No resale levy for second-timers buying ECs- Singapore

No resale levy for second-timers buying ECs- Singapore

By ARTHUR SIM

NEW executive condominiums (ECs) will be even more attractive now that the resale levy is no longer payable.
The Housing and Development Board imposes the levy on those who sell their first flat to buy another from the board. It is a fixed sum that ranges from $15,000 to $50,000 according to flat type, and $55,000 for ECs.

In a statement yesterday, HDB said: ‘To align the purchase of new ECs with the Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS), second-timers buying a new EC unit from the developer will no longer have to pay the resale levy.’

HDB also said that previously, first-timers who bought new ECs were barred from buying another new EC, HDB or DBSS flat. This bar has now been lifted.

PropNex CEO Mohamed Ismail believes the change will give ‘greater incentive’ to HDB dwellers who aspire to a condominium lifestyle by way of an EC.

Mr Ismail reckons the dropping of the resale levy, coupled with rising HDB resale flat prices, could leave some second-time buyers with up to $100,000 to add to their housing budget, depending on the size of the flat they sell.

He also believes developers could be encouraged to bid for EC sites, as demand will grow.

The government has said it intends to release more EC sites.

The first to be released, after a gap of more than three years since the last EC site was sold in 2004, will be at Punggol Road/Punggol Field.

The 2.27ha site with a plot ratio of 3.0 was put on the reserve list of the Government Land Sales Programme yesterday. And with the dropping of the resale levy, consultants expect interest in the site to increase.

Cushman & Wakefield managing director Donald Han says the last EC site at Woodlands, where La Casa now stands, was sold for $150 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr). Since then, two DBSS sites - launched at Tampines in October 2005 and Boon Keng Road in March 2007 - sold for $114 psf ppr and $234 psf ppr respectively.

Mr Han says EC sites typically fetch more than DBSS sites. And based on the last DBSS site price at Boon Keng Road, but factoring in Punggol’s location and EC site status, he expects the Punggol EC site to fetch $190-$220 psf ppr.

‘We expect strong interest from developers and contractors for this site due to revival of HDB market activity and recent price increases - supported mainly by HDB upgraders and new home buyers,’ he said.

‘In addition, the government has committed its resources to turning Punggol into a major waterfront township and Punggol itself has been a news focal point lately.’

Source : Business Times - 21 Nov 2007

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Woodlands residential site surprises with 8 bids

Woodlands residential site surprises with 8 bids

Evan Lim’s top bid of $56m marginally higher than Frasers Centrepoint’s
By UMA SHANKARI
A 99-year leasehold residential site in Woodlands was found to have drawn a surprising eight bidders when the government tender closed yesterday, with the top bid coming to some $56 million - or $232 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).
Recent government land tenders have drawn only a few bidders each, which market watchers said was a sign of the property market cooling off.

For the 172,200 sq ft site at Woodlands Avenue 2/Rosewood Drive, the top bid was put in by Evan Lim & Co Pte Ltd.

The company just pipped second highest bidder Frasers Centrepoint, which offered $55.5 million - or $230 psf ppr.

Other bidders include Wing Tai and Sim Lian Land. The site has a 1.4 plot ratio - giving it a maximum gross floor area of 241,100 sq ft.

Nicholas Mak, director of research and consultancy at Knight Frank, said that the price was ‘realistic’, although it came in below prior market expectations of $250-$280 psf ppr.

The number of bids was impressive, considering the recent market turbulence, experts said. ‘The bids show that developers are confident of healthy suburban buyer demand,’ said Mr Mak.

Ku Swee Yong, Savills Singapore’s director of marketing and business development, said: ‘Developers still see that there is good demand from the mass market, arising from job growth and rising wages.’

With construction costs for mass market condos estimated at about $300 psf, the break-even price for the site could be around $530 psf, experts said.

This means that apartments in the project could eventually be launched at about $700 psf - higher than what private homes in Woodlands are fetching at the moment.

Separately, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Monday awarded a transitional office site at Tampines to City Developments’ unit Glades Properties.

The developer had put in the only bid for the site, offering $10 million, or $81 psf ppr - lower than the $100 psf ppr that most property consultants had expected the 15-year leasehold site to fetch. This led to market talk that the site might not be awarded.

Yesterday, URA also said that an unnamed developer has entered a bid of $187 million for a 3.2ha, 99-year leasehold residential site at Simei Street 4, triggering a public tender which will be launched in two weeks’ time.

