Property owners continue to ride on the buoyant market by offering their sites for development. The latest attempts at collective sales at Meng Gdn

Property owners continue to ride on the buoyant market by offering their sites for development. The latest attempts at collective sales are at Meng Garden Apartments off Killiney Road and Villa delle Rose just off Holland Road.

SuperBowl Holdings’ vacant site at the corner of Balestier Road and Jalan Datoh is also up for grabs; the site has approval for development into a hotel. All three sites are freehold.

Villa delle Rose, with 297,132 sq ft land area, is just off Holland Road, overlooking the Botanic Gardens. The site is zoned for residential use with a 1.4 plot ratio (ratio of potential maximum gross floor area to land area). A $12.6 million development charge (DC) is payable.

CB Richard Ellis, which is marketing Villa delle Rose through an expression of interest exercise due to close on Aug 8, said there is no official price indication.

However, market watchers note that the much smaller Aura Park nearby was recently sold to Lippo Realty for $1,280 psf per plot ratio inclusive of DC.

Sources believe Villa delle Rose’s owners may be looking at a higher price, in the region of the $1,544 psf ppr achieved this year for Bishopswalk.

Villa delle Rose was jointly developed by Keck Seng and Pontiac Land in 1982. The existing development comprises 104 units ranging from 2,800 sq ft to 3,200 sq ft.

CBRE is seeking expressions of interest in Meng Garden Apartments at Lloyd Road with a 35,639 sq ft land area. The site is zoned for residential use with a 2.8 plot ratio. An estimated $440,000 DC is payable. Submissions should be made by Aug 7.

The development of 26 apartments and a penthouse was built in the mid-1980s. Prior to its development, the site was the original residence of the Alkaff family, CBRE said in its news release.

Over in the Balestier area, Colliers is marketing a 22,965 sq ft vacant site approved for hotel development. Searches show the site’s owner is Superbowl Sentosa Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Superbowl Holdings.

Colliers said the site’s indicative land value is about $40 million, or about $580 psf per plot ratio. No DC is payable.

‘With a proposed gross floor area of 68,896 sq ft and a gross plot ratio of approximately 2.99, the subject site could be redeveloped into an 11-storey tower block comprising 168 hotel rooms above a two-storey podium block - plus a basement car park and a swimming pool,’ Colliers said.

The tender for the Balestier site closes on July 25.

Source: The Business Times, 04 July 2007