Woodlands Executive Condominium Site Draws Top Bid of $150.2m

RESIDENTIAL MARKET

Woodlands Executive Condominium site draws top bid of $150.2m

Demand for Executive Condominium (EC) sites in Woodlands remains strong, with a top bid of $150.18 million, or $302 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), submitted for a 99-year leasehold site there.

That bid came from a joint venture between Fraser Centrepoint's unit Opal Star and Lum Chang's unit Binjai Holdings, which have a 70-30 per cent stake in the venture.

The site is on Woodlands Avenue 6 and Woodlands Drive 16, next to another EC development, La Casa.

The tender, which closed at noon yesterday, attracted five bidders - comparable to a site on Woodlands Avenue 5 sold in May which also pulled in five bidders and was sold at $318 psf ppr.

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Opal Star and Binjai Holdings' bid was 1.6 per cent higher than the next highest bid put in by the joint venture between Far East Civil Engineering and China Construction.

That bid was $147.777 million, which translates to $297 psf ppr.

When the tender for the site was launched in August, property consultants polled by BT had predicted that the winning bid would be in the $300-350 psf ppr range, and that 3-7 bids would be submitted. The tender outcome was thus within expectations.

ECs are a hybrid of public and private housing, with initial-buyer eligibility and resale restrictions lifted 10 years after the completion of the project.

A Fraser Centrepoint spokesman said yesterday that plans have been made for 447 units in eight blocks of 12 storeys each, and that the units will mainly be three- and four-bedroom ones.

Other bidders for the site were Mezzo Development ($138 million or $277 psf ppr); Verspring Properties ($134.7 million or $271 psf ppr); and CEL Property ($124.399 million or $250 psf ppr).

Source: Business Times – 10 October 2012