The price offered by the developer works out to $235 psf ppr. The site has a 2.3 plot ratio - giving it a maximum gross floor area of 797,400 sq ft.

Market watchers, however, reckon that the plot could fetch more.

‘I think the winning bid could come to $350 psf ppr,’ said Ho Eng Joo, Colliers International’s executive director for investment sales. Apartments coming up on the site could be launched at about $800 psf, he said.

URA yesterday also awarded the tender for the 99-year leasehold condo site at Enggor Street (Land Parcel B) to Allgreen Properties, which had submitted the highest bid of $717 psf ppr in a public tender.
Source : Business Times - 21 Nov 2007

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Singapore En bloc millionaires to drive market

Singapore En bloc millionaires to drive market

If just two-thirds buy homes, they may spend $6b: Savills
By ARTHUR SIM
(SINGAPORE) Around 5,700 homes were sold through collective sales in the first half of this year and the home owners who will have to look for replacement homes are expected to drive the property market.
A report by Savills Singapore estimates that if just two-thirds of those displaced by collective sales - about 3,900 of them - choose to buy replacement homes, their collective kitty could total $6 billion, representing the total payout to these en bloc millionaires.

Savills director (marketing and business development) Ku Swee Yong does not expect all $6 billion to be spent though. ‘About $4 billion could be channelled into new property acquisitions,’ he reckons.

And developments in the fringe and suburban areas such as Bukit Timah, Upper Bukit Timah, Clementi, Novena/Thomson, and Upper East Coast will be their targets.

Savills projects that only two-thirds of the en bloc millionaires will be in the market for a new home because it believes many already own second homes, if not more.

Savills’ analysis reveals that of the 2,795 home owners affected by the collective sales in Q2 2007, up to 2,159 owned homes in the prime districts of District 9, 10 and 11.

And Mr Ku reckons that half of these home owners already own at least one other home.

Interestingly, Mr Ku believes that only 20 per cent of the displaced home owners from homes outside the prime districts have second homes. But the number of en bloc millionaires could taper off if collective sales continue to fall. In Q3 2007, only 13 en bloc deals worth about $1.1 billion were done, down from $6.4 billion for 45 sites in the previous quarter.

Yet, en bloc millionaires are also expected to support the already buoyant residential market.

Savills says that assuming that 30 per cent of owners (or their tenants) affected by collective sales require rental accommodation, 974 units would have been needed to meet the demand over the last nine months. Savills added that the situation is expected to worsen in 2008, with some 800 units needed per quarter to accommodate displaced owners (or their tenants).

Savills does expect most demand for rental units to come from an increase in the number of foreigners working here.

Its report highlighted that foreigners working here grew by 14.9 per cent, from 875,500 last year to just over one million thus far, representing the highest year-on-year growth in the last 10 years. ‘With a low unemployment rate and high job creation rate, the number of foreigners working in Singapore is expected to grow sharply,’ it added.

Its analysis of data reveals that average rents of all non-landed residential properties in the prime districts rose by 13 per cent to $3.70 per square foot (psf) a month between Q2 and Q3 in 2007, while high-end residential rents climbed even higher to $6 psf a month.

Savills also noted that rents in Districts 8 and 12, on the fringe of the city, have risen by 35 and 23 per cent respectively to about $1.90 psf a month.

Source : Business Times - 21 Nov 2007

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Temasek rolls up its sleeves to fight ruling

Temasek rolls up its sleeves to fight ruling

It will seek international arbitration if all else fails
By CONRAD TAN

(SINGAPORE) Temasek Holdings said yesterday it will seek international arbitration if necessary in its fight against the ruling by Indonesia’s competition regulator that it breached anti-trust laws there.
Temasek’s Indonesian legal counsel Todung Mulya Lubis said he expects a ’speedy’ process of appeal in Indonesian courts and a final judgement by the middle of next year at the latest.

If that too fails, ‘Temasek is entitled to take the matter further under international law and reserves its right to do so,’ said Davinder Singh, Temasek’s legal counsel in Singapore. That could take ‘anywhere from one to three years,’ he said.

‘In international arbitration, you would seek specific reliefs, not for the purposes of overturning the decision of the national courts, but for getting relief if you can prove that you are entitled to relief under the treaty or under international law,’ he said.

