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mr funny
18-08-06, 17:28
Top Print Edition Stories
Published June 29, 2006

Sentosa Cove land sales top $1b

Master developer in the money to tune of over $500m, moves to release sites in southern precinct


By KALPANA RASHIWALA


(SINGAPORE) The master developer of the upscale waterfront housing district emerging on Sentosa Cove has sold over $1 billion worth of sites for development in the district's Northern Precinct or North Cove since late 2003.


http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/7473/200606295mw1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Because of the strong demand the developer, Sentosa Cove Pte Ltd (SCPL), is now moving on to sell land in its Southern Precinct or South Cove.

Rough estimates by BT show that SCPL is clearly in the money with its land sales on Sentosa Cove - to the tune of more than half a billion dollars for North Cove.

SCPL's general manager Margaret Goh said, without commenting on the profit estimate: 'It's not just about money. What we're doing here is creating a unique lifestyle of prime waterfront living in an exclusive enclave which is yet so close to the CBD. This is probably unmatched in Asia.'

'The strong demand for land parcels for development on Sentosa Cove has led us to expedite our launch plans for South Cove, and we now envisage that the various developments on Sentosa Cove will be substantially completed by 2010, two years ahead of schedule.

'In fact, the timeline for realising the entire Master Plan for Sentosa Island, including the integrated resort, has also been brought forward from 2012 to 2010.'

South Cove is generally regarded as more prime as it faces the Southern Islands, compared with North Cove, part of which overlooks the Tanjong Pagar and Pulau Brani container terminals.

To date, SCPL has sold land parcels that can be developed into 88 per cent of the total 1,528 homes planned for North Cove.

It plans to finish selling the remaining land in North Cove by the end of Q3 this year.

These sites involve:


Three remaining bungalow plots in the Hillside Collection at the foot of Serapong Hill to be sold by private treaty;


Lakefront Collection, a batch of 15 bungalow sites facing Serapong Pond and Serapong Golf Course, to be offered en bloc to developers through a three-week-long expressions of interest exercise to be launched soon; and


Marina Collection, comprising two condo plots totalling 239,200 square feet of land area, which can be developed into a four-storey condo with about 170 units. The condo parcel is likely to be launched for tender in about a month.

The Lakefront Collection bungalow plots, because they face a pond, will not have berths for boats unlike the waterway facing bungalow lots sold earlier.

Nonetheless, developers and owners can extend structures over the pond, which could be used for pavilions, gardens, jacuzzis or infinity pools.

Sentosa Cove is being developed on 118 ha of mostly reclaimed land on the eastern edge of Sentosa Island.

SCPL, through its parent Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC), bought the land from the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) for a reported sum of close to $800 million, in two stages.

It paid for 83 ha of land on 103-year lease in North Cove in 2003 and at the same time inked an option to buy the remaining land - South Cove - within three years in exchange for paying an option fee.

SLA confirmed yesterday that SDC exercised the option on April 12 this year for South Cove (about 35.35 ha) with a new 103-year lease from that date, but it declined to confirm the size of the land premium and option fee.

Besides the land premium paid to SLA, SCPL has also spent about $250 million in infrastructure works and subdividing the land into smaller parcels for sale, primarily on 99-year leases, according to earlier reports.

Sentosa Cove will eventually have 2,500 homes, about 60 per cent of which will be in North Cove.

The other 40 per cent or 972 homes on South Cove will comprise 156 bungalows and 816 condo units.

SCPL will kick off land sales for South Cove with the auction of 12 bungalow parcels on Aug 25.

It will be conducted jointly by Christie's Great Estates and Colliers International. This will be Christie's Great Estates' first auction in Singapore.

And like North Cove, which featured three man-made islands with bungalow plots set, South Cove will feature two such islands, named Sandy and Pearl, with a total of 39 bungalow plots.

These islands may be sold en bloc through an expressions of interest exercise, or the bungalow lots on the islands could be sold individually by private treaty or auction.

The rest of the bungalows plots on South Cove are likely to be sold individually. South Cove will also have four condo plots totalling 816 units.

