Four 99-year leasehold bungalow plots have been launched at Sentosa Cove

Four 99-year leasehold bungalow plots have been launched at Sentosa Cove, after which Sentosa Cove Pte Ltd (SCPL) will be left with just the final 20 individual bungalow plots in the upscale housing district.

The scarcity value is expected by some market watchers to increase the prices fetched for the latest four plots, which are being offered for sale through expression of interest.

Three of the four latest plots face the waterway, and Credo Real Estate managing director Karamjit Singh reckoned these could fetch $1,100 to $1,200 per square foot (psf) of land area, well above the highest price of $960 psf achieved for a waterway-fronting bungalow plot so far this year. ‘These plots are at the corners of a stretch of bungalow sites, which means they offer a wider span of water views,’ MrSingh said.

The fourth plot, with a land area of 9,400 sq ft facing Tanjong Golf Course, could fetch about $1,000 psf, again higher than the $910 psf top bid achieved for a fairway-facing bungalow plot on Sentosa Cove, he said.

SCPL, master developer of the waterfront housing district emerging on Sentosa island, said the top price achieved for a seafront bungalow site in the area was $1,473 psf.

The bungalow sites on Sentosa Cove have a particular scarcity value not just because there are very few of them but because buyers are particularly reluctant to sell on the secondary market, Mr Singh said. ‘Many of those who’ve bought these sites are high net worth investors who buy, build and keep,’ he reckoned.

The three waterway-

facing plots launched by SCPL will permit their new owners the luxury of mooring their private yachts in their backyards. The sites range in land areas from 9,348 sq ft to 11,515 sq ft and have plot ratios (ratio of maximum potential gross floor area to land area) of 0.77. The sole fairway-facing plot has a slightly higher plot ratio of 0.8. All four plots can be developed into two-storey bungalows with attic and basement.

The expressions of interest for the four plots close on July 25. The award will be based solely on price. Besides individual bungalow plots, there is still Pearl Island, which can be redeveloped into 19 bungalows and which will be relaunched in later this year after the man-made island failed to fetch a high-

enough price in a tender that closed last November. The island would be targeted mainly at developers, unlike the individual bungalow plots which provide buyers with the opportunities to build their dream homes on their new parcels of land.

The other remaining plots at Sentosa Cove available to developers include one for terrace houses, which is slated for launch soon. Two condominium plots are still available - the Beachfront Collection, which has been launched and whose tender closes on July 24, and a plot known as C-13, which will be launched before the end of the year.

SCPL has already sold land for about 1,955 homes on Sentosa Cove comprising 358 landed homes (terraced houses and bungalows) and about 1,597 condo units. These make up about 80 per cent of the total of 2,500 homes planned for Sentosa Cove.

Source: The Business Times, 13 July 2007