The estate sold for $299 million is set to be redeveloped. Image Credit: OrangeTee Advisory
A privatised government-built estate in Singapore’s Novena neighbourhood was sold for S$402 million ($299 million) in a collective sale tender late last week, adding to a total of S$2.88 billion ($2.1 billion) of residential and mixed-use land sales in the city over a six-day period.
Chancery Court located on Dunearn Road in the area just east of Bukit Timah in central Singapore was awarded to an undisclosed buyer for S$401.78 million, according to the property’s sole marketing agent OrangeTee Advisory. After the sale, only five of the city-state’s 18 former Housing and Urban Development (Company) HUDC estates, which were built for the city state’s middle class in the 70s and 80s, remain.
The winning bid for the 259,134 square foot (24,074 square metre) site works out to be S$1,610 per square foot per floor area, after including a differential premium and a lease upgrade premium of approximately S$182.4 million to be paid to the government in return for being allowed to redevelop the site to a gross plot ratio of 1.4, and to top up the lease from 62 years to a fresh 99 years.
Residential Units to Triple After Redevelopment
The Dunearn Road site will yield up to 362,788 square feet of floor area in a location just five minutes’ walk from Newton MRT station. It is also in close proximity to popular schools like the Anglo-Chinese School (Primary).
The crew at Singapore’s Anglo Chinese School are excited to have new neighbours
Subject to government approval, the land parcel can be redeveloped into a five-storey residential development with a maximum of 481 units with an average size of 753 square feet.
The new project would replace the 136 residential and 8 commercial units currently in place in a 16-storey tower block and seven blocks of four-storey walk-up maisonettes. Should the sale be successful, the owners of the current residential and commercial units will receive a gross sale price of approximately S$1.8 million to S$3.5 million and S$934,000 to S$4.7 million respectively, OrangeTee said.
Series of Land Sales in Singapore
The Dunearn Road sale capped one of Singapore’s busiest weeks for land sales.
A consortium comprising Far East Organization, Sino Group and Japanese home builder Sekisui House was awarded a prime commercial and residential site in the upscale Bukit Timah neighbourhood for S$1.2 billion ($904 million) last Wednesday. The bidding price translates to S$1,888 per square foot of buildable area for the 99-year leasehold site.
The Bukit Timah announcement was followed by three land sales on Thursday with a combined transaction value of over $1.2 billion. Singapore-listed property company UOL Group and its affiliates won a large residential parcel on Silat Avenue for S$1.035 billion ($771 million) or S$1,138 ($848) per square foot of buildable area.
UOL’s Hong Kong counterparts New World Development and Far East Consortium (FEC) teamed up with Singapore’s SC Global Developments for a luxury residential site near Singapore’s prime shopping area Orchard Road for S$410 million, which works out to be S$2,377 per square foot of gross floor area for the plot. The winning bid broke the record of price per square foot for residential plots paid in a government land tender.
Leave a Reply