Siglap condo makes en bloc pitch

CULFORD Gardens in Siglap has been put up for a collective sale with an asking price of between $37 million and $40 million.

Marketing agent Credo Real Estate’s managing director Karamjit Singh said that at this price, each unit owner can expect to get an average of between $1.54 million and $1.66 million from any eventual sale.

The site has a land area of 44,093 sq ft, with 24 units of mainly three-bedroom apartments. It can be redeveloped into about 65 apartment units with an average size of 1,000 sq ft each.

The District 15 freehold site is zoned for a residential development that may be up to five storeys high.

The total gross floor area (GFA) allowed is about 68,000 sq ft, including balconies.

Mr Singh said the asking price for the collective sale translates to about $545 to $589 per sq ft (psf) on potential GFA. At this price range, a developer may expect to break even at about $950 to $1,000 psf.

Recent launches in the vicinity, such as Eastwood Regency off Upper East Coast Road, have averaged about $1,120 psf, Mr Singh added.

Preparations for the collective sale exercise began in early October last year. More than the requisite 80 per cent of owners signed the sale agreement within a month of the first signature.

Mr Singh said the selling points of the site included its proximity to Siglap, now known as the Holland Village of the east.

‘There aren’t that many sites in that area for redevelopment, and this is one of the few with sizeable land area,’ he added.

Last month, Credo Real Estate sealed the first collective sale of the year.

Four owners of a Balestier industrial plot sold their Jalan Ampas site – which can be converted to residential use – for $27.5 million.

More such deals are likely to be inked this year, after a dry year in 2009 when just one collective sale was transacted.

Mr Singh expects to see at least 20 to 40 more such collective sales and even more if the property market continues its upward trend – further driving up land prices.

The tender for Culford Gardens closes on April 8.

Source : Straits Times – 18 Mar 2010