At a two-hour media conference yesterday, Temasek’s representatives, including executive director Simon Israel, strongly criticised the ruling on Monday by Indonesia’s anti-monopoly watchdog, the Business Competition Supervisory Commission or KPPU.

‘There’s simply no case to answer,’ said Mr Israel, adding that Temasek would explore all its legal options of appeal.

KPPU has ordered Temasek to sell off at least one of the indirect stakes it holds in Indonesia’s top two cellular operators, PT Telkomsel and PT Indosat, within two years.

The watchdog also imposed a fine of 25 billion rupiah (S$4 million) on Temasek, as well as on each of its eight affiliate companies named in the anti-trust case.

The eight include Temasek’s wholly-owned subsidiary ST Telemedia and five companies linked to it. The remaining two are SingTel, which is listed on the Singapore Exchange, and its own wholly-owned subsidiary SingTel Mobile.

Frank Montag, an expert on European competition law asked by Temasek to comment on KPPU’s ruling, said yesterday that the watchdog’s interpretation of European competition law was flawed on several points.

Among other things, he said KPPU had failed to demonstrate that Temasek and its affiliated companies were in fact a single economic entity - an assumption that was central to the case and which led KPPU to rule against Temasek. Under European law, which the KPPU ruling referred to, it was not enough to show that a holding company had stakes in other companies to form such an entity - it also had to show that the holding company exercised its influence to direct what its portfolio companies do, he said.

‘So the references with respect to a single economic entity by the KPPU would not stand in Europe.’

Mr Mulya Lubis, who is usually based in Jakarta, called the ruling ‘excessive and arbitrary.’

In a separate statement, SingTel said it was ‘disappointed’ with the regulator’s decision, calling it ‘misconceived.’ It said the KPPU ‘failed to accord fundamental due process rights to SingTel and SingTel Mobile,’ adding that it would take all necessary steps to protect the companies’ interests under Indonesian and international law.

Temasek said it had so far received only a summary of the judgement by the KPPU and will file an appeal against the watchdog’s ruling with the district court in Jakarta within 14 days of receiving the full judgement.

The district court then has 30 days to decide whether to uphold the watchdog’s ruling.

If that fails, Temasek can turn to Indonesia’s highest court, the Supreme Court, which also has to rule on the appeal within 30 days, said Mr Mulya Lubis.

If that appeal is rejected, Temasek can then seek international arbitration, where it could ask for compensation or other specific reliefs, depending on the Supreme Court’s ultimate findings.

In a statement, Mr Israel said: ‘The entire case is based on the premise that Temasek has majority shares in both Telkomsel and Indosat. The fact is we have no shares in either company and the KPPU has produced no evidence to support this allegation.’

Asked if Temasek would be more cautious about investing directly in Indonesian companies as a result of the ruling, he said: ‘I don’t think we should be concerned or become exceptionally cautious as a consequence of something that is as yet unresolved.’
Source : Business Times - 21 Nov 2007

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Jakarta won’t interfere in any appeal over stakes

Jakarta won’t interfere in any appeal over stakes

By Salim Osman, Indonesia Correspondent

JAKARTA - JAKARTA says it will not interfere if Singapore’s Temasek Holdings decides to appeal against Monday’s ruling that it violated anti-monopoly laws through its stakes in Indonesia’s two biggest mobile telcos.
Indonesian presidential spokesman Dino Pati Djalal, in Singapore for the Asean summit, said that the Business Competition Supervisory Commission or KPPU, which delivered the verdict, was an independent organisation.

He added: ‘When it makes a decision, there is an appeal process. Any party that feels disadvantaged can appeal against its decision.’

He also said he hoped the verdict would not affect Singaporean investments in Indonesia: ‘We hope more will come. We like Singaporean investors. There is no country that understands Indonesia better than Singapore.’

The Indonesian media has also quoted two ministers with an overview of the telecommunications sector as saying the government did not intervene before the KPPU decided to prosecute Temasek, and would not do so now it has ruled Temasek guilty of cross-ownership in Indosat and Telkomsel.

Communication and Information Technology Minister Muhammad Nuh told Media Indonesia: ‘The government will not be proactive nor will it intervene…because this is the domain of the KPPU. We appreciate the KPPU’s decision and we respect the rights of the aggrieved party to file an appeal.’

He also denied rumours that he called KPPU chief Muhammad Iqbal to discuss the Temasek case before the verdict was delivered.

