Developer set to bid $62m for Bt Panjang
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Thu, Jul 23, 2009
The Straits Times
Developer set to bid $62m for Bt Panjang condo site
By Fiona Chan
EVER since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in the United States and Singapore's slide into recession, the Government has been unable to attract bids for residential development sites.
But yesterday - after 10 straight months without selling a single residential site - the Government said it had finally received an offer for a condominium parcel in Bukit Panjang.
An unnamed property developer has committed to bid at least $62 million for the 244,347 sq ft plot, in what consultants say is a further sign of the property market's rebound.
The 99-year leasehold site located along Chestnut Avenue has been sitting on the Government's reserve list since March last year. Sites on the reserve list are made available for sale, but are not launched for tender until a developer puts in a minimum bid.
Now that the Chestnut Avenue plot has been triggered for sale, it will be put up for tender by the Housing Board by the end of this week, HDB said yesterday.
The bid submitted works out to about $120 per sq ft (psf) of potential gross floor area, as compared with the $220 to $270 psf expected when the site was first made available in March last year.
Mr Li Hiaw Ho, executive director of CB Richard Ellis Research, thinks the final winning bid will be $150 to $160 psf of potential gross floor area, or $76 million to $82 million in total.
The Chestnut Avenue site can accommodate a development of about 450 units.
If sold, it will be the first state-owned residential development sale since Sept 10 last year - just before Lehman's demise - when a condo site at the junction of New Upper Changi Road and Tanah Merah Kechil Avenue went for $84 million.
A few days later, on Sept 16, the HDB launched an executive condominium site at Punggol Field, but found no takers.
Now that buyers are returning in large numbers to showflats, developers' confidence appears to be on the rise, according to consultants.
Home buyers have been snapping up more than 1,000 new homes each month since February, culminating in a record 1,825 new homes sold last month - even more than the number sold in August 2007, the peak of the boom two years ago.
Last week, owners of the freehold Dragon Mansion in Spottiswoode Park Road launched the year's first collective sale, with a bullish price tag of $120 million.
Yesterday's offer for Chestnut Avenue shows that there is renewed interest in the market, according to Jones Lang LaSalle's head of Singapore research Chua Yang Liang, who is still only cautiously optimistic.
'The market is stirring and some developers may be excited, but by and large I don't think there's an overall bullishness in the market,' he said.
And he predicts just a handful of bids for the Chestnut Avenue land.
'I'm not sure if the rest of the developers will bite, considering there is still uncertainty in the larger economy.'
The site is located near other property developments such as Maysprings, Cashew Heights Condominium and Hazel Park Condominium. In recent months, units at the 99-year leasehold Maysprings have been sold at just below $500 psf, while those at the other two condos - both freehold - have gone for $560 to $600 psf, said CB Richard Ellis Research's Mr Li.
He expects the developer who buys the Chestnut Avenue site to plan to sell finished units at more than $600 psf. Such entry-level private homes would be targeted at HDB upgraders - a promising segment of buyers unaffected by fears of a possible oversupply of mid-tier and high-end homes.
Analysts are anticipating more developers to resume buying land in the second half of this year, given that the Urban Redevelopment Authority has received inquiries about some of the other sites on its reserve list.
Also, as market sentiment improves, developers have started to pick up land meant for hotel and industrial development.
Earlier this month, $43.9 million was offered for a hotel site in New Bridge Road, prompting a public tender for the plot. And last month, 14 valid bids were received for a hotel site in Short Street.
This article was first published in The Straits Times.
Developer set to bid $62m for Bt Panjang
Went jogging this morning and passed by the actual site which is at the junction of Chestnut Ave and Petir Rd... No where near Maysprings nor Cashew Heights or even Hazel Park as these developments at the other end of Petir Rd (also the more "populated" end as well).
The new site is good for those that really like their greenery and serenity....
Bukit Panjang - A New Town Center
Back then, it did not even have LRT
A town centre, MRT station on the cards for once 'ulu' estate
05:55 AM Aug 12, 2009
by Alicia Wong
TWELVE years ago, it was a sleepy, out-of-the-way estate without even an LRT line.
That was back when Dr Teo Ho Pin was first elected as Member of Parliament for Bukit Panjang. Shortly after, life began to slowly flow into the estate, with the LRT starting its runs in 1999.
Come 2015, it will be connected directly to the MRT system when the Bukit Panjang station, to be located near Ten Mile Junction, is completed.
This, Dr Teo hopes, will spur the constituency's development - and his vision for its first town centre, finally.
As "the heart of the whole town", it would integrate bus, LRT and MRT services as well as commercial and business establishments, said Dr Teo, who is also Mayor for the North West District.
Drawing inspiration from the likes of Ang Mo Kio Hub and Jurong Point, he suggested setting up a lifestyle or entertainment hub for younger residents, "so they have choices. Instead of going to the city area, they can go to Bukit Panjang vicinity and have good food and entertainment".
Other than catering to its 51,000 current residents, a town centre could serve as a "magnet to bring in the people from other areas to increase vibrancy", he added.
Currently, there are two shopping malls and three neighbourhood shopping centres in the estate. A sports complex next to Pang Sua pond is to be completed by next May.
To integrate the transport services, Dr Teo suggested permanently locating the bus interchange between the MRT and LRT stations, which are about 75m apart. "That will be a very important MRT station for Bukit Panjang because it connects us to the whole country," he said.
He is working on long-term plans for the town and will give his feedback for a town centre to the Urban Redevelopment Authority.
Briefing the media yesterday on the transformation of Bukit Panjang over the past 12 years, Dr Teo cited the variety of amenities, such as a community club, library and garden. Five schools have been built, and lift upgrading works are two months to completion.
Overall, the town council has spent some $100 million on improving the estate. Some $8 million of this was drawn from its surplus while the remainder was subsidised by the Government.
Executive Fiona Koh, 22, who has lived in Bukit Panjang for about 10 years, recalled her difficulty in taking buses before the temporary bus interchange was built.
Now, with the upcoming MRT station and hopefully, a town centre, "people from other parts of country who refuse to come to Bukit Panjang because it's so ulu might have less reason to not come", she said.
Client relationship officer Veronica Goh, 28, said residents like herself, living further away from the MRT station, will have some difficulty travelling out of Bukit Panjang.
But having a town centre means residents can do their shopping there, instead of having to commute further, she noted.
Chestnut Avenue -Land Sale (Provisional Results)
Provisional Tender Results – Sale of State Land Parcel Bukit Panjang S10a at Chestnut Avenue
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The Housing & Development Board (HDB), acting as a land sales agent for the Government, launched the sale of the land parcel Bukit Panjang S10a at Chestnut Avenue(248KB) on 23 Jul 09.
2The details of the subject land parcel: - LocationChestnut Avenue Land Area22,700.4 sq m Proposed DevelopmentCondominium Housing Allowable Gross Floor Area (GFA)
[approx. Gross Plot Ratio]47,670.84 sq m (max)
[2.1] Lease Term99 years Minimum Offer PriceS$62,000,000
3The tender closed at 12 noon today with 13 bids received. The details of the provisional tender results, which can also be viewed at http://www.hdb.gov.sg/hdblandsales, are: 4HDB will evaluate the provisional tender results and the tender will be awarded within the next 2 weeks.
Sunny Vista Developments Pte. Ltd
Who is Sunny Vista Developments Pte. Ltd - any idea?