St. Regis Residences unit sets new record

Singapore
June 1, 2006, 8.52 pm (Singapore time)


St. Regis Residences unit sets new record



SINGAPORE - A developer sold a luxury apartment in Singapore for a record price on Thursday, breaking an 11-year-old mark set in a property boom before the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis.


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St. Regis Residences, at Tomlinson Road, is to date the most expensive private home, with a benchmark price of more than $3,000 per square foot for a unit of its serviced apartment project.


City Developments Ltd, Southeast Asia's second-biggest property developer, said it sold a serviced apartment in its recently launched St. Regis Residences unit for more than $3,000 (US$1,905) per square foot.

That beat the $2,882 per square foot paid in 1995 for an apartment on Orchard Road, property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle said.

Singapore home prices in the first quarter of this year showed their biggest rise since 2000, but the gains have been led by high-end homes rather than mass-market apartments.

Executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng told reporters the buyer bought three units in the development, including a penthouse. He did not say which apartment went for the record price.

CityDev said the sale showed there was 'pent-up demand' for high-end homes in Singapore. The 173 apartments in the development, which come with optional butler and babysitting services, are being offered for between $4 million and $19 million. -- REUTERS

Top Print Edition Stories
Published June 2, 2006

St Regis Residences sets new record high of $3,000 psf

By ARTHUR SIM


(SINGAPORE) St Regis Residences along Tanglin Road has set a new benchmark of $3,000 psf for property prices - 25 per cent higher than the previous record of $2,400 notched in the mid-1990s.


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Mr Kwek: Says an investor from the Middle East wanted to buy one of the residential towers. The deal did not go through but option is still open


More than one transaction has been done at this price, said Kwek Leng Beng, City Developments Ltd (CDL) executive chairman, at the $6 million showflat opposite the St Regis site yesterday.

So far, CDL has launched 50 units of the 173-unit development and 38 have been sold at an 'early bird special' with an average price of $2,500-$2,600 psf. This works out to about $10 million for a 4,000 sq ft four-bedroom apartment. Prices will probably increase later to the 'preferred average price of $2,800 psf'.

About 60 per cent of the buyers are foreigners.

Mr Kwek said that one investor from the Middle East even wanted to buy one of the two 23-storey residential towers.

The deal did not go through but CDL group general manager Chia Ngiang Hong said that the option was still open.

CDL also received offers to buy the 20-storey hotel tower but this, Mr Kwek said resolutely, 'was not for sale'.

And perhaps with good reason. The development banks on the international appeal of the St Regis brand name, which is owned by Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Among other amenities, the St Regis Residences will be offered the hotel's noted butler service.

In response to a query on the similarities with another 'branded' condominium, The Four Seasons Park, Starwood president (Asia-Pacific) Miguel Ko said that the two developments are not comparable.

Mr Ko, who himself lives at The Four Seasons Park, said that he was taken by the luxury brand association but pointed out that an underground link that was meant to connect the hotel to the residences never materialised. 'You can't send the butler across the street,' he added.

The St Regis management offers a leasing service for owners who want rental returns. The details of this service have not been confirmed but it has led one property consultant to ask if CDL is 'just selling hotel rooms'. Still, even if it is, this seems to be what the jet set wants. The same consultant conceded that St Regis Residences is a 'unique product that justifies its asking price'.

Wallace Chu, Savills Singapore head of research, does not expect to see a buying frenzy, unlike the case at CDL's The Sail @ Marina Bay. Not only is St Regis being sold 'by appointment only', he points out, 'CDL will be targeting a specific market'.

Merrill Lynch analyst Sean Monaghan expects CDL to reap a huge profit from the St Regis project, but he still maintains a 'neutral' call on the stock.

He said that he is not too shocked by the asking prices either. 'It was a shock 18 months ago with the Sail.'

Property
Published June 8, 2006

Foreigners buy 65% St Regis units sold


CITY Developments Ltd (CDL) and its joint venture partners Hong Leong Holdings and TID Pte Ltd have sold a total of 58 units at the 173-unit St Regis Residences, their luxury condominium on Tanglin Road launched just last week.


And 65 per cent of the units have been sold to foreigners.

CDL group general manager Chia Ngiang Hong said: 'Even though viewing has been strictly by appointment only, the response we have received has been unprecedented.'

So far, the foreign buyers are from the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia. CDL says a number of clients flew into Singapore just to view the showflats.

The first batch of units were sold at between $2,500 and $2,600 psf, with apartments starting at $4 million and going as high as $19 million.

CDL's executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng had said earlier that he would have preferred to launch St Regis Residences only after the St Regis Hotel was completed, because he would then have been able to charge a higher price.

For now, CDL says it will make another 30 units available for sale by appointment only - but as expected, the price of selected units will be increased by 2-3 per cent.

St Regis Residence is targeted to be completed by 2008. The 299-room St Regis Hotel will be completed in 2007.