En-bloc fever heats up with Amber Park, Jervois Gardens

AUG 29, 2017

Ann Williams


The collective sale fever just got a bit hotter with news yesterday of two freehold condominiums up for sale.

Owners at Jervois Gardens, a condo of 17 apartments off River Valley Road, want $68 million for their estate while Amber Park in the East Coast is on the market for a minimum price of $768 million.

Built in the mid-1980s, Amber Park comprises two 27-storey blocks. Under the 2014 Master Plan, the 213,670 sq ft site with a gross plot ratio of 2.8 could accommodate a development of around 24 to 26 storeys.

But the big site has an allowable gross floor area (GFA) of 598,300 sq ft, which means close to 800 units averaging 70 sq m each can be built, said sole marketing agent JLL.

The Amber Road area is an established private residential enclave that is popular with both locals and expatriates, due to its proximity to the central business district and the airport, and its appeal of being only a few minutes' walk to the beach at East Coast Park, said JLL.

"There are not many sites of similar size that are still available for redevelopment in the Amber Road location, as most of the larger projects have been sold en bloc and redeveloped over the years," said JLL regional director Tan Hong Boon.

The reserve price of $768 million works out to approximately $1,284 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr). Development charges are not payable for the proposed redevelopment, said Mr Tan.

The site's 80m frontage in Amber Road may offer developers some degree of flexibility in designing the new apartments to maximise the number of sea-facing units. The tender for Amber Park closes on Oct 3.

Jervois Gardens launches its sale by tender today, said marketing agent Colliers International.

Jervois Gardens comprises two four-storey walk-up blocks of 14 maisonettes and three apartments. The site is regular in shape with a site area of approximately 34,038 sq ft.

It could be redeveloped into a five-storey development comprising 60 units of about 850 sq ft each.

Colliers managing director Tang Wei Leng said: "Freehold sites are hard to come by in the current market and developers' landbanks are steadily depleting. Jervois Gardens offers developers the opportunity to build well-designed, affordable two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments in prime district 10."

Each owner stands to receive $3 million to $4 million, based on the asking price of around $68 million, which works out to be $1,297 psf ppr, assuming no development charges payable.

A smaller freehold site in River Valley Road and near Jervois Gardens was recently sold for $110 million, which translated to $1,582 psf ppr, said Colliers.

The selling prices of newer projects in that area, which are largely leasehold, such as Mon Jervois, Principal Garden, The Crest and Alex Residence, are around $1,900 to $2,350 psf, it added.

The tender for Jervois Gardens will close on Sept 26.