Much Anticipated South Beach Project Set To Go!

RESIDENTIAL MARKET 

South Beach developer set to market project

The much-anticipated South Beach project is gathering pace with the developer preparing to market the homes, offices and shop space.

The City Developments (CDL) and IOI Corporation consortium is "at the stage of preparing to market or pre-lease" the development, but has not finalised the launch date and pricing, a CDL spokesman said.

The mixed-use project - located between Raffles Hotel and Suntec City, and next to the Esplanade MRT station - will feature 190 homes, 651 hotel rooms, 49,000 sq m of office space and 7,900 sqm of retail space. A 2,700 sq m area will also be set aside for a private club.

Some agents gathering interest for the high-end complex told The Straits Times that flats could be sold at about $4,000 per sq ft (psf) on average.

They added that some regulatory approvals are still needed before flats can be sold, but the development - which had been hit by delays due to the global financial crisis - is finally in motion.

The landmark site was acquired for nearly $1.69 billion from the Urban Redevelopment Authority in 2007, at a price that worked out to $1,069 psf of potential gross floor area.

Originally, Dubai World unit Istithmar, United States-based Elad Group and CDL each held a one-third stake in the South Beach Consortium.

The original plan would have seen the development completed by this year at a total cost, including land, estimated at $2.5billion.

But during the financial crisis in November 2008, CDL announced a deferment until building costs eased.

A series of sales and restructuring also marked the exit of two of the original investors - Elad and Istithmar - and led to the entry of Malaysian heavyweight IOI last year.

The project is now scheduled for completion in 2015.

CDL declined to give the revised total development cost, but added that "there have been no changes or enhancements made to the original plans for the site with IOI's participation to the shareholder structure".

Source: The Straits Times – 6 October 2012