http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking...ry_589395.html
Oct 11, 2010
Freehold city condo soon
By Fiona Chan ASSISTANT MONEY EDITOR
Based on these prices, the values of the properties work out to be $2,450 per sq ft (psf) for MBFC, and $1,201 psf of the total potential floor area for Keppel Towers and GE Tower. -- PHOTO: KEPPEL
ONE of the few freehold residential projects to be built in Singapore's city centre is now on the drawing board thanks to an unusual property deal.
The project will be constructed on the land in Tanjong Pagar where Keppel Towers and GE Tower now stand and is the result of a rare swap of properties between two companies.
K-Reit Asia, the real estate investment trust that owns Keppel Towers and GE Tower, is selling the two freehold office buildings to Keppel Land for $573 million. In return, Keppel Land will sell its one-third stake in Phase One of Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) to K-Reit Asia for just over $1.4 billion. Keppel will reap a net gain of about $321 million from selling the asset.
Based on these prices, the values of the properties work out to be $2,450 per sq ft (psf) for MBFC, and $1,201 psf of the total potential floor area for Keppel Towers and GE Tower.
Keppel plans to redevelop the office buildings in Hoe Chiang Rd diagonally opposite Amara Singapore into a high-rise condominium with shops and restaurants on the first floor. It will comprise two towers of 620 apartments in all.
The developer has already obtained outline planning permission from the Urban Redevelopment Authority to redevelop the site, with a plot ratio of 5.6 and a total gross floor area of 481,800 sq ft.