Hoi Hup-led group wins HDB project

August 23, 2008
Hoi Hup-led group wins HDB project
It will build 1,200 DBSS flats at Lor1A Toa Payoh
By KALPANA RASHIWALA

THE Housing and Development Board yesterday awarded a Design, Build
and Sell Scheme (DBSS) site at Lorong 1A Toa Payoh to a Hoi Hup
Realty-led consortium that emerged as the top bidder when the tender
for the site closed on Tuesday.

The winning bid of about $198.82 million works out to about $160 per
sq ft per plot ratio - the highest of three bids for the 103-year
leasehold plot.

The consortium also includes Sunway Developments and Hoi Hup JV
Development, whose shareholders include Straits Construction and Hoi
Hup Realty.

A Hoi Hup spokeswoman said yesterday the group plans to build about
1,200 HDB flats on the site, of which about a third will be three and
four-room flats and the rest five-room flats. 'We're looking at
launching the project in early second-quarter 2009,' she said.

The average selling price is expected to be around $500 psf and will
depend on whether Hoi Hup succeeds in securing exemption of bay
windows and planter boxes from gross floor area calculations.

This will hinge on whether Hoi Hup can submit its formal application
for the project to the Urban Redevelopment Authority in time to
secure provisional permission before Oct 7.

After that date, bay windows and planter boxes will no longer be
exempt from GFA calculations.

'We're looking at building a total of five blocks, of which two will
be 46 storeys high and with a sky terrace on one of the upper levels
(above the 20th floor). The remaining blocks will be 40 storeys
high,' the spokeswoman said.

'We have to complete the entire project within four years.'

A Hoi Hup-Sunway consortium is also developing another DBSS flat
project, called City View @ Boon Keng. This was launched earlier this
year at an average price of $520 psf.

More than 80 per cent of the 714 units have been sold so far.