'We hope to finish selling all the sites on South Cove in three years,' Ms Goh said.

mr funny
18-08-06, 17:33
Property
Published June 29, 2006

South Cove plots may fetch more than North Cove
Dozen parcels will be auctioned by Christie's and Colliers on Aug 25


By KALPANA RASHIWALA


THE 12 plots for bungalow development on Sentosa Cove's Southern Residential Precinct, or South Cove, going under the hammer on Aug 25 are expected to surpass the top prices fetched by similar-facing parcels sold in North Cove over the past year.


http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9679/bt433211828062006on0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Choice precinct: Artist's impressions of a South Cove waterway bungalow (above) and seafront bungalow


The South Cove plots are expected to be about 20-25 per cent higher than North Cove's. Based on these estimates, the prices for the new bungalow parcels at the coming auction could top $6 million per plot.

The 99-year leasehold plots have land areas ranging from 6,927-11,123 square feet.

Market watchers are expecting their prices to range from $550 to $650 per square foot (psf) of land area.

'The fury of competitive bidding may drive prices even higher, especially for the seafronting plots,' suggests a property consultant.

This is especially so given the waiting list of over 500 interested buyers since 2004 keen on bungalow lots in Sentosa Cove's Southern Precinct, which is generally regarded as choicer than the earlier Northern Precinct.

Sentosa Cove Pte Ltd (SCPL), the master developer of the upscale waterfront housing district, has appointed Christie's Great Estates and Colliers International to conduct the auction at 3pm on Aug 25 at Sentosa Cove's Sales & Information Centre.

The auction parcels comprise two waterway bungalow plots, one site facing the fairways of Tanjong Golf Course and nine seafronting parcels. Berths can be built only for the waterway bungalows.

The seafronting plots - which face the Southern Islands - are generally considered the choicest plots. SCPL, Christie's and Colliers declined to comment on pricing expectations for the coming auction, but some market watchers forecast the seafronting plots may fetch $600-$650 psf, compared with the highest of $500 psf for a seafront bungalow plot earlier this year at North Cove.

The sole fairway-facing plot at the auction is expected to sell for more than $600 psf, while the two waterway fronting plots could go for $550-$600 psf, suggest observers, again higher than the $455 psf top price for a waterway plot in North Cove this year.

'The auction will help to benchmark prices at South Cove,' said SCPL general manager Margaret Goh.

In addition, the auction will help SCPL clear some of its backlog of demand for South Cove. 'But more than that, it will help us unlock the value of South Cove by staging an event that will put Sentosa Cove on the global platform through Christie's Great Estates, which markets only the choicest properties around the world,' Ms Goh added.

Christie's and Colliers will market the properties for two months. It will be Christie's Great Estates' first auction in Singapore.

Bidders must pre-register with Colliers.

As with earlier landed property sales on Sentosa Cove, foreigners, including permanent residents, will be given fast-track approval within 48 hours from the Land Dealings (Approval) Unit of the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) to buy landed property. This clearance has to be given before the auction.

The auction will be conducted by Colliers' veteran auctioneer Grace Ng and Graeme Hennessy, an award-winning auctioneer appointed by Christie's Great Estates affiliate Ken Jacobs. Both Mr Hennessy and Mr Jacobs are Australians, and Mr Hennessy has auctioned land parcels at Sanctuary Cove on Australia's Gold Coast.

SCPL will have access to Christie's Great Estates' international network to market the property.

Colliers's Ms Ng expects 'overwhelming response from both local and foreign buyers for this prestigious launch'. Mr Jacobs says Singapore's commercial hub status in the Asia-Pacific will boost Sentosa Cove's appeal to international investors.

mr funny
18-08-06, 17:39
Top Print Edition Stories
Published July 3, 2006


CityDev tipped to win coveted Sentosa site
Sources say it has edge over Lippo; both are partnering Westin for hotel component


By KALPANA RASHIWALA



(SINGAPORE) The race for a hotel, commercial and condo site at Sentosa Cove is said to have narrowed to two contenders - City Developments and Lippo.


