Hoi Hup-led group wins HDB project

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Published August 23, 2008

Hoi Hup-led group wins HDB project

It will build 1,200 DBSS flats at Lor1A Toa Payoh

By KALPANA RASHIWALA


THE Housing and Development Board yesterday awarded a Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) site at Lorong 1A Toa Payoh to a Hoi Hup Realty-led consortium that emerged as the top bidder when the tender for the site closed on Tuesday.

The winning bid of about $198.82 million works out to about $160 per sq ft per plot ratio - the highest of three bids for the 103-year leasehold plot.

The consortium also includes Sunway Developments and Hoi Hup JV Development, whose shareholders include Straits Construction and Hoi Hup Realty.

A Hoi Hup spokeswoman said yesterday the group plans to build about 1,200 HDB flats on the site, of which about a third will be three and four-room flats and the rest five-room flats. 'We're looking at launching the project in early second-quarter 2009,' she said.

The average selling price is expected to be around $500 psf and will depend on whether Hoi Hup succeeds in securing exemption of bay windows and planter boxes from gross floor area calculations.

This will hinge on whether Hoi Hup can submit its formal application for the project to the Urban Redevelopment Authority in time to secure provisional permission before Oct 7.

After that date, bay windows and planter boxes will no longer be exempt from GFA calculations.

'We're looking at building a total of five blocks, of which two will be 46 storeys high and with a sky terrace on one of the upper levels (above the 20th floor). The remaining blocks will be 40 storeys high,' the spokeswoman said.

'We have to complete the entire project within four years.'

A Hoi Hup-Sunway consortium is also developing another DBSS flat project, called City View @ Boon Keng. This was launched earlier this year at an average price of $520 psf.

More than 80 per cent of the 714 units have been sold so far.