Published June 27, 2014
Just over 30 units sold at The Crest
By Kalpana Rashiwala
[email protected] @KalpanaBT
A
WING TAI-LED consortium is understood to have granted options for a tad over 30 units in
The Crest condominium project along Prince Charles Crescent.
The sales were clinched at a preview over the weekend. The showflat was closed this week but will open again tomorrow for this weekend's sales.
So far one tower has been released, comprising around 130 units, say sources.
The average price for the 99-year leasehold project is believed to be in the region of $1,750-1,800 per square foot before
reimbursement of up to 7 per cent for additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD). The reimbursement will be made upon buyers showing proof of the ABSD payment. This means the effective price to Wing Tai would be lower, at $1,628-1,674 psf assuming the maximum 7 per cent ABSD refund on all units.
Located near Jervois Road and the Chatsworth Park Good Class Bungalow Area, the project comprises 469 units in one- to five-bedroom configurations. The Toyo Ito-designed project, which is about 450 metres from Redhill MRT Station, has three 23-storey tower blocks and four low-rise blocks (each five storeys high).
Units are spacious, generally at least 15-20 per cent larger than the current market norm, say market watchers. For instance, one-bedroom apartments at The Crest average around 650 sq ft, compared with around 440-540 sq ft in most projects these days. The Crest's typical two-bedroom apartments are said to be around 800-900 sq ft, again bigger compared with around 580-700 sq ft in most projects.
Wing Tai is developing The Crest together with retail and property group Metro, and UE E&C's unit Maxdin.
The trio paid $960.28 per square foot per plot ratio for the site at a state tender that closed in September 2012. In April this year, the next door site was sold 14.5 per cent lower, at $820.65 psf ppr to a UOL-Kheng Leong partnership.
The first weekend sales result at The Crest contrasts sharply with that of Commonwealth Towers, where 175 units were sold on its first day of sale (up to 8pm), on May 1. The 99-year project, next to Queenstown MRT Station, has one- to four-bedroom units ranging from 441 sq ft to 1,302 sq ft. The project's developers moved 275 units for the whole of last month at a median price of $1,626 psf, according to developers' sales stats for May released by Urban Redevelopment Authority.
Market watchers say the difference in outcome between the two projects is due to the bigger lump sum quantum for The Crest arising from its units being larger. A typical one-bedder at the project costs $1-1.2 million.
In contrast one bedders (441 to 484 sq ft) at Commonwealth Towers are available at between $750,000 and $850,000.