Despite IAS ban, sales still solid at Interlace
PropertyGuru.com.sg
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
The Singaporean Government's proclamation last week that bans the IAS or interest absorption scheme and Tuesday’s rowdy-to-say-the-least preview did little to weaken
The Interlace’s sales.
“We didn't expect the scrapping of the IAS to affect us very much, because a very small percentage of buyers opt for it in general, about 5 to 7%,” said Patricia Chia, the CEO at CapitaLand Residential Singapore, during yesterday’s sales briefing.
At The Wharf Residence, another of CapitaLand's projects, less than 5% of home buyers took up the IAS which was scrapped by the government Monday last week in a bid to offset excessive speculation in the property market.
The Interlace, an architectural marvel of a condo located at Depot Road, has 31 blocks with six storeys each. A total of 153 flats were offered to former residents Gillman Heights during the $1.4 billion, 1041-unit condominium's first-day preview. Gillman Heights will be demolished to accommodate The Interlace.
The continuity of the preview was temporarily marred by a dramatic shouting session when former Gillman residents voiced their sentiments regarding the en bloc deal. They claimed that the developers were offering them the worst units with very poor facings in the 99-year leasehold project, and that the prices were excessively high.
However, CapitaLand maintained that units facing the pool and HortPark with sizes ranging from 800 square feet to 5,800 sqft were offered.
To date, there have been a total of
233 flats sold, and
5 out of the 18
penthouse units released have been transacted. The biggest penthouse, which is priced at $5 million, is 5,877 sqft in size. The two- and three-room units, which are priced from
$850 psf to about
$1,150 psf, are the best-sellers thus far.
The 99-year lease development, which is situated on a site that spans 8 hectares and was designed by Ole Schereen, will acquire its temporary occupation permit some time in 2015.
This will mark the first time that CapitaLand Singapore will manage a project of this scale.
“We felt that our condominium management would be able to offer a value-add to the development,” Chia said.
The management plan includes an offer for a complimentary shuttle service to the MRT station nearest the condo. The service will last throughout the first five years.
The project is distinctive due its architectural design: hexagonally arranged apartments set on top of each other creating eight a total of courtyards of parks, ponds, pools and gardens. Over the last couple of years, the Interlace’s sales process had been filled with tension as a minority of the owners stood against the $548 million deal.
In February 2009, Singapore’s Court of Appeal dismissed the minority owners’ last attempt to oppose the sale.