The tender for Gilstead View in the Newton area closed yesterday with a top bid of $96 million, which works out to $1,036-1,056 psf per plot ratio

The tender for Gilstead View in the Newton area closed yesterday with a top bid of $96 million, which works out to $1,036-1,056 psf per plot ratio inclusive of development charges (DC) estimated to range from $7 million to $9 million, sources say. This is higher than the $990 psf ppr achieved for the nearby Elmira Heights last month.

And in the Telok Blangah area, Bukit Sembawang bagged Fairways Condo for $244.3 million or about $785 psf ppr inclusive of estimated development charges of $8.45 million and $2.43 million for buying an adjoining piece of state land.

Both collective sale sites are freehold.

Colliers International brokered the Fairways Condo deal while Jones Lang LaSalle handled Gilstead View’s tender.

JLL is said to have received more than five bids when the tender closed yesterday. Market watchers suggested that a party linked to Tiong Aik group may have put in the top bid for Gilstead View, but they added that it remains to be seen who bags the property, depending on factors including the negotiations on conditions accompanying the various bids.

Sources say the range in the estimated DC quantum ($7 million to $9 million) for Gilstead View is because the site’s development baseline has yet to be confirmed.

Gilstead View has a 35,510 sq ft land area and is zoned for residential use with a 2.8 plot ratio (ratio of maximum potential gross floor area to land area) and 30-storey building height. The site can be redeveloped into a new condo with about 65 units averaging 1,500 sq ft. Assuming Gilstead View is sold for about $1,056 psf ppr, the break-even cost for a new condo project on the plot could be around $1,500 psf, according to industry observers.

Fairways Condominium has a freehold land area of 146,532 sq ft, and together with the adjoining state land of about 8,288 sq ft the total area adds up to 154,820 sq ft. The Fairways site is zoned for residential use with 2.1 plot ratio.

Based on the $785 psf ppr that Bukit Sembawang paid for the site, analysts estimate a break-even cost of around $1,200 psf for a new condo on the site.

Bukit Sembawang can build a 24-storey condo with about 250 units averaging 1,300 sq ft on the Fairways and adjoining state site. Market watchers expect the group to take around a year to launch the new project.

Inclusive of the latest acquisition of Fairways Condo, Bukit Sembawang has a residential landbank of about 4.2 million sq ft which can be developed into about 2,050 homes. The bulk of this land (around 3.8 million sq ft) is in Seletar Hills.

Source: The Business Times, 18 May 2007