Property
Published November 21, 2006

Amber Road freehold site up for sale at $24m


PRICES for some redevelopment sites in District 15 look set to rise if the owner of a large freehold site in Amber Road gets his asking price of $24 million.

Based on this price, the 22,791 sq ft site, which has a plot ratio of 2.8 and is zoned for residential development, will cost $472 psf per plot ratio (ppr). This is about 12 per cent higher than the recently transacted Rose Garden apartments nearby which sold for $169.8 million or $423 psf ppr.

The latest site is for sale at an auction by Colliers International. There are two single-storey semi-detached houses and two double-storey detached houses on the site.

Grace Ng, executive director and auctioneer at Colliers, says two smaller adjoining redevelopment sites of 2,895 sq ft and 2,722 sq ft are also up for auction, at asking prices of $2.8 million ($441 psf ppr) and $2.5 million ($424 psf ppr) respectively. She says the amalgamated sites could yield 66 apartments of 1,200 sq ft each.

Also reflecting higher selling prices, she says the break-even price would be between $700-$750 psf. Earlier this year, One Amber condominium nearby was launched at $725-$730 psf.

Amber Road has seen plenty of collective sale action, due largely to revised plot ratios in 2003. For example, before the hike in plot ratio, the three properties auctioned by Colliers had a plot ratio of 1.372 for low-rise apartments.

Ms Ng also notes that the current market value for land with a lower plot ratio of 1.4 is about $300-$320 psf ppr, or some 30 per cent less than if it had a plot ratio of 2.8.