Whitley Heights up for en bloc sale
By Jo-ann Huang | Posted: 05 January 2011 2133 hrs
SINGAPORE: After a strong run last year, it looks like the en bloc market is ushering in the new year with a bang.
Apartment complex Whitley Heights is up for collective sale -- the first property to be offered this year.
Re-zoned for landed housing, the site should attract substantial interest, according to analysts.
Experts said sites like the Whitley Heights apartment complex are a rare find.
Located off Whitley Road, it consists of three blocks of three-storeys, each with a total of 45 units. Apartment sizes range from 1,600 square feet to 2,100 square feet.
Credo Real Estate managing director Karamjit Singh said: "There are very few residential redevelopment sites available in the market place for them to get their hands on to build landed properties or mixed landed.
"Here, when we talk about mixed landed, we are referring to the ability on the part of the developers to build a whole variety of either terraces, semi detached or detached houses.
Mr Singh added that Whitley Heights is the largest freehold plot in Districts 9 to 11, sized at 130,165 square feet. He said it is the largest site put up for collective sale in more than three years.
Now that demand for landed property is rising due to supply constraints, analysts expect Whitley Heights to attract bids from mid-tier as well as major developers.
Prices for landed housing increased 20 per cent last year, outpacing the non-landed residential market.
International Property Advisors chief executive officer Ku Swee Yong said: "We've got a limited supply; right now, total stock in Singapore is just under 70,000 units.
"What's coming up in the next five years could be about three to four thousand units of new landed housing".
Whitley Heights is expected by analysts to attract bids ranging from S$185 million to S$210 million.
That means each of the owners gets to pocket a S$4 million if the sale goes through.
This translates to S$1,421 per square foot to S$1,613 per square foot over the land area.
Credo Real Estate said Whitley Heights could be developed into as many as 80 strata terrace houses or about 60 strata semi-detached houses, subject to approval.
Going forward, analysts are bullish on the landed housing market.
They forecast that prices of landed housing will rise by eight to 10 per cent this year.
Prices of landed housing are currently at S$7,600 to S$9,300 per square metre, 25 per cent lower than prices of non-landed housing.
"Right now, there's a little bit of a price gap on a per square foot basis versus high-rise properties," Mr Ku said.
"The gap has shrunk within the last eight to 10 years from 30 over per cent. Now the gap is only at 25 per cent. We expect the gap to shrink further because the demand for landed properties is stronger than the demand for high rise properties."
Analysts also expect en bloc deals, which were worth S$860 million last year, to double in 2011.
Mr Ku noted that other private properties which have the potential to follow in Whitley Heights' footsteps are Kiam Hock Gardens, Kew Lodge, Orchid Apartments and Charming Gardens.
Like Whitley Heights, these properties are located in Districts 9 to 11.
But the site could multiply its value proposition. Sources say that the two private low-density properties are a barrier to direct access into Chancery Hill Road and Chancery Lane.
"A smart developer would try to buy off the two properties and rebrand the entire redevelopment into an exclusive Chancery Lane residence," said a property consultant who declined to be named.
Tight government land supply in the city fringe region has led to successful en bloc sales in the area.
For example, fellow city-fringer and en bloc property Maison Royale, which is located at Surrey Road, was sold off last month to Giant Land for S$46 million.
-CNA/wk
- wong chee tat :)
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Four new MRT stations for Tuas West extension
Four new MRT stations for Tuas West extension
By Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid | Posted: 11 January 2011 1819 hrs
SINGAPORE: Four new MRT stations will be built in Tuas in the next five years, offering greater convenience to commuters.
They are part of the S$3.5b Tuas West Extension project first announced under the Land Transport Masterplan in 2008.
Transport Minister Raymond Lim, who visited the Bedok MRT station on Tuesday, also revealed that the Circle Line will be fully open by the fourth quarter of this year.
The Tuas West Extension will be 7.5km long and it will begin after Joo Koon Station. The four new stations are at Tuas along Tuas Road; Tuas Crescent along Pioneer Road; Tuas West near Tuas Avenue 12 and Tuas Link located just outside Raffles Marina Country Club.
Mr Lim said: "When completed, it will improve accessibility and connectivity for people who work in the Jurong and Tuas industrial areas. The Tuas West Extension will help commuters save more than half their current travelling time when they commute to these areas.
