UOL’s $79.5 million acquisition of Spottiswoode Apartment, announced late on Tuesday, works out to a unit land price of $732 per square foot per plot ratio including an estimated $167,000 development charge.
April 7, 2007UOL’s $79.5 million acquisition of Spottiswoode Apartment, announced late on Tuesday, works out to a unit land price of $732 per square foot per plot ratio including an estimated $167,000 development charge.
This is a new benchmark for the Neil Road/Cantonment Road area, says United Premas, which brokered the freehold collective sale and released unit land price details yesterday.
Based on a land cost of $732 per sq ft per plot ratio, UOL’s breakeven cost for a new condo project will be about $1,050 psf, market watchers reckon.
The 38,878 sq ft freehold site is zoned for residential use with a 2.8 plot ratio – the ratio of potential maximum gross floor area to land area – and a 36-storey maximum height under Master Plan 2003.
The site can be redeveloped into a new condo of about 100 units averaging 1,200 sq ft.
Source: The Business Times, 05 April 2007
What is Enbloc Sale?
April 7, 2007
What is Enbloc Sale?
Enbloc = in a lump; as a whole
Thus, an Enbloc Sale basically means: all owners of separate units in an apartment, condominium or even an office building, coming together to collectively sell their properties to a developer for comprehensive redevelopment.
Why Enbloc Sale?
- allows owners to sell their properties for at a higher price than they could fetch by selling individually in the open market by converting the unused land or development potential in their property development into cash.
- allows developers to utilize their purchased land / development’s potential.
When is Enbloc Sale Feasible?
Enbloc Sale is normally feasible when one or a combination of the followings is evident in the development:
- An increase in Plot Ratio of the land
- Re-zoning of the land to a higher use
- The land is not fully built up or utilized to its allowable development potential
The Enbloc Sale Process
- Checking the value of land
- Checking owners’ interest
- Sale preparation
- Marketing the land for sale
- Private treaty/ public tender and evaluation
- Legal completion of enbloc sale
- Delivery of vacant possession
For more information or discussion email realtyunited@gmail.com
Government raises DC rates
April 7, 2007Business Times
By KALPANA RASHIWALA
REFLECTING rising property and land prices over the past six months, the government yesterday increased development charge (DC) rates.
The biggest increases were concentrated in the new and existing downtown locations such as Raffles Place and Marina Bay.
Jones Lang LaSalle’s analysis showed that the highest jump in DC rates, of a whopping 90.5 per cent, was recorded for hotel use in the Raffles Place and neighbouring locations.
The government also raised DC rates – payable for enhancing a site’s use – for non-landed residential use by as much as 54.8 per cent in both the new and existing downtowns – including Marina Bay and Raffles Place, and by 38.5 per cent in Shenton Way.
These areas saw new apartment launches, like Marina Bay Residences, One Shenton and Lumiere, achieve high prices in the past three months.
For landed residential use, Sentosa led the gains with a 27.7 per cent hike, not surprising given that a record price for a bungalow plot – $1,308 psf – was achieved at Sentosa Cove late last year.
Good Class Bungalow (GCB) locations like Holland Road/Sixth Avenue, Tanglin, Chatsworth, Nassim and White House Park, saw increases of 10-16 per cent in landed DC rates, mirroring the robust GCB deals in the second half of last year.
The biggest DC rate hike for commercial use was 44.4 per cent – in Raffles Place. Increases of 34.1-38.5 per cent were chalked up in other areas of the new and existing downtowns, including Shenton Way and Tanjang Pagar.
These areas have seen several office deals in the past six months, including Lippo Centre, Anson House, Dapenso Building and Crosby House, observed CB Richard Ellis
The commercial use rate for the Tanglin/Cuscaden area was raised 39.5 per cent. CBRE said this could be due to the sale of 6B Orange Grove Road by FJ Benjamin.
DC is payable for enhancing a site’s use or for building a bigger project on it. The rates, which are revised twice yearly on March 1 and Sept 1, are specified according to land use and location.
The average DC rate hikes from today, of 14.4 per cent for non-landed residential use and 11.7 per cent for commercial use, marked the first double-digit increases in seven years, according to Jones Lang LaSalle’s analysis.
The average DC rate for landed residential use was raised 6.4 per cent, while that for the group that includes hotel and hospital use went up 27.3 per cent.
CBRE noted that the sharp rise in hotel DC rates – which followed no change, and a 1.6 per cent increase in the two preceding revisions on Sept 1 and March 1 respectively last year – reflects the rapidly rising level of interest in hotel sites in the last six months, on the back of strong tourism numbers.
The award of the Collyer Quay site in December at a then-record unit land price of $1,540 psf per plot ratio may have contributed to the sharp rise in hotel DC rate for the area, it reckons.
The area around Singapore River saw a 48.1 per cent increase in hotel DC rates, and the Moulmein/Novena area, around 43 per cent – both areas where hotel sites have been sold in recent months.
For non-landed and landed residential, commercial and hotel uses, DC rates were raised in virtually all of the 118 geographical sectors or locations across Singapore.
Interestingly, the Ardmore/Draycott, and Angullia Park vicinities – which saw record residential land prices achieved in the past six months – saw relative modest increases of 16.7 and 20 per cent respectively in non-landed residential DC rates.
DC rates for industrial and other uses were left unchanged.