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The Quayside Collection: The proposed development on Sentosa Cove will have hotel, commercial and condo components


The site is expected to be awarded soon and sources are tipping CityDev as the likely winner for the 99-year leasehold site.

Interestingly, sources say both parties are teaming up with the same hotel operator - Westin, which is part of the Starwood Hotels & Resorts group - to operate the 320-room hotel in the proposed development.

Industry observers suggest CityDev's bid price for the site, which is called the Quayside Collection, could be slightly over $300 million. This works out to around $420 per square foot of the proposed development's maximum potential gross floor area of 718,588 sq ft.

Market watchers say that the award of the site will mark the return of the Westin brand to Singapore after an absence of over four years. Westin Hotels & Resorts used to manage the two hotels in the Raffles City complex until its contract expired at the end of 2001.

But the Quayside Collection award is not based primarly on price. Proposals are evaluated on the hotel concept, the strength of the prospective hotel operators, positioning and branding of the hotel, development budget and source of capital, as well as the offer price and payment terms and structure, according to information released earlier in a statement on the site.

The land parcel was offered through an expression of interest exercise which closed on April 28. The land parcel comprises a plot for a seven-storey hotel with up to 320 rooms, two plots slated for a three-storey commercial (retail) project with about 61,700 sq ft of gross floor area, and two plots designated for development into six-storey condos with a total of up to 236 units.

The hotel will face the marina at Sentosa Cove and will be the first and only hotel in the upmarket waterfront housing district.

Elsewhere on Sentosa Island, though, there are currently three hotels and resorts totalling 733 rooms. Excluding the latest hotel in the Quayside Collection, another three new hotels/resorts are slated to open between this year and 2008.

The hotel and commercial plots are compulsory components of the Quayside Collection sale. And while the condo plots are optional, their inclusion in the package has been seen as the sweetener to draw bidders to develop the hotel and commercial plots.

After all, the first two condos on Sentosa Cove - Ho Bee's The Berth by The Cove and Frasers Centrepoint's The Azure - have sold like hot cakes.

CityDev, too, is not new to Sentosa Cove. The property giant headed by Kwek Leng Beng has teamed up with TID to develop a 264-unit condo in the upscale waterfront housing district on a landmark site gracing the entrance to the Marina Basin. The 15-storey condo - the highest allowed on Sentosa Cove - is expected to be marketed very soon, possibly this month with an average price touted to be $1,300 psf.

This is not the first time CityDev will be partnering Starwood here.

CityDev, Hong Leong Holdings and TID are developing a luxury hotel at Tomlinson Road that will be managed by Starwood under its upscale St Regis brand.

The expression of interest exercise for the Quayside Collection is said to have attracted seven to eight bids. Bidders are said to have included Pontiac Land group and hotel chain Marriott. The initial list of contenders was eventually narrowed down to CityDev and Lippo, sources say.

mr funny
18-08-06, 18:01
Singapore Companies
Published July 21, 2006


Kwek family members buy 8 Oceanfront apartments


TEN members of City Developments Ltd's controlling Kwek family have bought a total of eight units at the group's Oceanfront @ Sentosa Cove condo, which were selling like hot cakes last week.


The units cost between $3 million to $4.25 million each, after discount. On the whole, the prices range between $1,421 psf to $1,500 psf after discount.

The buyers were given the same 18 per cent discount offered to members of the public at the time that the options were signed, CDL said.

On top of that, an additional 2 per cent preferential discount was given to two buyers - the spouses of CDL chairman Kwek Leng Beng and managing director Kwek Leng Joo - as allowed under the company's preferential discount scheme.

The biggest of the eight units, measuring 2,992 sq ft, was purchased by Kwek Leng Beng's wife, Cecilia, for $4.25 million. The price she paid for the third-level unit works out to $1,421 psf. Kwek Leng Joo's wife, Ong Siew Gim, bought a 2,077 sq ft apartment on the eighth floor for $3 million.

