Frasers to launch 2 more condo projects this year

Singapore
Published January 12, 2007

Frasers to launch 2 more condo projects this year

By UMA SHANKARI


FRASERS Centrepoint will launch at least two more condominium developments this year as it looks ahead to an upbeat property market, said its development and property general manager, Cheang Kok Kheong, yesterday.


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Ready for sale: The 139-unit YewTee Residences is set to be launched this weekend


Buyers can expect the 176-unit freehold St Thomas Suites at St Thomas Walk in District 9 to be rolled out at month-end. Frasers Centrepoint is looking at a price range of $1,600-$2,000 per square foot (psf).

The condominium will have two 33-storey towers, and most of the units will range from 1,800 to 2,600 square feet. There will also be two penthouses of more than 7,000 sq ft each.

Next in line is a 480-unit, 99-year leasehold condominium on Sinaran Drive near Novena MRT, slated to be put on the market in the second half of the year. The project will have two 40-storey towers.

The mid to high-end condo is expected to fetch prices at the upper end of the range in its category after the company paid $238 million - or $507 psf of potential gross floor area - for the site in a government tender last July.

Mr Cheang, who was speaking to reporters at a media tour of Frasers Centrepoint's latest property, the 99-year leasehold ClementiWoods, said that the company is on the lookout for collective sale sites to build up its land bank.

While St Thomas Suites and the Sinaran Drive project can be categorised as high-end, most of the company's other developments cater to the mid-level or mass market, where it is seeing steady growth.

Its stock of units in completed projects stood at about 800-900 nearly two years ago, but since then the number has fallen to 40-50, Mr Cheang said. 'We have already cleared most of the stock, and at very good prices.'

He sees a pick-up in mid-level and mass market prices. 'My feeling is that this market will be quite stable and growing at a reasonable pace for at least the next four or five years.'

For starters, units are moving fast at the mid-level ClementiWoods on West Coast Road. Half of the 240 apartments were bought during a soft launch at the weekend, at about $530 psf on average.