380-unit exec condo launching in Sengkang

[reporter2]

http://www.straitstimes.com/premium/money/story/380-unit-exec-condo-launching-sengkang-20130712

380-unit exec condo launching in Sengkang

Published on Jul 12, 2013


A 380-UNIT executive condominium (EC) called Lush Acres at Fernvale Close in Sengkang will be launched tomorrow.

While prices have yet to be officially released, Lush Acres will be "competitively priced with affordability in mind", said City Developments (CDL) group general manager Chia Ngiang Hong in a statement yesterday.

Unit sizes range from 915 sq ft for a three-bedder to 1,722 sq ft for a five-bedroom unit.

The project is near the Layar LRT station, the Greenwich V mall and the upcoming The Seletar Mall.

CDL's Verspring Properties lodged a bid of $135 million for the 151,781 sq ft site last November, which works out to $296.50 per sq ft (psf) per plot ratio (ppr). It pipped five other bids including JBE Development's $134.9 million offer - or $296.20 psf ppr - which it edged out by a whisker.

Analysts said last year that the break-even price is expected to be between $560 and $610 psf, and the estimated selling price is likely to range from $670 to $720 psf.

The project consists of three 25-storey blocks and one 22-storey block.

Some units will have a "balcony entrance" allowing people to enter the living room via the balcony, which "simulates the entrance experience of landed living", CDL said yesterday.

The project will also have an "Agri-Cube hydroponic farm... that allows residents to try their hand at growing fresh vegetables by utilising hygienic hydroponic technology in a conducive, cool environment", the developer added.

This is CDL's sixth EC project after The Florida, Nuovo, The Esparis, Blossom Residences and The Rainforest. It is expected to be completed in 2016.

Applications open tomorrow and close on July 21. Bookings will be taken on Aug 17.

MELISSA TAN

[reporter2]

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/archive/saturday/specials/property/sengkangs-lush-acres-open-registration-tomorrow-20130712

Published July 12, 2013

Sengkang's Lush Acres open for registration tomorrow

CDL expects the EC to be well received as it will be competitively priced

By ong chor hao

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/archive/saturday/sites/businesstimes.com.sg/files/imagecache/image_300x200/BT_20130712_CHLUSH12_660865.jpg
Lush Acres: There will be 380 units of between three and five bedrooms available in four blocks. The units range from 915 sq ft to 1,722 sq ft. Those eligible have until July 21 to submit electronic applications. - PHOTO: CDL

[SINGAPORE] City Developments Limited (CDL) will start taking applications for its 380-unit executive condominium (EC) Lush Acres from Saturday.

Eligible homeseekers have until July 21 to submit electronic applications to register their interest in the development in Sengkang's Fernvale Close.

Bookings will be accepted on Aug 17, the developer said yesterday.

The 99-year leasehold development, CDL's sixth EC project, is sited near Layar LRT station and has access to several expressways; it is also near several schools and amenities such as the shopping mall Fernvale Point and the Punggol Reservoir Park Connector.

The 380 available units in four blocks will each have between three and five bedrooms; the units range from 915 square feet to 1,722 sq ft in size.

Pricing information is not yet available. Nearby, units at the Topiary EC sold for $677 per square foot (psf) to $818 psf, while units at CDL's H20 Residences condominium project sold for $897 psf to $977 psf, the latest caveats lodged with the Urban Redevelopment Authority show.

Chia Ngiang Hong, CDL's group general manager, said of Lush Acres: "CDL expects this EC to be well received as it will be competitively priced, with affordability in mind." He cited the development's convenient location, exclusivity and the many amenities in the area as its plus points.

CDL said potential buyers can benefit from the project's "attractive and affordable" prices, given that land value in the area is appreciating.

Two nearby private residential plots were recently sold for much higher than the $296.50 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) which CDL paid for the site last November. CDL believes this will translate into higher selling prices for those developments.

UOL Group's Secure Development won the tender for a land parcel in Sengkang West Way, next to Lush Acres, at $488.84 psf ppr in April; a consortium comprising Frasers Centrepoint's FCL Topaz, Far East Orchard Limited and Sekisui House was awarded a plot adjacent to that, in Fernvale Close, for $533.01 psf ppr last month.

Lush Acres is the latest EC to be introduced in recent weeks. More than 1,000 applications have been put in for Qingjian Realty's 512-unit Ecopolitan in Punggol, which will be launched on Aug 3.

Another high-profile EC project, Hao Yuan Investment's 653-unit Forestville project in Woodlands, launched for sales last month. It had been barred from doing so for six months over unapproved changes to its development plans.

Demand has been steady, with about 265 units sold as at yesterday. Forestville's launch coincided with a new debt servicing framework for property loans that came into play two weeks ago, but units have continued to move since then.