Habitat Properties sells Anderson Green units

Property
Published March 1, 2007

Habitat Properties sells Anderson Green units

New owner expected to hold the 34 apartments for investment

By KALPANA RASHIWALA


HABITAT Properties has sold all 34 apartments at its freehold Anderson Green condominium to a foreign party for about $112 million, BT understands.

The price is believed to work out to $1,519 per square foot (psf) based on the total strata area of about 73,710 sq ft.

The new investor is expected to spruce up the 10-storey Anderson Road development - thought to have been completed about eight years ago - and hold it for rental income. Market watchers do not think it will be redeveloped in the near term because the existing project already maximised the site's current development potential.

The 49,048 sq ft site is zoned for residential use with a 1.6 plot ratio - the ratio of maximum potential gross floor area to land area - under Master Plan 2003, property consultants told BT.

Based on these specifications, the $112 million purchase price reflects a unit land cost of $1,427 psf of potential gross floor area.

'Perhaps the new buyer could be looking at redeveloping the site if it is awarded a higher plot ratio in future,' an observer suggested.

'In the meantime, the new owner could collect rental income and hold the apartments for investment. Of course, there's also the possibility of selling the units on a piecemeal basis for a tidy profit given the strong sentiment for the luxury housing market.'

BT understands that Anderson Green's buyer is Hillcrest Capital (Singapore), a Singapore-incorporated, fully-owned unit of Hillcrest Capital Ltd in Hong Kong.

The Singapore unit's directors are Canadian Lyon Lau and Singaporean Janet Tan.