Far East Organization to launch The Reserve Residences at prices from S$2,300 psf

May 10, 2023

FAR East Organization and Sino Group will start previews for The Reserve Residences in Bukit Timah on Friday (May 12), with prices starting from S$2,300 per square foot (psf).

Located at Beauty World, The Reserve Residences in District 21 will house 732 residential units split over eight blocks. The 99-year leasehold development will sit above a retail mall with over 215,278 square feet (sq ft) gross floor area and have direct access to Beauty World MRT station. It is within walking distance to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Rifle Range Nature Park.

There are 732 residential units ranging from one-bedroom to five-bedroom units, duplexes and penthouses under four collections.

One-bedroom units, which range from 441 sq ft to 495 sq ft, start at about S$1.11 million. Two-bedroom units, sized from 560 sq ft to 807 sq ft, start at S$1.45 million. Three-bedroom units at 883 sq ft to 1,324 sq ft start from S$2.2 million.

Four-bedroom units, ranging from 1,475 sq ft to 2,250 sq ft, and larger units including penthouses, will be priced from S$3.5 million onwards.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday (May 10), Shaw Lay See, chief operating officer of Far East Organization’s sales and leasing group, said: “We know that with the recent Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) hike, there is going to be some pressure on certain groups of potential buyers…

“But we are quietly confident that this is a development that will take off, because of the location and (as) it is an integrated development.”

When asked whether there would be an “early bird” discount, Shaw said: “We are definitely looking into it, but the quoted price will have taken that into consideration.”

Speaking to The Business Times (BT), Shaw said: “This is our most important development in a decade, and we need to sell well. We know it’s going to appeal to a lot of buyers and we are going to deliver a very good product.”

The project, designed by Woha Architects, sits on a 32,185 square metre state land site that was sold to Far East Organization and Sino Group for S$1.028 billion in August 2021. Based on the maximum gross floor area allowed under the plot ratio of 3.0, the price they paid for the land amounts to about S$989 psf per plot ratio.

PropNex chief executive Ismail Gafoor, who attended the media briefing for The Reserve Residences, said he expects potential buyers to be a “mixed group”.

He said: “Investors will look at the one-bedroom (units). There will be a lot of younger families we are expecting to come in and buy the two-bedrooms.”

Given that one-bedroom and two-bedroom units comprise 55 per cent of The Reserve Residences’ unit mix, Gafoor said: “I’m pretty confident, quietly hoping, that we will cross the 40 per cent mark.”

The most recent new launch in the Upper Bukit Timah area was in March, when Sim Lian Group launched The Botany at Dairy Farm. The Outside Central Region (OCR) project was the month’s bestseller, moving 184 of its 386 units at a median price of S$2,068 psf, which market watchers put down to it being priced lower than other new suburban projects.

The Reserve Residences sits in the city fringe, or Rest of Central Region (RCR). Nearby, The Linq @ Beauty World was launched in November 2020, at prices ranging from S$1,998 psf to S$2,439 psf. The latest transaction at The Linq was a resale deal inked in March 2023 at S$2,741 psf.

Far East Organization’s last launch before The Reserve Residences was One Holland Village Residences, which it developed with Sekisui House and Sino Group. As at May 10, it has sold 93 per cent of its 296 units, Shaw told BT.

The Reserve Residences will book sales from May 27, and is expected to achieve its temporary occupation permit in the first quarter of 2028.

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/pro...ices-s2300-psf