En bloc site relaunched with 40% lower price tag

Business Times - 24 Jul 2008

En bloc site relaunched with 40% lower price tag

Elsewhere, Straits Trading asking $162m for Gallop Gables apartments

By UMA SHANKARI

A DISTRICT 10 collective sale site at Robin Drive, off Bukit Timah Road, has been relaunched for sale - with a new asking price as much as 40 per cent lower in view of the current market sentiment.

The two properties on the site are now being sold for $964-$996 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), a downgrade from the initial asking price of $1,500- $1,600 psf ppr when the site was first launched in December 2007.

The property was not the only one to be put on the market yesterday. The Straits Trading Company has put up for sale two blocks of apartments at Gallop Gables with a price tag of about $162 million, or $1,500 psf.

The Robin Drive site now consists of two properties - Robin Court and No 1 Robin Drive. Robin Court is an apartment block with 15 units while No 1 Robin Drive is a detached house now occupied by a preschool.

The indicative price of the combined plots is now $58-$60 million. If the developer maximises the potential of building up to 10 per cent of gross floor area (GFA) for balconies, the land rate works out to be about $964-$996 psf ppr, said Credo Real Estate, which is marketing the sites.

The majority owners of Robin Court had agreed to the collective sale before amendments to the en bloc laws took effect last October. But now, they have begun signing the collective sale agreement to lower the reserve price in view of the current cautious sentiment in the property market, Credo said.

No development charge is payable for redevelopment of the site at a plot ratio of up to 1.4, with a further 5.5 per cent in GFA for balconies, said Yong Choon Fah, Credo's executive director.

The new development on the site could accommodate a luxurious residential project with a GFA of about 62,398 sq ft and can be configured into 30 apartments with an average size of 2,000 sq ft each, Credo said.

The developer should be able to break even at about $1,470-$1,500 psf, the firm added.

The expressions of interest (EOI) exercise for the two properties will close at 2.30pm on August 14.

Elsewhere, Straits Trading is selling two blocks consisting of 38 large apartments in Gallop Gables. Situated off Farrer Road, Gallop Gables, which was completed in 1997, has seven low-rise blocks with 140 apartments in all.

Straits Trading's apartments have been retained for investment since completion. The 38 apartments have a total gross floor area of about 108,170 sq ft.

The apartments are tenanted and 'present an opportunity to purchase an income-producing investment with capital growth potential', said Knight Frank, the property firm marketing the two blocks.

The EOI for the apartments will close on September 9 at 3pm.

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