More than 52% of former Rio Casa units sold: joint developer

Sat, Aug 25, 2018


RIVERFRONT Residences in Hougang has sold more than 52 per cent of its 1,472 homes, according to a member of the developing consortium.

The project, launched for sale last month, was swarmed by buyers when overnight property cooling measures were unveiled on July 5.

Mainboard-listed construction firm KSH Holdings, which holds a 35 per cent stake in the project, announced on Friday that it has snagged the S$266.3 million contract to build nine apartment blocks on the site of the former Rio Casa estate. The deal lifts KSH's order book to more than S$577 million, to be recognised progressively up to FY2022. Construction at Riverfront Residences is expected to begin in November and to finish in February 2022.

Besides the 17-storey residential towers, KSH will also build 21 strata landed houses, six shops, two basement car parks, and other communal facilities as part of the contract.

Choo Chee Onn, executive chairman and managing director of KSH, said in a statement that "we are pleased to be entrusted by the consortium to play a dual-role in this project as both a joint-developer and contractor".

"Taking the lead in the construction allows us to play an active role in managing project costs efficiently to optimise margins both for our construction contract and for the development project's profitability amidst the challenging operating environment," Mr Choo added. "We are also pleased that the project has so far resonated well with the market as the consortium continues to monitor the market carefully to push sales appropriately at the right prices."

Riverfront Residence has achieved "average selling prices that are within expectations", KSH said. It was the top-selling project in Singapore last month, fuelled by panic-buying over the cooling measures, with 628 units moved at a median price of S$1,307 per sq ft.

Rio Casa was sold en bloc in May last year to a consortium that also includes developers Oxley Holdings and Lian Beng Group, as well as Apricot Capital, the private investment arm of the Super Group's Teo family. The price tag was S$$575 million.