Wing Tai closes in on Ardmore Point

Singapore Companies
Published October 11, 2006

PROPERTY WATCH
Wing Tai closes in on Ardmore Point

WING Tai Holdings is said to be close to buying the freehold Ardmore Point in prime Ardmore Park for around $200 million.

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Buying spree: Last October, Wing Tai clinched Belle Vue in Oxley Walk (next) for $227.3 million and it may soon pay around $200 million for Ardmore Point (above)

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This works out to a unit land price of about $1,358 per sq ft of potential gross floor area, including an estimated development charge (DC) of $31 million.

The unit land price matches the record set last month for Pin Tjoe Court next door, which was awarded to Pontiac Land Group for $201 million.

CB Richard Ellis brokered the collective sale of Pin Tjoe Court and is doing the same at Ardmore Point, which is being sold through a private treaty.

The tender for Ardmore Point closed on Aug 8 but there was no sale because potential bidders were said to be waiting for the outcome of the tender for Pin Tjoe Court site, which closed on Sept 20.

The thinking was that potential bidders may have been keen on buying both sites with a view to amalgamating them for a more substantial condominium project.

But the whopping $1,358 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr) fetched for Pin Tjoe Court last month caught most market watchers by surprise, as it was 10.6 per cent higher than the previous benchmark of $1,228 psf ppr set for Habitat One across the road in July.

Wing Tai can redevelop the 60,533 sq ft Ardmore Point site into a new condominium with about 95 units averaging 1,800 sq ft. The breakeven cost could be around $1,800 psf or more, analysts say.

Both Ardmore Point and Pin Tjoe Court are zoned for residential use with a 2.8 plot ratio - the ratio of potential gross floor area to land area - and a 36-storey height limit.

The existing 20-storey Ardmore Point has 47 units, according to an earlier report.

Wing Tai recently posted its best financial results since 1997, achieving a net profit of $128 million for the year ended June 30, 2006 - up from $24.4 million the year before.

The property group has been buying prime freehold housing sites through collective sales to restock its landbank and ride on the luxury residential boom.

In May this year it snapped up Newton Meadows through a collective sale for $73 million, or $666 psf per plot ratio including DC. And in October last year it clinched Belle Vue in Oxley Walk for $227.3 million or $666 psf ppr. Wing Tai also bought Phoenix Mansion in Cairnhill Road for $57.9 million or $716 psf ppr in July last year.