‘I don’t want to intervene. There’s no point,’ he added. His remarks were echoed by his predecessor, State Enterprises Minister Sofyan Djalil, who said separately that the case was not over ‘because Temasek has the opportunity to appeal against the ruling’.

Separately, the secretary-general of the State Enterprises Ministry, Mr Muhammad Said Didu, was quoted by the Bisnes Indonesia daily newspaper as saying the KPPU ruling against Temasek should not be linked to rumours of a government buy-back of Indosat shares from Temasek subsidiary Singapore Technologies (ST) Telemedia.

Nationalist politicians have been saying that Indosat is a strategic asset and should not have been sold to ST Telemedia and that the government should buy it back. But referring to such nationalistic sentiments, the presidential spokesman said: ‘In this age of globalisation, our economic policy accepts that there has to be more openness and Indonesia has to be more interconnected with the economy of the region and also with the global economy.’

Source : Straits Times - 21 Nov 2007

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Waterfront condos coming up at Bedok Reservoir - Singapore

Waterfront condos coming up at Bedok Reservoir - Singapore

By Fiona Chan, Property Reporter
WATER FRONTAGE: The first of the four projects, Waterfront Waves, may fetch prices of up to $850 psf, says Mr Ku. — PHOTO: FRASERS CENTREPOINT

FOUR condominiums will be built where the former Waterfront View estate in Bedok Reservoir Road used to be.
The first will be launched in the first quarter of next year, said developers Frasers Centrepoint and Far East Organization yesterday.

It will be called Waterfront Waves and have 405 units, of which more than half will be three- and four-bedroom apartments. More than 60 per cent of the units will also have reservoir views, the developers added.

The Straits Times understands that the other three condos will also have ‘Waterfront’ in their names and are likely to be of similar sizes.

Together known as the Waterfront collection, the four-condo development is the largest in the area to have a direct water frontage, the developers said. In all, it could have 1,600 units.

The developers are also in talks with the Public Utilities Board about ‘enhancing the neighbourhood’s communal parks and water bodies’.

Although property consultants will not disclose prices for Waterfront Waves, they believe prices may start from $700 per sq ft (psf).

Mr Ku Swee Yong, director of marketing and business development at Savills Singapore, said units on lower floors with no water views could fetch that price.

On higher floors, prices could go up to $850 psf, he added.

Frasers Centrepoint and Far East jointly bought the former HUDC site last year for about $240 psf of gross floor area.

Source : Straits Times - 21 Nov 2007

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Woodlands Singapore condo plot draws 8 bids

Woodlands Singapore condo plot draws 8 bids

By Grace Ng

EIGHT bidders have put in tenders for a residential site near the Singapore American School and right in the middle of the heartland, Singapore’s new real estate hot zone.
Bids for the plot - located between Woodlands Avenue 2 and Rosewood Drive - ranged from $36.4 million to $56 million.

EL Development, a unit of Evan Lim, lodged the top bid.

Frasers Centrepoint came in just behind with $55.5 million, according to a Singapore Land Authority (SLA) statement yesterday.

The narrow gap between the top two bidders reflects the keen interest in the 172,223 sq ft site, which is near the American international school and, thus, in an area popular with expatriate families, said Mr Lui Seng Fatt, regional director and head of investments at Jones Lang LaSalle.

A condominium of up to five storeys with a gross floor area of 241,112 sq ft can be built on the 99-year lease site, which has a gross plot ratio of 1.4, the SLA said. This works out to about $232 per sq ft (psf) per plot ratio, which can translate into a break-even price of about $400 psf for the project, said Mr Lui, adding ‘the project may be able to sell for about $500 psf, depending on the circumstances’.

Analysts noted that the competitive bidding for the Woodlands site contrasted sharply with the lacklustre response to recent public tenders for sites at Enggor Street and Marina View, both located in the more central parts of Singapore.

This confirms ‘the trend that the focus has shifted to the outlying areas, now that the prices in the central districts, including districts 9, 10, 11, have risen significantly’, said Mr Lui.

That theory will get a further test in two weeks, when the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) launches a tender for a reserve site at Simei Street 4, which has an area of 3.22ha and is earmarked for residential development with a maximum gross floor area of 74,084 sq m.

The call for bidders was triggered by an application made by a developer who committed to bid at least $187 million for the land parcel.

