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View Full Version : Pheng Geck site draws 13 bids, led by $114.8m offer



reporter2
07-07-12, 00:48
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/archive/friday/premium/singapore/pheng-geck-site-draws-13-bids-led-1148m-offer

Published June 29, 2012

Pheng Geck site draws 13 bids, led by $114.8m offer

Construction group Santarli's bid is just 0.9% above closest rival OUE's

By Kalpana Rashiwala


HOME-GROWN construction group Santarli yesterday emerged as top bidder for a 99-year private condo site at Pheng Geck Avenue.

The site near Potong Pasir MRT Station drew a whopping 13 bids. Analysts say this reflects developers' confidence in a choice city-fringe site near an MRT station.

The top bid from Santarli Corporation - at $114.8 million or $628.22 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) - was at the upper end of expectations. Santarli's bid came in $1.05 million or 0.9 per cent above the next highest offer of $622.47 psf ppr by Overseas Union Enterprise (OUE) unit OUE Reef Development.

Santarli executive director Chan Thiam Seng told BT yesterday that the group's breakeven cost will be slightly above $1,000 psf and it is looking at an average selling price of about $1,300 psf for its proposed project, which it hopes to launch in about nine months. Santarli's scheme involves an 18-storey development with about 240 units, comprising mostly two and three-bedroom apartments, although there will also be some one and four-bedders.

"We're very happy with our bid price because we are paying just around $1 million more than the next highest bid," Mr Chan added.

This will be Santarli's second property development in Singapore after Adora Green in Yishun. Its unit SK Land teamed up with Guthrie GTS to clinch the site for the Housing & Development Board's Design Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) project in 2010. Mr Chan said Santarli is on the lookout for more well-located private housing sites in Singapore. The group already has offices in China, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

Mr Chan co-founded Santarli with two friends, Lee Boon Teow and Sim How Tiong, 29 years ago.

The plot tendered yesterday is the third 99-year private housing site in the vicinity to be sold under the Government Land Sales Programme since 2010.

The first was sold in June 2010 for about $607 psf ppr to Qingdao Construction, which is developing the plot into Nin Residence. The condo was launched last year and based on caveats data, achieved an average price of about $1,225 psf, although smaller units generally sold at $1,300-1,500 psf, notes Credo Real Estate executive director Ong Teck Hui.

In August last year, Tuan Sing clinched the site next to the one tendered yesterday for $567 psf ppr. Interestingly, at yesterday's tender, Tuan Sing's unit Dillenia Land bid $537.93 psf ppr, placing it as the third lowest bidder.

SLP International executive director Nicholas Mak commented that the higher unit land price achieved at the latest tender will give Tuan Sing greater flexibility in pricing strategy when it launches its project. He also notes that the high number of bids yesterday indicates that developers are confident that residential developments located near MRT stations will continue to enjoy robust demand among homebuyers.

Credo's Mr Ong said he would have expected a slightly more more conservative top bid yesterday as Tuan Sing has a time and price advantage on its next-door project. He also pointed to a "fair bit of supply in the area" from other projects near MRT stations including unsold units at Eight Riversuites and Bartley Residences as well as a yet to be launched project at Mount Vernon Road.

ERA Realty Network's key executive officer Eugene Lim highlighted that the land opposite the site tendered yesterday is zoned for commercial development, and a shopping centre the size of Nex may be built on it in future.

Other bidders at yesterday's tender included BBR Property, which bid $112.6 million or about $616 psf ppr. City Developments' unit Verspring Properties came in at nearly $602 psf ppr. Frasers Centrepoint's Opal Star teamed up with Lum Chang's Binjai Holdings for a $600.19 psf ppr bid.

Ecco Development, a unit of Teambuild Land, bid at $591.01 psf ppr and Sin Heng Chan's Buildtec Archiware at $584.44 psf ppr. Also bidding were a tie-up involving Maxdin, BPK Development and Ryobi Kiso Holdings unit Ryobi Development, which offered $574.59 psf ppr.

Hock Lian Seng Holdings joined forces with Meadows Bright Development to place a bid of around $571 psf ppr. Other bidders include a Hoi Hup-Sunway consortium ($557 psf ppr), Hiap Hoe's Leng Hoe Development ($527 psf ppr) and Vantage Properties, which placed the lowest bid of $506.19 psf ppr.

reporter2
07-07-12, 00:59
http://www.straitstimes.com/Money/Story/STIStory_816333.html

Top bid for Potong Pasir housing plot beats expectations at $115m

Published on Jun 29, 2012

By Yunita Ong


A RESIDENTIAL site in Potong Pasir attracted 13 developers, with Santarli Corporation topping the bidders with an offer that beat expectations.

The investment holding company lodged a bid of $114.8 million or $628.2 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr) for the plot in Pheng Geck Avenue.

OUE Reef Development was next at $113.75 million, just $1.05 million behind.

The lowest of the 13 bids for the 99-year leasehold site near Potong Pasir MRT station came from Vantage Properties at $92.5 million or $506.2 psf ppr.

The 4,850 sq m plot can be used for condominiums, flats or serviced apartments and possibly some strata-titled landed homes.

The development can go as high as five storeys with a maximum of 242 units.

Consultants said the top bid works out to an estimated breakeven price of between $1,000 and $1,100 psf with selling prices estimated at $1,200 to $1,400 psf.

'Bidding and participation level was more or less within expectations although the top bid was at the higher end,' said Credo Real Estate executive director Ong Teck Hui.

Experts said the strong interest was due to the plot's good location.

ERA Realty Network key executive officer Eugene Lim noted: 'The site attracted 13 bids primarily because of its city fringe location and the fact that it is near St Andrew's Village and the Stamford American School just down the road.'

DWG's senior manager of research and consultancy, Mr Lee Sze Teck, added that recent development activity nearby could have pushed up its appeal.

'The Potong Pasir area is undergoing a rejuvenation in the past two years with new residential project developments,' he said.

'Projects in the area have also done well, with Nin Residence almost 85 per cent sold and 18 Woodsville 77 per cent sold as of May 2012.'

Mr Lim added: 'The land opposite the Pheng Geck Avenue site, next to Potong Pasir MRT station, is zoned for commercial development and a shopping centre the size of nex may be built.'

This is the third site in Pheng Geck Avenue that the Government has sold in the past two years - and also the priciest in terms of psf ppr, said Mr Nicholas Mak, executive director at SLP International Property Consultants.

Qingjian Realty secured one of the sites with a bid of $607.23 psf ppr in June 2010 while Tuan Sing Holdings landed the other one for $567.31 psf ppr last August.

'The higher land price of (this latest site) will give Tuan Sing Holdings more flexibility in the pricing strategy for its project,' Mr Mak said.

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