Ho Bee acquires Elmira Heights for $279m

Ho Bee acquires Elmira Heights for $279m

Its land bank of 730,000 sq ft can be developed into 700 homes

HO Bee Investment's latest $279 million or $990 psf per plot ratio acquisition of Elmira Heights at Newton Road has boosted the developer's residential land bank to about 730,000 sq ft.

The sale has been closed: Owners of Elmira Heights' existing 126 units will receive $2 million to $2.4 million

This land bank can be developed into about 1.4 million sq ft gross floor area, or nearly 700 high-end homes, on five sites. The price for the five sites adds up to $960 million, although Ho Bee owns only 50 per cent of two of these sites - the Seaview Collection condo plot on Sentosa Cove and Holland Hill Mansions - and 90 per cent of The Waterfront Collection plot at Sentosa Cove.

Elmira Heights is 'probably at the highest point in the Newton area', reckoned Ho Bee chairman Chua Thian Poh. Market watchers note that Ho Bee's $990 psf ppr unit land price, which is inclusive of an estimated $22 million development charge (DC), is 50 per cent higher than the last benchmark in the area - $666 psf ppr including DC that Wing Tai paid about a year ago for Newton Meadows.

Elmira Heights' collective sale was brokered by DTZ Debenham Tie Leung. Its director Tang Wei Leng said owners of Elmira Heights' existing 126 units will receive either $2 million or $2.4 million per unit, depending on the size of their unit.

Industry observers reckoned Ho Bee's break even cost for a new condo on the site could be around $1,400 to $1,500 psf.

DTZ executive director Margaret Thean said: 'With its prime freehold location in District 11 and riding on Ho Bee's signature of top-quality developments, the new development is likely to command an average of $1,800 psf under the current market conditions.'

Ho Bee said it plans to redevelop the 108,550 sq ft freehold site into a 30 storey twin tower condo with a total of about 170 apartments of about 1,800 sq ft and larger. The project will come with full-condo facilities. 'The plan is to develop three and four-bedroom apartments and penthouses to cater to the growing demand for large units,' the group said in a release yesterday. The project is slated for release next year.

Separately, Ho Bee announced it had sold 28 of the total 29 villas on Paradise Island, Sentosa Cove, since last month. Over 50 per cent of buyers were foreigners. Prices ranged from $7 million to $18 million for each villa.

On average, the price works out to about $1,100 psf of land area, nearly 40 per cent higher than the $790 psf average the group achieved earlier for its villas on the nearby Coral Island in late 2005/early 2006. Ho Bee has sold 20 of the 21 villas at Coral Island.

Ho Bee's latest 99-year villas at Paradise Island have land areas of about 7,000 sq ft to 15,000 sq ft.