Jervois Road GCB for sale with S$38.8m guide price

Another Belmont Road GCB will be auctioned in a mortgagee sale with S$20m guide price

Thu, Sep 12, 2019

VIVIENNE TAY
FIONA LAM


AT least two good-class bungalows (GCBs) were put on the market on Wednesday - one at Jervois Road and another at Belmont Road.

The GCB at Jervois Road has been put up for sale by tender with a guide price of S$38.8 million, marketing agent JLL said.

This translates to around S$2,007 per square foot (psf), based on a total land area of 19,333 sq ft. The property has a wide frontage of almost 40 metres and is positioned on elevated ground in a low-rise area.

The District 10 freehold property is located within the Chatsworth Park GCB area, and is minutes from Orchard Road and the Central Business District. It is also within the embassy enclave, JLL said.

It added that there has been growing demand for plots on higher land, citing two recent high-profile sales - 33 Nassim Road at S$2,721 psf and 50 Cluny Road at S$2,980 psf.

Mok Sze Sze, JLL senior director of capital markets, said these features not only provide privacy, but also leave room for creativity in the design of the redevelopment into a prominent grand mansion, with a commanding presence that offers views of the surroundings.

There are currently 2,800 plots across 39 clusters in Singapore gazetted for GCBs, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

The minimum plot size for a typical GCB is 1,400 sq m, and is also subject to development guidelines such as a height restriction of two storeys excluding attic and basement, and a maximum coverage ratio of 35 per cent.

Through these constraints, the URA aims to preserve the exclusivity and low-rise character of such neighbourhoods, JLL said. The tender for the Jervois Road GCB will close on Oct 23 at 3pm.

Meanwhile, the GCB at Belmont Road will be auctioned in a mortgagee sale with a guide price of S$20 million, marketing agent ERA Realty said.

This works out to a price tag of around S$1,225 psf, based on the guide price and 16,327 sq ft in land area.

The freehold, two-storey property has a pool, a large basement entertainment area, as well as parking space for several cars. It is within walking distance from the Holland Village MRT station.

A mortgagee sale is one in which the bank forecloses on the property after the owner defaults on the mortgage, and puts the property up for sale to recover the outstanding debt. The auction will be held on Sept 23 at Amara Hotel.

Last month, another GCB in the vicinity at 80 Belmont Road was relaunched via private treaty in a mortgagee sale at a lower guide price of S$40.8 million, after it failed to sell at an auction.

The two-storey bungalow was first auctioned in July with a S$42 million guide price by marketing agent Knight Frank.

Based on the lower price tag of S$40.8 million and 27,000 sq ft in freehold land area, this translated to S$1,511 psf for the 80 Belmont Road property.