Also, the URA has awarded the tender for a transitional office site between Tampines Concourse and Tampines Avenue 5 to Glades Properties, the sole bidder with a price of $10 million.

This works out to $868 per sq m for a site with a gross floor area of 11,520 sq m. The land parcel has a 15-year lease.
Source : Straits Times - 21 Nov 2007

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GuocoLand looking out for more project sites in Vietnam

GuocoLand looking out for more project sites in Vietnam

It breaks ground on its first development in the country - an $84m integrated complex

By Jessica Cheam
MAJOR DEAL: The 17.5ha mixed project (above) contains residential, commercial, hotel and educational facilities, such as a mall and 1,200 homes. It is the first integrated development to be built by an overseas investor in Vietnam, outside traditional foreign investment areas. — PHOTO: GUOCOLAND GROUP

HO CHI MINH CITY - SINGAPORE developer GuocoLand Group yesterday broke ground on its maiden development in Vietnam - The Canary - and says it is already on the lookout for further development sites.
The US$58 million (S$84 million) investment in The Canary reflects a high level of investor confidence in Vietnam’s booming economy, said a Singapore agency official at the ground-breaking ceremony yesterday.

The 17.5ha development will boast residential, commercial, hotel and educational facilities. It is the first integrated project to be built by a foreign investor in Vietnam, outside the commercial centre Ho Chi Minh City and the capital Hanoi.

It is being built in affluent Binh Duong province, 17km north of Ho Chi Minh City, near the Vietnam- Singapore Industrial Park (VSIP).

The flagship industrial zone was started in 1996 by a consortium of five Singapore firms led by SembCorp Parks, in a venture with Vietnamese state-owned Becamex IDC.

With a gross floor area of 290,000 sq m, The Canary is expected to yield 1,200 homes, in addition to a shopping mall with 85,000 sq m of retail space, a hotel, an international school and a sports complex. Homes will also face the popular 27-hole Song Be golf course.

Centre director Chiong Woan Shin of IE Singapore’s Ho Chi Minh City office told The Straits Times that the project reflects the level of confidence of Singapore companies.

Construction of the residential area’s first phase is under way and due for completion in 2009.

The two- to four-bedroom apartments, ranging from 85 sq m to 160 sq m, will be targeted at locals and expatriates alike, said Mr Lawrence Peh, general manager of Guoco- Land Vietnam.

GuocoLand’s international investment general manager Ho Sing added that the group is looking for more locations in Vietnam for further projects.

CBRE Vietnam’s managing director, Mr Marc Townsend, said he expected the project to be well-received. ‘With so many people working at the VSIP, it will be time- and cost-efficient to live there,’ he said.

The project will be launched for sale next year. He estimates that the homes will be priced at a premium above US$800 per sq m, or S$108 per sq ft - a price fetched by a residential project nearby.

IE Singapore’s Ms Chiong added that more Singapore companies were venturing into Vietnam.

But fast-rising home prices are also proving to be the bane of ordinary Vietnamese and even some expatriates. This is exacerbated by speculators flipping properties for a quick profit.

Property prices have jumped 50 per cent in Vietnam since the start of this year, and in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, they have tripled.

The result is that owning homes in the cities is far beyond the means of most ordinary Vietnamese. The issue is a hot topic in the country’s legislature.
Source : Straits Times - 21 Nov 2007

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Singapore Private school complains against Case, NTUC Income

Singapore Private school complains against Case, NTUC Income

By Sumathi V. Selvaretnam

A LOCAL private school has lodged complaints against the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) and NTUC Income with the Competition Commission of Singapore, accusing the two organisations of anti-competitive practices.
Since September 2005, Case has run a student-protection scheme called CaseTrust for Education, which private schools seeking to enrol foreign students are required to join.

The scheme requires these schools to deposit student fees in a separate bank account controlled by Case-appointed banks. Money is released to the schools as students progress through their courses.

Schools can, as an alternative, buy insurance coverage so that students are refunded the remainder of their tuition fees should the schools close down.

To date, Case has endorsed only insurance cooperative NTUC Income as the provider of this insurance.

Stansfield, which offers University of London degrees and diplomas in areas such as business, law and humanities, objects to this because it believes that it bars competition between insurance companies.

Stansfield was suspended for a little more than a week by Case last December, pending its compliance with the rules protecting students’ fee payments.

