THE property market has not yet fully recovered from last year's onslaught of cooling measures, going by first weekend sales at one of this year's most-anticipated condo launches. The Florence Residences in Hougang released 200 units for its first phase of sales on Saturday, of which close to 60 units or 30 per cent were sold. The 1,410-unit condo project is this year's first mega launch. Developed by Logan Property, Florence Residences sits on the site of Florence Regency, the privatised HUDC estate that was sold en bloc in October 2017. In February, Logan Property (Singapore) executive director Chng Chee Beow had told The Straits Times that between 400 and 500 units were expected to be released on March 2, depending on interest during the preview weekend. One marketing agent suggested that the smaller release "is just a matter of the developer testing the market given the way things have been for the past few months since cooling measures". The sales are "decent", he added. In January, Allgreen Properties’ Fourth Avenue Residences sold 70 out of 168 units released on its launch weekend. In November last year, Oxley Holdings' Kent Ridge Hill Residences moved 116 units out of 250 launched on the first weekend. A Logan Property spokesman told The Business Times: "We're confident of our product, especially with the two MRT stations (Kovan MRT and the future Cross Island Line around the project." The average selling price was close to S$1,400 per sq foot (psf), on the lower end of the S$1,400 psf to S$1,500 psf range that Mr Chng had earlier indicated. DBS research analysts estimate Logan's breakeven price is S$1,340 psf. Logan Property has hired five agencies to market the project - PropNex, ERA, SRI, OrangeTee & Tie and Huttons Asia. Almost all of the sales were booked on Saturday. PropNex chief executive officer Ismail Gafoor told BT: "Today, buyers and investors still have plenty of choices within that radius and vicinity, namely Riverfront Residences, Affinity at Serangoon, The Garden Residences and Tre Ver." More than 200 units have been sold at these four projects in the last four weeks after details of the upcoming Cross Island MRT line were revealed at the end of January, despite February being the Chinese New Year period. "Affinity sold close to 100 units in the last four weeks, Riverfront more than 50, Tre Ver more than 50, Garden more than 20." Mr Ismail added: "Existing developers are still competing aggressively at sensitive pricing and there are only so many buyers in any particular vicinity." PropNex closed almost half of the sales for Florence Residences with most of the buyers being home upgraders looking at two- and three-bedroom units, Mr Ismail said. Two smaller projects, the 92-unit Nyon condo at Amber Road and The Essence, an 84-unit condo off Sembawang Road also clocked their first sales over the weekend. A spokesman for Nyon declined to comment on sales. Source from The Business Times 4 Mar 2019
THE Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has launched a public tender for a 99-year residential site at Clementi Avenue 1, under the Confirmed List of the first half 2019 Government Land Sales (H1 2019 GLS) programme. The site has a permissible gross floor area (GFA) of 57,900 square metres on 16,542.7 sq m of land, which works out to a gross plot ratio of about 3.5 times. The maximum building height is 140m, and the project completion period is 60 months. The tender will close at noon on July 3, batched with an HDB executive condominium site at Canberra Link which will be launched for sale in May 2019 under the H1 2019 GLS Programme. This site can potentially yield up to 640 residential units, URA added. The types of proposed housing, according to URA's planning guidelines, include condominiums, flats or a combination of flats and strata landed houses, with prior written approval. Serviced apartments will not be allowed. The successful tenderer is also required to provide a child care centre (CCC) for infant care and child care services within the development, with a minimum GFA of 700 sq m, computed as part of the permissible GFA for the proposed development. The CCC is estimated to accommodate a total capacity of 150 children (including infants), and comply with the requirements and guidelines of the Early Childhood Development Agency for infant and childcare centres. Source from The Business Times 1 Mar 2019
