Pine Grove taking another shot at collective sale with S$1.95 billion guide price

Sep 14, 2023

PINE Grove in Holland Road will be put up for collective sale again on Thursday (Sep 14), with a guide price of S$1.95 billion.

After taking into account an estimated land betterment charge of S$1 billion for the intensification of land use and lease upgrade for the massive 893,218 sq ft site, the effective land rate for the sale works out to S$1,434 per square foot per plot ratio, said sole marketing agent ERA. This would bring the effective acquisition cost for the buyer close to a whopping S$3 billion.

The land rate also factors in the 10 per cent bonus gross floor area (GFA) which can be built as a result of government incentive schemes.

If successful, Pine Grove will be the largest residential collective sale since Chuan Park was sold for S$890 million.

The Chuan Park deal, which was first inked in July 2022, was stopped in December by the Strata Titles Board after dissenters filed objections. The Singapore High Court subsequently gave it the green light and granted a sales order in May.

The last mega collective sale before that was for Tulip Garden, which was sold for S$906.9 million in January 2019.

The 660-unit estate’s last en bloc attempt in 2019 ended with no deal. Previous attempts were made in 2007, 2011 and 2017.

Pine Grove, off Ulu Pandan Road, has about 60 years left on a 99-year lease. It has a maximum allowable gross plot ratio of 2.1 and can be redeveloped into a residential development of up to 24 storeys.

Owners are expecting to receive between S$2.39 million and S$3.2 million, depending on the size of the unit.

ERA said the Pine Grove site can potentially yield up to 2,050 new units subject to approval from the authorities. The agency said that a future redevelopment is expected to fetch between S$2,600 psf and S$2,650 psf.

A former Housing and Urban Development Company (HUDC) estate, Pine Grove was completed in 1984 and was one of the first two estates to be privatised in 1996.

It is the second-largest HUDC estate after Braddell View, followed by Farrer Court, which was sold for S$1.34 billion in 2007 – the largest en bloc sale to date.

Tay Liam Hiap, managing director of investment sales at ERA, said: “With the site overlooking the lush greenery of the Dover Forest to the south and the Clementi Forest to the north, and the Dover MRT station within reasonable walking distance away, Pine Grove offers an attractive proposition for developers looking for sizeable sites with excellent attributes.”

Various schools including Henry Park Primary School and Methodist Girls’ School are located within one to two kilometres from the development, he said.

“With limited upcoming residential supply in the Ulu Pandan area, the new development will surely appeal to many home buyers,” Tay added.

In the vicinity are two government land sale sites, Pine Grove (Parcel A) and Pine Grove (Parcel B) which are expected to yield over 1,000 residential units combined.

Pine Grove (Parcel A) is being built into the Pinetree Hill condominium which was launched in July. The developers, UOL Group and Singapore Land Group, moved 29 per cent of the 520 units during its launch weekend. The plot of land was sold to the developers in June 2022 for S$671.5 million, at a land rate of S$1,318 psf ppr.

Meanwhile, Pine Grove (Parcel B) was released for sale in August. It has a site area of 25,039.2 sq m with a maximum GFA of 52,583 sq m. Analysts The Business Times spoke to previously expect the top bid for the site to come in at between S$623 million and S$679 million, at a land rate of S$1,100 to S$1,200 psf ppr.

The tender for the Pine Grove collective sale will close at 3 pm on Nov 29.

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/pro...on-guide-price