The month before, NTUC Income suspended Stansfield’s student insurance policies.

The school’s defence was that it was denied access to NTUC Income’s online system earlier that November, which prevented it from addressing certain shortfalls regarding the student protection scheme.

Stansfield added that NTUC Income also cut its overall insurance limit in January from $8 million to $4 million, but that it was required to pay the same amount of $400,000 in Banker’s Guarantee despite this.

NTUC Income cancelled the Stansfield Group’s insurance policies in May.

Stansfield said no reasons were given, despite its having reaped $4.47 million in after-tax profits in the year ending March 31.

Case’s executive director Seah Seng Choon said student protection was introduced to protect consumer interests, and this happened before the Competition Act was in place, so he did not think Case had breached it.

He added that while NTUC Income was now the only insurer in the scheme, Case was prepared to consider applications from other insurers or banks.

Source : Straits Times - 21 Nov 2007

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Sweet collective-sale deal for 15 houses in Balestier - Singapore

Sweet collective-sale deal for 15 houses in Balestier - Singapore

Each owner gets $4m - 2 to 3 times what they would have made if they sold separately

By Fiona Chan and Kua Zhen Yang
SOLD: The 15 terrace houses in Jalan Bunga Raya were finally sold for $61 million. The buyers are understood to be a Chinese property developer and its Singaporean partner. They can build about 56 apartments, each about 1,500 sq ft in size.

IT TOOK 18 months but the owners of 15 terrace houses in Balestier have pulled off a sweet deal to match some of the collective sales that have been making headlines all year.
They have banded together to sell their properties for $61 million, giving each a payout of about $4 million.

This is two to three times what they would have made for their homes individually and a huge gain for those who bought several years ago.

It is quite a coup given that the deal was trickier than the usual collective sale and the fact that the once-roaring en bloc market has cooled considerably since tougher rules were put in place last month.

The quieter market made the sale of the 15 terraces in Jalan Bunga Raya quite an achievement, said Mr Shaun Poh, senior director for investment advisory services and auctions at DTZ Debenham Tie Leung, which marketed the houses.

The mostly two-storey homes are not strata-titled as in a typical condo. This meant every owner had to agree to sell, unlike in a strata development where only 80 per cent of owners have to agree.

While similar deals have been sealed before, getting 15 out of 15 owners to sign the deal ‘was a challenge’, Mr Poh said. ‘If anyone doesn’t sign, that’s it. No deal.’

DTZ worked for about 18 months to collect all the signatures, he said.

The offer proved too sweet to resist for owners such as housewife Virgie Orlino, 47, who was initially reluctant to sell her house, which has been home for about 14 years.

‘We didn’t want to sell, but the rest wanted to sell, so we decided to cooperate,’ she told The Straits Times, adding that the price was ‘not bad’.

For some owners, who bought their homes more than 10 years ago, the payout represents a real windfall.

Retiree Ho Chaw Fu, 70, is ‘very happy with the price’. No wonder: Mr Ho bought his house for $300,000 about 30 years ago.

He may not be alone. Although one or two of the homes - lined up in two rows along a cul-de-sac - appear recently renovated, others look decades-old.

Despite acrimony being the word of the day for many other collective sales, the Balestier terraces deal went quite smoothly, owners said.

One owner, who did not want to be named, said people in the street ‘get along very well’ and were ‘very cooperative’ about the sale. He added that a few were planning to relocate together to another area so they could still be neighbours.

A reason for all this harmony could be the good price the sellers fetched. It works out to $739 per sq ft (psf) of potential gross floor area - a record level for Balestier, said Mr Poh.

The Balestier area has seen keen interest from developers such as City Developments and Soilbuild, which have both picked up projects in the vicinity recently.

The buyers of the terraces are understood to be a Chinese property developer and its Singaporean partner.

They were awarded the properties on the very day the tender closed, which means their bid was fairly strong.

They can build up to 36 storeys on the site, which has a plot ratio of 2.8.

About 56 apartments can be built with an average size of 1,500 sq ft each and may eventually be sold at $1,400 to $1,500 psf.

The developers also get the road itself, which they can keep or use as development land.

A similar deal was sealed last year when owners of some bungalows in Bukit Timah teamed up to sell their properties and developer Simon Cheong bought a group of 16 terrace houses in Cairnhill last year.
Source : Straits Times - 21 Nov 2007

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