said Credo Real Estate, which brokered the sale.

It is a case of second-time lucky for Pastoral View owners, who tried to sell en bloc in early 2008 but failed after the market turned for the worse.

Two units of giant developer Far East Organization joined forces to buy the Pastoral View site and an adjoining plot owned by OCBC Bank for a total outlay of $122 million. The price for the two pieces of freehold land, which were sold as a single plot, was well below the asking price of between $130 million and $150 million.

The sale price translates to a land rate of about $847 per sq ft per plot ratio, based on an allowable gross plot ratio of 2.8. This includes a modest development charge for the vacant plot at 11, Bassein Road. No development charge is payable for the 10-storey Pastoral View.

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

Credo said the combined plots can accommodate a high-rise tower with 140 condominium units of about 1,000 sq ft on average.

Credo’s deputy managing director, Mr Tan Hong Boon, said Pastoral View was sold at its reserve price, which was about 10 per cent above the valuation price.

The tender for the estate and the adjoining site closed two weeks ago, before the Government introduced measures to cool the property market on Aug 30.

‘The raft of cooling measures introduced by the Government has resulted in some developers turning cautious but many are still keen on prime freehold land parcels with good attributes that are difficult to come by,’ said Mr Tan.

Tuas Technology Park, which is controlled by the estate of Ng Teng Fong and Orchard Parade Holdings’ OPH Marymount, earlier this week successfully tendered for a site in Jalan Eunos.

They paid $257.78 million or $415 per sq ft (psf) per plot ratio, which was 26 per cent above the next bid.

Source: Straits Times, 10 Sep 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