KENTISH Green at 20 Oxford Road has been put up for collective sale with a S$200 million reserve price. Its owners had previously asked for at least S$230 million for the site. Similarly, owners of St Thomas Ville, located along 38 St Thomas Walk, are again eyeing at least S$58 million for the District 9 property. The 23-unit freehold property was up for sale in August 2018, but the tender was called off due to delays in verification of technical details, stretching late into the year-end holiday season. The 122-unit Kentish Green, with an area of 59,165 square feet (sq ft), has a current balance lease of 76 years. The buyer will have to pay a premium to top up the lease to a fresh 99 years, estimated at about S$20 million, subject to further assessment and increase of plot ratio. Based on the S$200 million reserve price, each owner can net between S$1.5 million and S$1.8 million from a successful sale. Kentish Green's collective sale committee had been told by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) that it had potential permissions to increase development parameters. This includes an increase of its plot ratio from 2.8 to 3.0, an increase of height from six storeys to potentially 28 and an added commercial component of 0.3 per cent of the gross floor area. The site is close to Farrer Park MRT Station and adjacent to an empty plot that will be the Russian Cultural Centre, which houses a Russian Orthodox Church. The tender opens on Feb 28 and closes on March 28 at 4pm. The collective sale committee of St Thomas Ville has decided on a new launch after receiving more than 80 per cent of owners’ consent. Its S$58 million reserve price works out to S$1,816 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr) before factoring in any bonus balcony. There will be no development charge payable for intensification of the site due to a high development baseline. This includes a bonus gross floor area of up to 10 per cent. Under the URA's 2014 Master Plan, St Thomas Ville's 11,407 sq ft site is zoned "residential" with a gross plot ratio of 2.8 and has an allowable height of up to 36 storeys. The Land Transport Authority has said that the site is not subject to a pre-application feasibility study. Since it is located within the central area, the guidelines on minimum average size of 85 square metres is also not applicable. The site is near Great World City and the Orchard Road shopping district. It is also close to established primary and international schools such as River Valley Primary School and Chatsworth International School. Tender for the site closes on March 27, 3pm. “Units at nearby 8 St Thomas and newly-launched RV Altitude have averaged prices of about S$3,220 and S$2,890 psf respectively, signifying the continued interest and demand in private residential units located in prime district 9”, said Tan Hong Boon, executive director of Capital Markets at JLL Singapore, the marketing agent for St Thomas Ville. Source from The Business Times 26 Feb 2019
THE owners of Peace Centre/Peace Mansion have put the prime mixed development site at 1 Sophia Road up for tender again, with a reserve price of S$688 million, or about S$1,474 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr). Peace Centre/ Peace Mansion (PCPM) sits on a 76,617 square feet site, with a gross floor area of slightly over 600,000 sq ft. The property has 32 floors, with Peace Centre being a part-seven, part-10-storey commercial podium block, and Peace Mansion, a 22-storey residential tower with 84 apartments and two penthouses. This is the owners' fifth attempt at a collective sale. In June last year, they were said to be eyeing a reserve price of S$650 million. Under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) 2014 Master Plan, the PCPM site is zoned for commercial use. It has a verified gross plot ratio (GPR) of about 7.89 and may be redeveloped up to a height of 55 metres above mean sea level, said sole marketing agent JLL. An outline planning permission (OPP) from the URA has been obtained recently for a developer to redevelop the site up to the existing GFA of about 604,578 sq ft at an equivalent GPR of 7.89 for a mixed commercial and residential project, JLL said. Based on the OPP, a new development comprising 60 per cent commercial GFA and 40 per cent residential GFA could yield about 362,747 sq ft of retail/commercial space, and some 241,831 sq ft of residential units, JLL said. An application for an in-principle approval for the lease top-up to a fresh 99 years has also been made to the Singapore Land Authority and a reply is expected to be obtained soon. JLL executive director Tan Hong Boon said he expects "strong interest for this site due to the reasonable pricing and its mixed-use approval". "At the owners' minimum price of S$688 million, it reflects a land rate of approximately S$1,474 psf per plot ratio, before factoring in bonus balcony plot ratio for the residential component," he added. The tender closes on April 11 at 3pm. Source from The Business Times 26 Feb 2019