CityDev clinches Futura site for $287.3m
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Published October 25, 2006
CityDev clinches Futura site for $287.3m
Sources say it is likely to develop site into a luxury residential condo
By UMA SHANKARI
(SINGAPORE) City Developments has bagged a freehold residential site at Leonie Hill Road for $287.3 million in a collective sale, sources say.
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The Futura: Owners are walking away with an en-bloc premium of up to 70 per cent
The price paid by the property developer for Futura, which was put up for sale last month, works out to $1,179 per sq ft per plot ratio (psfppr).
CityDev is likely to develop a luxury residential project on the site, market watchers said. Over 150 units of an average 1,600 sq ft each can be built.
The site was awarded to CityDev after the owners' reserve price was met.
DTZ Debenham Tie Leung was the marketing agent.
The 87,034 sq ft site has a plot ratio of 2.8, giving it a maximum gross floor area of 243,695 sq ft. The maximum building height for any upcoming development is 36 storeys. It is estimated that there is no development charge payable.
There currently are 69 units and three penthouses at Futura. With the reserve asking price met, owners will walk away with an en-bloc premium of up to 70 per cent.
Futura's price is comparable to that of the nearby Grange Tower, which was sold for $180 million, or $1,207 psfppr, to Chip Eng Seng last month.
But the numbers are still lower than the record set by Ardmore Point in plush Ardmore Park. Earlier this month, Wing Tai Holdings forked out $201 million for the site, pushing the price of residential land in Singapore to $1,369 psfppr, including a development charge.
With this latest buy, CityDev's land bank, which is estimated to be one of the largest among property developers here, will grow even further. When announcing its first half results in August, the developer said that it has around 6.3 million sq ft of potential residential gross floor area in its Singapore land bank, enough to last about five years.
Going forward, it seems that CityDev will be concentrating its resources on building upmarket residential projects.
The company has said that it will develop at least another three high-end apartment projects within two years to capitalise on increasing prices in Singapore's luxury residential market. The three new developments are all on sites in the prime districts. They are Kim Lim Mansion, for which CityDev paid $251 million ($996 psfppr) in 1999; Boulevard Hotel, which was closed down in 2000 to make way for a plush condominium; and Lucky Tower in Grange Road, which cost the company $383 million ($1,134 psfppr) in May this year.
CityDev's shares closed at $10.90 on Monday. Since the start of the year, its stock has climbed by 25.3 per cent.
