Waterfall Gardens homes sold for about $1,450 psf

Published March 20, 2007

Waterfall Gardens homes sold for about $1,450 psf

Most of the 100 units sold went to overseas buyers: MCL Land chief

By KALPANA RASHIWALA


MCL Land has sold 100 units at its freehold Waterfall Gardens condo at an average price of about $1,450 per square foot, mostly to overseas buyers, the property group's chief executive Koh Teck Chuan told BT yesterday.


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Waterfall Gardens: Artist's impression of the 132-unit condo on Farrer Road. The project has 12 penthouses, of which eight have been sold.


The 77 per cent-owned subsidiary of Hongkong Land is developing the 132-unit condo at Farrer Road. The project will retain the name of the former condo that used to stand on the site.

JTResi, which MCL has appointed as marketing agent for the project, has been previewing the property in Hong Kong, Jakarta and Surabaya since late January.

'In Hong Kong, JTResi sold about 15 units to non-resident Indians. These include people with top international banks,' said Jerry Tan, managing director at JTResi.

Another 25 units were sold to British people and other Europeans based in Hong Kong. Indonesians picked up about 40 units and Singaporeans, 20.

Prices achieved for the 12-storey condo range from about $1,300-plus psf to $1,650 psf, Mr Koh said.

'Prior to our project, condo units in this location were changing hands in the secondary market for around $1,000 to $1,100 psf. So we've set a new benchmark for the area, at least in the current market,' Mr Koh said.

MCL Land's Waterfall Gardens project has 12 penthouses, of which eight have been sold. The most expensive unit, measuring 4,844 sq ft, was sold for $7.9 million. It will have a rooftop pool and entertainment area.

The remaining units in the development are three- and four-bedroom apartments.

Market watchers reckon that assuming the development has a total net saleable area of close to 300,000 sq ft, MCL stands to reap a pre-tax profit of about $160 million from developing the project.

The Singapore-listed developer bought the nearly 161,000 sq ft site in February last year for about $550 psf of potential gross floor area.

MCL's break-even cost for the project could be about $900 psf, industry observers reckon.

Asked about the group's other project launches this year, Mr Koh said MCL has sold 80 out of a total 129 units at Tierra Vue, a five-storey freehold condo at St Patrick's Road on the former Marine Parade Gardens site, at an average price of about $850 psf. MCL began previewing the development shortly before Chinese New Year.

The group's next project launch could be 163 cluster terrace houses on the former SingTel Academy site at the corner of Hillcrest and Dunearn roads.

The 99-year leasehold project is slated for launch in the second half of this year.

MCL Land also has a joint venture with Ho Bee to develop a condominium with about 180 to 200 units on the Holland Hill Mansions site which could be launched early next year.

The duo bagged the site late last year for about $750 psf per plot ratio.