A deal with a combined value of US$ 676.5 million was announced in a collective effort in the market. This included the sale of the privatised HUDC estate (Hougang) – Rio Casa and the Goh & Goh Building, a mixed-use development in the vicinity of Beauty World MRT station. This took place subsequently after the grand sale amounting to $65 million of One Tree Hill Gardens earlier this month to the Lum Chang Group. Together, these deals now match the value of transactions conducted last with giants like Harbour View Gardens, Raintree Gardens, and Shunfu Ville.
The main propeller for such development is the keen new-home sales that have been recovering with the residential property market. It is said that the Rio Casa development (Hougang Avenue 7) was sold for a sum of US$ 575 million to Oxley-Lian Beng Venture with KSH Development, Apricot Capital, Oxley Holdings, and Lian Beng Group.
According to Mr Ian Loh, Knight Frank’s head of investment and capital markets, this sale was hotly contested. The latter has been the projects market agent and said there were a few submissions for the Rio Casa development. The future for this property seems bright as the intention is to develop it with funds from a ninety-nine-year lease.
The property comprises of seven blocks that have 286 apartments and maisonettes included. It is estimated that each owner will receive two million dollars from each sale. There will be a further premium of US@ 208 million for increasing the lease to enhance the property plot ratio (gross) to 2.8. According to Knight Frank, the gross area permissible is a little over 1 million square feet.
Loh conceded that the total property is valued at US$ 1.4 billion and can house about one thousand floor hundred individual units at an estimated space of seventy square meters per unit. On another note, BBR Holdings’ Alika Properties also started their bidding for Goh & Goh Building for a sum of US$ 101.5 million. The property was built in the late eighties, the buildings located at 110 – 122 Upper Bukit Timah has seven units of shops and apartments. JLL, the market agent commented that each shop owner will fetch a sum of US$ 9 million, while the apartment owner a little over half of it at US$ 5.4 million for each unit. He also went on to say that this has the potential to increase it to one hundred apartments and one level of retail space located on the ground floor.
Commenting on all this development activity, Mr Tan Hong Boon, the regional director for capital markets at JLL said that there are twenty-five to thirty active projects that have appointed sales committees and are considering the option of collective sales.
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