The Kwek brothers' sisters - Lee Cheng and Bee Heong - acquired a unit each for $3 million and $3.12 million respectively.

The Kwek brothers' niece Patricia Yeo and her husband Suchad Chiaranussati bought a fifth-floor unit for slightly over $3 million, while the brothers' nephew Vincent Yeo purchased an apartment on the fourth level for about $3 million.

Kwek Leng Keow and his wife Sharon - the brother and sister-in-law of another CDL director, Kwek Leng Peck - bought an apartment for $3.1 million. Kwek Leng Peck's niece Michelle also purchased a unit.

The 264-unit condo is more than 85 per cent sold. The price was initially $1,300 psf for 'early birds' but has since risen by 2 to 3 per cent.

mr funny
18-08-06, 18:11
Top Print Edition Stories
Published July 25, 2006


CityDev to sink $580m into Sentosa Cove project
The entire hotel, commercial and condo project is slated for completion by end-2009


By KALPANA RASHIWALA


(SINGAPORE) City Developments will spend $580 million in total development cost for a 99-year leasehold hotel, commercial and condo project called The Quayside Isle on Sentosa Cove, the group's executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng said yesterday.


http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/4852/bt449125124072006rf5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Cheers! (From left) Darrell Metzger, CEO of Sentosa Leisure Group; Chia Ngiang Hong, Group GM of City Developments; Kwek Leng Beng, chairman of City Developments; and Jennie Chua, chairman of Sentosa Cove Pte Ltd. Ms Chua said the decision to award the site to CityDev was based on a combination of creative concept and price.


This sum includes the $255 million land price that the listed property group will pay for the 523,246 sq ft plot, called the Quayside Collection, to Sentosa Cove Pte Ltd. The latter is the master developer of the upscale housing district coming up on Sentosa island.

CityDev has appointed Starwood to operate the 320-room hotel in the development under its Westin brand, confirming an earlier report by BT. The seven-storey Westin Quayside Isle Resort & Spa will have about 320 rooms and is expected to be operational in 2008. It will mark the return of the Westin brand to Singapore after an absence of about seven years. Westin Hotels & Resorts used to manage the two hotels in the Raffles City complex until its contract expired at the end of 2001.

The six-storey condominium in The Quayside Isle development will have up to 236 units and is expected to be launched in the second half of next year.

Asked how the development is likely to be priced compared with the slightly over $1,300 psf average currently being achieved for the group's 15-storey The Oceanfront @ Sentosa Cove condo which sold like hot cakes recently, Mr Kwek said pricing for the new condo would depend on demand at the time of launch.

The entire Quayside Isle development is slated for completion by end-2009. 'Our plan is to develop The Quayside Isle along the lines of Balboa Island in Newport Beach, California,' Mr Kwek said.

He also touted The Quayside Isle as 'another golden opportunity not to be missed' for those who want a piece of high-end, exclusive real estate.

The Quayside Isle's three-storey commercial component will have 61,702 sq ft of gross floor area. The lower two floors will be for retail use while the top floor will be for small office, home office (Soho) units. The entire commercial component is likely to be held for rental income although CityDev officials did not discount the possibility of the group selling this portion en bloc to a single buyer if the price is right.

The Quayside Isle development can have a maximum gross floor area of about 718,588 sq ft. Based on this, the $255 million price that CityDev is paying for the site reflects a composite unit land price of $355 psf per plot ratio. This was slightly higher than the $343 psf ppr minimum reserve price that Sentosa Cove had set for the plot.

The hotel and commercial plots are mandatory components of the Quayside Collection sale. And while the condo plots are optional, their inclusion in the package has been seen as the sweetener to draw bidders to develop the hotel and commercial plots.

Sentosa Cove Pte Ltd chairman Jennie Chua said the decision to award the site to CityDev was based on a combination of creative concept and price. The expression of interest for the site attracted five bids in all. The other four bids are understood to have come from Pontiac Land, Far East Organization, Marriott, and Lippo. Interestingly, Lippo too had named Westin as the proposed operator of the hotel component.