Singapore Companies
Published December 8, 2006

Sing, US fund bag Bellerive site for $37.2m
Partners keen to buy more land for mid-sized projects


By KALPANA RASHIWALA

SING Holdings has teamed up with a US-based fund, Forum Asian Realty Income II, LP, to purchase the freehold Bellerive in Bukit Timah through a $37.2 million collective sale.


Bellerive: The site can be redeveloped into a new project with 47 units averaging 1,300 sq ft. Sing Holdings expects average selling price of $1,300-1,350 psf

This is Sing Holdings' second joint acquisition with the US fund after the duo last week bought Finland Gardens in the Siglap area. Sing Holdings is taking the lead with a 70 per cent stake in both deals.

The projects on the new sites are slated for launch in about a year and the two partners are keen on acquiring more land for mid-sized projects of about 100 units each in the prime locations, says Sing Holdings managing director Lee Sze Hao.

The $37.2 million paid for Bellerive at Keng Chin Road reflects a unit land price of $708 per square foot of potential gross floor area, inclusive of an estimated $6.6 million development charge (DC). However, factoring in additional gross floor area for balcony space, the unit land price will be lowered to about $680 psf per plot ratio, according to Mr Lee.

He estimates the project's breakeven cost at about $1,100 psf. 'We're looking at an average selling price of about $1,300-1,350 psf,' he added.

The 29,439 sq ft site can be redeveloped into a new project with about 47 units averaging 1,300 sq ft, according to Newman & Goh, which brokered the deal.

The site is zoned for residential use with 2.1 plot ratio (ratio of potential maximum gross floor area to land area) and a 24-storey maximum height.

As for the Finland Gardens' acquisition last week, Mr Lee says the plan is to build 69 landed homes - comprising 30 strata semi-detached houses, 30 strata terrace houses and nine conventional terrace homes.

The average breakeven cost is about $1.45 million a house. The 98,309 sq ft freehold site was bought for $49.5 million in a collective sale deal brokered by Credo Real Estate.