Far East wins Ten Mile site

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/...73795,00.html?

Published February 24, 2010

Ten Mile Junction site draws robust bids

By EMILYN YAP


(SINGAPORE) The first government land sale tender to close after measures were announced last Friday to cool the property market managed to draw some solid bids.

A 99-year leasehold residential site at the junction of Choa Chu Kang and Woodlands roads - which houses Ten Mile Junction - drew a top bid of $164 million or $437 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr).

Far East Organization unit Dollar Land Singapore topped seven rivals with this bid.

Chip Eng Seng's CEL Development put in the second-highest bid of $148.3 million or $395 psf ppr.

The top two bids are not too far from market predictions in early January, even though the government has just introduced anti-speculation measures - a seller's stamp duty on residential property bought after Feb 19 and sold within a year, as well as a lower loan-to-value limit of 80 per cent for all private housing loans.

The response to the latest government land tender 'suggests that some developers think the measures will not have a significant impact in the longer term', said Knight Frank chairman Tan Tiong Cheng.

Going by the tender results, Colliers International research and advisory director Tay Huey Ying said some developers are 'realistically bullish' and there is still confidence in the mass-market sector.

Still, consultants point out that competition for land seems to have eased from a few months back. Ms Tay noted that bids for sites in the second half of last year were usually much higher than expected.

Jones Lang LaSalle South-east Asia research head Chua Yang Liang noted that there was just a 10 per cent gap between the top and second bids this time around. The gap can be as large as 20-30 per cent when the market is hot, he said.

Other participants in the tender that closed yesterday included Sim Lian Group and a tie-up between Frasers Centrepoint and NTUC FairPrice Co-operative. The lowest bid came from Soilbuild Group, at $71.2 million or $190 psf ppr.

The 1.56-hectare site is occupied by the three-storey Ten Mile Junction. The first two levels comprise commercial space with a gross floor area (GFA) of 121,191 sq ft, while the third houses an LRT station.

The winning developer will gain control of the commercial component. It can also build a residential development with a GFA of 254,394 sq ft on top of Ten Mile Junction. The residential project could yield some 200 apartments.

Going by consultants' estimates, the average selling price of the residential units could range from $700-$850 psf.

At the 99-year leasehold Mi Casa nearby, launched last year, three caveats were lodged for transactions at $658-$731 psf in January and February.

http://www.straitstimes.com/Money/St...ry_494153.html

Feb 24, 2010

TEN MILE JUNCTION SITE

Bid 2 years ago: $61 million

Top bid now: $164 million

Suburban plot draws eight bids with Far East unit submitting top offer

By Joyce Teo

http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIM...0224/b24-1.jpg

IN A striking sign of how the property sector has rebounded, a site that failed to sell two years ago when it attracted an offer of just $61 million has now received a bid of $164 million in a new tender.

Eight developers placed bids for the suburban plot that can accommodate residential and commercial development.

The top offers for the site at the junction of Choa Chu Kang and Woodlands roads were all in a fairly tight range, with Far East Organization's Dollar Land Singapore on top with a bid that beat market expectations.

It offered nearly $164 million, or $436.65 per sq ft (psf) of gross floor area, about 10 per cent more than the $148.28 million or $394.80 psf offered by second-placed Chip Eng Seng's CEL Development.

Sim Lian Land was next with $138.89 million or $369.79 psf.

Other bidders included a joint venture between Frasers Centrepoint and NTUC FairPrice Cooperative, and Soilbuild Group Holdings, which came in last with a bid of just $71.23 million.

CBRE Research had expected bids to range from $135 million to $150 million.

The $164 million bid could reflect a price of $50 million to $70 million for the commercial podium, with the developer possibly selling the apartments for around $700 psf to $800 psf, consultants said.

In April 2008, the site attracted just two bids of $61 million and $45.68 million when its sale tender closed. The bids were rejected as being too low.

The site, to be co-located with the Ten Mile Junction LRT station on the third storey of the podium block, will be near the future Bukit Panjang MRT station, part of the future Downtown Line 2 and due for completion by 2015.

Property consultants said the results showed that demand for land was still fairly strong, particularly coming after the Government's recent measures to pre-empt a property bubble.

The Government has imposed a duty on sellers who offload property within a year of purchase, and lowered the maximum loan-to-value amount buyers can borrow from 90 per cent to 80 per cent.

Knight Frank chairman Tan Tiong Cheng said: 'The top three bidders are the more experienced players familiar with the suburban market.

'Their bids suggest they would think the recent measures would not affect prices in the longer term.'

With fewer sources of private land, developers are chasing government sites as they need to replenish land banks, said Colliers International executive director (investment sales) Ho Eng Joo.

He said the cooling measures will affect the sales market more than developers' demand for land.

In the short term, some potential buyers will want to wait and see if prices will fall, experts said.

But those who are already planning to buy will likely go ahead.

Ms Christina Sim, Cushman and Wakefield's director of investment and capital markets, said the one-year timeline for the seller's duty is relatively short and unlikely to affect the market much.

Still, an analyst who declined to be named said: 'The latest announcement begs the question - what conditions would qualify as a stable market? If transactions are above 1,000 units a month, that's probably a warning sign.'

