Investment firm wants to sell Orchard bungalow site for $115m

By Joyce Teo

A BUNGALOW site owned by a family-owned investment firm near Orchard Road has gone on sale for an astonishing $115 million. At that price for the property of nearly 18,000 sq ft, the buyer's break-even cost would be about $3,700 per sq ft (psf) with the selling price possibly at around $4,500 psf. Those levels are currently only attained by a handful of luxury projects in Singapore. The bungalow site behind Orchard Towers now houses the Pat's Schoolhouse childcare centre, and sits along Claymore Road between two similar bungalow sites. These sites are the last remaining ones with the potential for redevelopment along that stretch. The bungalow site up for sale is close to Hong Leong Holdings' Tate Residences condominium, which is currently being built. The plot is small, compared with more conventional condominium sites. Still, it can accommodate 20 luxury flats of about 2,400 sq ft each, according to sales agent Credo Real Estate. In its favour, however, are the psf prices that have been achieved for nearby sites. The bungalow site is near The Ardmore, which developer SC Global bought en bloc for a record price of $2,338 psf of potential gross floor area in mid-June. The Ardmore sits on 42,565 sq ft of land, allowing SC Global to develop another luxury project. A record price was also set last month when a unit at The Marq on Paterson Hill sold for $5,100 psf. Such prices have led Credo to expect offers of around $115 million for the Claymore Road site. This reflects a land rate of about $2,815 psf of potential gross floor area and includes an estimated $26.7 million in development charge, Credo managing director Karamjit Singh said. He added that wealthy individuals may team up to buy the land for their own use. 'They may even choose to build only 10 sky-villas of close to 5,000 sq ft each. 'A redevelopment offering at Claymore Road is very rare,' he said. The tender closes on Aug 2. In a separate real estate move, Colliers International is selling the 18-storey Keck Seng Tower for $250 million. This works out to $2,144 psf, based on an existing net lettable area of 116,586 sq ft. The Cecil Street building - built in 1984 - has a 99-year lease on a site that allows a 30-storey block. A buyer could redevelop it to the maximum gross floor area allowed of 198,000 sq ft. Its existing gross floor area is 173,535 sq ft, and it has a 98 per cent occupancy rate. Collier International managing director Dennis Yeo said the last transacted rent in Keck Seng Tower was around $6 psf, with the asking rent now at $6.50 psf. The tender closes on Aug 8.

    Source: The Straits Times – 10^th July 2007