GuocoLand Sells 40 Leedon Units in Private Preview

RESIDENTIAL MARKET

GuocoLand sells 40 Leedon Residence units

Malaysian tycoon Quek Leng Chan's Singapore-listed property arm GuocoLand has sold about 40 units or 10 per cent of the total 381 units in its freehold Leedon Residence condo in the Holland Road area, BT understands.

It began a private preview of the project in mid-August at an average price of $2,000 per square foot. The developer is not offering any discount or stamp duty absorption.

For the preview, GuocoLand has released 70 units - mostly three and four bedders.

The 12-storey development will comprise 11 blocks.

Leedon Residence's architectural design, landscaping and interior design are handled by SCDA. Units will be fitted with Smeg kitchen appliances.

Leedon Residence will not have any one-bedders. It will have around 60 two-bedroom apartments, generously sized at around 1,050 sq ft each and priced at $2.4 million and upwards.

The vast majority of units in the development will be three and four-bedders.

Typical unit sizes are around 2,100 sq ft for a three-bedroom apartment and 2,700 sq ft for a four-bedder. On the ground floor, though, four-bedders are much larger (4,600-5,900 sq ft), each with a private pool and garden. Pricewise, three bedders start from $3.7 million and four bedders, from $4.7 million.

Leedon Residence will have four penthouses - all triplex units of about 7,000 sq ft, spanning the 11th and 12th levels as well as the roof terrace. Each penthouse will have five bedrooms. These units have yet to be released and are expected to be priced on application.

The project, which is expected to be completed in 2014, will have a 200-metre long "forest walk" of mostly rain trees. GuocoLand will also conserve over a dozen yellow flames on the perimeter of the development.

Of the 40 units sold, around 70 per cent are said to have been picked up by Singaporeans. Singapore permanent residents of various nationalities are thought to have bought 15 per cent of the sold units, with the remaining 15 per cent purchased by Indonesians (who are not PRs here).

GuocoLand is developing Leedon Residence on the former Leedon Heights site which it clinched through a collective sale in 2007 for $835 million, or $1,062 per square foot per plot ratio inclusive of development charges. A back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests the breakeven cost for Leedon Residence is around $1,500-1,600 psf. Assuming a $2,000 psf selling price on a project-average basis, the pretax profit from the development would be around $420-520 million.

Next door, at the 99-year leasehold d'Leedon project being developed by a CapitaLand-led consortium, 10 units were sold in July at a median price of $1,527 psf, according to developers' sales stats filed with Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

Along Bukit Timah Road, GuocoLand is at an advanced stage of construction for Goodwood Residence, with 134 of the project's 210 units sold as at end-July based on URA stats. GuocoLand has achieved an average price of around $2,500 psf for Goodwood Residence. The first phase of the development is slated to receive Temporary Occupation Permit towards the end of this year, followed by the second phase next year.

Source: Business Times – 13 September 2012