URA launches sale of Toh Tuck Road condo site

[reporter2]

http://www.straitstimes.com/business...oad-condo-site

URA launches sale of Toh Tuck Road condo site

Mar 1, 2017

Wong Siew Ying



A residential site in Toh Tuck Road that can yield about 325 condominium units is likely to draw keen interest from developers.

The 99-year leasehold plot was launched for sale via public tender by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday.

It is the first residential site offered under the confirmed list of the Government Land Sales programme in this half of the year.

The 18,721.4 sq m site is in an established residential area and near Bukit Batok Nature Park and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. It has a maximum gross floor area of about 26,210 sq m and maximum building height of five storeys.

"Some developers may be attracted to this site for its proximity to the Beauty World MRT Station and its manageable size. Therefore, this site is expected to be hotly contested," said Mr Nicholas Mak, research head at SLP International Property Consultants.

Other amenities in the area include Beauty World Plaza, Bukit Timah Shopping Centre, Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School and Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

PropNex Realty chief executive Ismail Gafoor said the site will be attractive to developers because it is "within an established area, well favoured by entrepreneurs and middle-upper income group".

Analysts told The Straits Times that they expect the tender would be competitive, attracting anything from five to 16 bids, as developers are eager to build up their land banks.

CBRE Research expects a "healthy level of interest from more than 10 mid-cap developers who will probably be attracted by the relatively small site and affordable quantum of less than $200 million".

Mr Ismail estimates the top bid could come in at $170 million to $190 million ($600 to $650 per sq ft per plot ratio), while Mr Mak puts it at $185 million to $200 million ($655 to $700 psf ppr).

The last residential site to be launched in the area was in Jalan Jurong Kechil in 2012, on which The Hilford - a 60-year leasehold development - is being built.

"Assuming there are no future en-bloc sales nearby, there is limited new supply in the area. As such, the future launch would face little competition," said Mr Wong Xian Yang, head of research and consultancy at OrangeTee.

The URA said the tender will close at noon on April 11.

Wong Siew Ying

[reporter2]

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real...otly-contested

Toh Tuck site expected to be hotly contested

Separately, JLL launches tender for mixed-use redevelopment site nearby

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

by Lee Meixian
[email protected]
@LeeMeixianBT


PROPERTY consultants expect the first site launched by the government in 2017 to be "hotly contested" due to its location in an established residential precinct and its manageable size.

The residential plot in Toh Tuck Road was put up for sale via public tender by the Urban Redevelopment Authority under the "confirmed list" of the H1 2017 government land sales programme on Tuesday.

The 18,721.4 square metre site can potentially yield about 325 units. The tender closes at noon on April 11.

Property consultants said that the locality has leasing potential and the plot, with its potential to yield a maximum gross floor area of 26,210 sq m, is of a digestible size for mid-cap developers and should result in an affordable price quantum.

The site is also within walking distance to Beauty World MRT station on the Downtown Line, as well as Beauty World Plaza and Bukit Timah Shopping Centre.

JLL national director for research and consultancy Ong Teck Hui expects eight to 13 bidders, with a top bid of S$680 to S$750 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).

He believes that the launched project would interest both owner-occupiers and investors. His analysis showed that the nearby Signature Park recorded 201 lease transactions in 2016, attesting to leasing demand in that location.

"Leasing transactions in Q4 2016 shows that two and three-bedroom units were the most popular among tenants in that development. Besides having affordable rents, the Toh Tuck and Jurong Kechil area also enjoys good accessibility and abundant amenities nearby."

Adjacent to the subject parcel, The Creek @ Bukit, a 260-unit freehold development, has sold 163 units (based on URA's January sales data) at an average price of around S$1,600 psf since its launch in late 2013.

Taking into account current market conditions and the 99-year tenure of the subject site, the latter can expect the selling price of its completed units to be lower than that of The Creek.

Nicholas Mak, executive director at SLP International, expects eight to 16 bids, with the top bid ranging from S$655 to S$700 psf ppr.

Desmond Sim, head of CBRE Research, Singapore & South East Asia, is anticipating more than 10 developers to bid for a quantum of less than S$200 million, which translates to less than S$710 psf ppr.

R'ST Research director Ong Kah Seng is the least bullish, expecting five to eight bidders, with the top land bid at S$560 to S$600 psf ppr.

This translates to an expected selling price of S$1,250 to S$1,320 psf when the project is launched, he said. It would break even at about S$1,100 to S$1,150 psf.

Developers running low on their land inventory and eager to replenish their land bank would participate, partly because the sales proceeds of residential projects through buyers' progress payments can be used to fund the construction costs and thus lower developers' investment cost in the project, he said.

Private residential property buying sentiments also seem to be improving after being subdued from 2014 to mid-2016. A reflection of this is The Clement Canopy, which sold 195 of its 505-unit development in its first weekend launch.

Separately, in the vicinity, JLL on Tuesday also launched a tender exercise for a mixed-use collective sale site where Goh & Goh Building now stands in Upper Bukit Timah Road.

This is the first time that the property has been put up for sale. Built in the late 1980s, the four-storey development comprises seven apartments and seven shops.

More than 80 per cent of the development's owners have consented to the collective sale.

The owners are hoping for a sale price of more than S$120 million, which translates to a land rate of about S$1,460 psf ppr on the potential gross floor area, before factoring in the 10 per cent bonus balcony gross floor area for the residential component.

The land rate includes a development charge payable to the state upon redevelopment of about S$15 million. The tender exercise closes on March 28 at 2.30 pm.