[email protected]

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking...ry_494482.html

Feb 24, 2010

Far East wins Ten Mile site

Eight developers placed bids for the suburban plot that can accommodate residential and commercial development.


FAR East Organisation's Dollar Land Singapore has been awarded the residential site at the junction of Choa Chu Kang Road and Woodlands Road, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) announced on Wednesday.

The company submitted the highest bid of $164 million for the 15,645.2 sq m site, or $436.65 per sq ft (psf) of gross floor area, which is about 10 per cent more than the $148.28 million or $394.80 psf offered by second-placed Chip Eng Seng's CEL Development.

Eight developers placed bids for the suburban plot that can accommodate residential and commercial development. The 99-year lease site failed to sell two years ago when it attracted an offer of just $61 million.

The top offers for the site at the junction of Choa Chu Kang and Woodlands roads were all in a fairly tight range. Sim Lian Land offered the third highest bid of $138.89 million or $369.79 psf.

Other bidders included a joint venture between Frasers Centrepoint and NTUC FairPrice Cooperative, and Soilbuild Group Holdings, which came in last with a bid of just $71.23 million.

The site, to be co-located with the Ten Mile Junction LRT station on the third storey of the podium block, will be near the future Bukit Panjang MRT station, part of the future Downtown Line 2 and due for completion by 2015.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mr funny

Feb 24, 2010

Far East wins Ten Mile site

Eight developers placed bids for the suburban plot that can accommodate residential and commercial development.

FAR East Organisation's Dollar Land Singapore has been awarded the residential site at the junction of Choa Chu Kang Road and Woodlands Road, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) announced on Wednesday.

The company submitted the highest bid of $164 million for the 15,645.2 sq m site, or $436.65 per sq ft (psf) of gross floor area, which is about 10 per cent more than the $148.28 million or $394.80 psf offered by second-placed Chip Eng Seng's CEL Development.

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Propertism School Leaving Exam (PSLE)

Read the following two articles carefully and then answer the questions that follow.

SINGAPORE, 10 October 2003 - Singapore Press Holdings Limited today announced that it will be putting its Times House site at Kim Seng Road for sale by tender next week, a move which is in line with the Group’s policy to divest its non-core assets.

It will invite bids on Wednesday, October 15, 2003. The tender will close at 3 pm on November 18, 2003.

The 10,485-square metre (112,859 sq ft) site, strategically located at the junction of Kim Seng Road and River Valley Road, is zoned in the 1998 Master Plan for Residential use, with the first storey for commercial, at a plot ratio of 2.8 and a building height of up to 25 storeys.

Business Times 12 Mar, 2005

Wheelock Prop may make $116m from Cosmopolitan

By KALPANA RASHIWALA

WHEELOCK Properties (Singapore) could reap a pretax profit of about $116 million from The Cosmopolitan condo on the former Times House site, based on the average $1,100 per square foot (psf) price at which it is selling the project at a preview that began this week.

The $116 million profit calculated by analysts is a handsome gain considering that it nearly matches the $118.88 million price ($376.20 psf ppr) the listed property group paid for the site in late 2003.


Propertism School Leaving Exam (PSLE) Question 1

Why was a District 9, freehold site at River Valley Road priced at $376.20 psf ppr, whereas a District 23, 99-year leasehold site at Teck Whye at $463.65 psf ppr?

a. District 23 is more prime than District 9, because 23 is greater than 9.
b. Teck Whye has LRT (BP14) but River Valley does not.
c. River Valley is inside the river hence it's prone to floods.
d. It's because of Propertism.

Propertism School Leaving Exam (PSLE) Question 2

Why was a District 9, freehold condo at River Valley Road (The Cosmopolitan) sold by the developer at $1,100 psf, whereas a 99-year leasehold condo at "Angsuah" (The Metropolitan) is now selling above $1,200 psf?

a. District 3 is more prime than District 9, because 3 is smaller than 9.
b. "Angsuah" has Redhill MRT (EW18) but River Valley does not.
c. The word "Metro" is more prestigious than the word "Cosmo".
d. It's because of Propertism.

Propertism School Leaving Exam (PSLE) Question 3

Which major religion in the world says that: Properties should only be bought. Not sold. Property prices will always go up in the long term, simply because paper money will eventually lose all its value.

a. Commoditism.
b. Goldlam.
c. Antiquity.
d. Propertism.

Propertism School Leaving Exam (PSLE) Question 4

The Straits Times (Feb 22, 2010) quoted the Prime Minister, a staunch believer of the Propertism religion, "A home, an ___________ asset in Singapore, is a nest-egg, said Mr Lee."

Please fill in the blank with one of the following words.

a. depreciating.
b. stable.
c. useless.
d. appreciating.

From the example given, using the successful bid price and the final selling price...of two developments, it seems to suggest that the project would be sold above $1000 psf... Anyway, Far East would have control over the commercial development. Is it a strategic move to increase their commercial hold? perhaps island wide?

guess they would like to monpolize the market.

BTW, the game of monopoly, which most of us played when young, also supports propertism always buying land and building porperties and never selling unless absolutely necessary.