Property
Published August 1, 2006

CityDev builds up 4m sq ft home, office landbank
Company says it has enough for a total built-up area of 8.4m sq ft


By JEAN CHUA



CITY Developments Ltd (CDL) has amassed more than four million square feet of land that can be developed into homes and offices. This includes some of the best land in the country such as that of Lucky Tower at Grange Road.



Kim Lin Mansion (above) is one of CDL's planned developments in the prime district. It paid $251 million in 1999 for the Grange Road property.


CDL bought four existing developments and bungalows over the past year, the company said in its latest quarterly newsletter in July, and has enough land for built-up area of 8.4 million square feet.

The purchases are Bougainville at Shelford Road for $19 million, Number 21 Swiss Club Road, Lucky Tower at Grange Road for $383 million and a site on Thomson Road for $156.3 million. The plan is to combine adjoining sites CDL already owns and build luxury condominiums, the company said.

On its plan for Lucky Tower, CDL said: 'Ideally located in one of Singapore's most prime districts along Grange Road, there is good potential for this generously sized 169,189- square-feet freehold site to be optimally redeveloped into an exclusive upscale 24-storey condominium project.'

CDL, whose launches this year include the upmarket St Regis Residences, The Oceanfront @ Sentosa Cove and Residences @ Evelyn, will be building three developments over the next year or so.

All will be in the prime district. They are Kim Lin Mansion at Grange Road, for which CDL paid $251 million, or $996 per square foot (psf) of potential built-up area in 1999; Boulevard Hotel along Orchard Boulevard, which was closed down in 2000 to make way for a condominium; and Lucky Tower, also at Grange Road, which cost the company $383 million, or $1,134 psf of potential gross floor area, in May this year.

It also said in the newsletter that the market should 'keep a lookout for No 1 Shenton Way and King's Centre Plot 3', next to its Grand Corpthorne Waterfront Hotel in Havelock Road.

Prices of residential property have risen for nine consecutive quarters after declining for four years. In the second quarter, home prices rose 1.8 per cent, the Singapore government said, the biggest quarter-on-quarter increase in six years.

CDL said it is 'constantly on the lookout to create more value on its current assets', and that it now has one of the largest land banks among listed property developers here.

CDL shares have risen 5 per cent this year, closing at $8.95 yesterday, 1.1 per cent lower on the day.