GuocoLand bags Casa Meyfort for S$320m
GuocoLand bags Casa Meyfort for S$320m
Deal said to be signed before latest cooling measures and is below reserve price of S$340m
Wed, Jul 11, 2018
Tan Hwee Hwee
GUOCOLAND on Tuesday announced that it has exercised the option to buy freehold condominium, Casa Meyfort along Meyer Road through a collective sale for S$319.88 million.
The price works out to about S$1,580 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), including an estimated development charge of S$57.2 million.
The Business Times understands that this could be one of the last few collective sales for a private residential property to be hammered out before the newly tightened cooling measures kicked in on July 6.
Some observers believe GuocoLand stuck with the pre-July 6 option despite the cooling measures because freehold sites in the vicinity are rare and the project is of a manageable size. Also, any new deal elsewhere would now be subject to higher transaction costs under the more punitive ABSD regime that took effect on July 6.
The freehold residential property along Meyer Road spans some 7,919 sq m (85,249 sq f) in land area. It was completed in the 1990s and comprises 76 apartment units.
Under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Master Plan 2014, the site is zoned for residential use with a gross plot ratio of 2.8.
Located along Meyer Road, the condo boasts a good view of the Central Business District, the sea and the Mountbatten Road landed housing estate, and is within 600 metres of the upcoming Katong Park MRT station on the Thomson-East Coast Line.
The tender for Casa Meyfort was launched last December at a reserve price of S$340 million and closed in January this year without a deal.
It was relaunched in April with S$340 million disclosed as the asking price. The reserve price then was not disclosed. That tender closed on May 21 based on a previous report.
GuocoLand said it would draw on internal resources and bank borrowings to finance the acquisition and development of the property.
Edmund Tie & Co, the marketing agent for the collective sale, could not be reached for comments.