"For instance, it takes about 35 minutes to travel by bus from Boon Lay Bus Interchange to Tuas West today. This will take only 15 minutes via MRT when the line is opened."
The project will also see a first in Singapore - the construction of a road viaduct along Pioneer Road that is integrated with the rail extension.
The 4-kilometre long and 3-lane viaduct will run along Pioneer Road to join Tuas South Avenue 3 with a 2.4-kilometre stretch of the road integrated within the rail viaduct. It aims to reduce congestion in the surrounding Tuas West area.
LTA's group director for engineering, Paul Fok, said: "There is going to be a lot of development in the Tuas West industrial area, so there is a need to increase the road capacity going towards the west. This viaduct is actually unique because we are stacking the rail viaduct on top of the road viaduct. That means we are saving quite a lot of land."
But some 49 plots and nine properties will have to make way for the project. The areas affected are along the Pan Island Expressway, Joo Koon Circle, Tuas Road, Pioneer Road, Tuas West Road, Tuas South Avenue 3 and Tuas West Drive.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) had previous planned for the Tuas West Extension to have only three stations. But after studies were concluded, it decided to include an additional station so that more commuters will be directly served by the MRT system.
The LTA will also be building another much larger MRT depot to cater to more trains that will ply the North-South and East-West lines. Spanning some 26 hectares, the depot will be able to house some 60 trains.
Thirteen more trains will be added for the extension.
There's also good news about the Circle Line. The last stretch of 12 stations from Marymount to HarbourFront - which includes Holland Village and Caldecott stations - will open this year.
Sixteen more trains will also be added to meet an increase in ridership. This will increase the total fleet of Circle Line trains by 40%.
The trains are scheduled to arrive around 2015.
On the safety aspect, LTA says that to date it has completed the installation of half-height platform screen doors on 11 elevated MRT stations.
Two stations - Bedok and Paya Lebar - began operations of the screen doors on Tuesday morning.
LTA says it is on track to complete the installation of the screen doors on the East-West Line by the third quarter of the year and for the North-South Line, by 2012.
- CNA/ir
- wong chee tat :)
By Hetty Musfirah Abdul Khamid | Posted: 11 January 2011 1819 hrs
SINGAPORE: Four new MRT stations will be built in Tuas in the next five years, offering greater convenience to commuters.
They are part of the S$3.5b Tuas West Extension project first announced under the Land Transport Masterplan in 2008.
Transport Minister Raymond Lim, who visited the Bedok MRT station on Tuesday, also revealed that the Circle Line will be fully open by the fourth quarter of this year.
The Tuas West Extension will be 7.5km long and it will begin after Joo Koon Station. The four new stations are at Tuas along Tuas Road; Tuas Crescent along Pioneer Road; Tuas West near Tuas Avenue 12 and Tuas Link located just outside Raffles Marina Country Club.
Mr Lim said: "When completed, it will improve accessibility and connectivity for people who work in the Jurong and Tuas industrial areas. The Tuas West Extension will help commuters save more than half their current travelling time when they commute to these areas.
"For instance, it takes about 35 minutes to travel by bus from Boon Lay Bus Interchange to Tuas West today. This will take only 15 minutes via MRT when the line is opened."
The project will also see a first in Singapore - the construction of a road viaduct along Pioneer Road that is integrated with the rail extension.
The 4-kilometre long and 3-lane viaduct will run along Pioneer Road to join Tuas South Avenue 3 with a 2.4-kilometre stretch of the road integrated within the rail viaduct. It aims to reduce congestion in the surrounding Tuas West area.
LTA's group director for engineering, Paul Fok, said: "There is going to be a lot of development in the Tuas West industrial area, so there is a need to increase the road capacity going towards the west. This viaduct is actually unique because we are stacking the rail viaduct on top of the road viaduct. That means we are saving quite a lot of land."
But some 49 plots and nine properties will have to make way for the project. The areas affected are along the Pan Island Expressway, Joo Koon Circle, Tuas Road, Pioneer Road, Tuas West Road, Tuas South Avenue 3 and Tuas West Drive.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) had previous planned for the Tuas West Extension to have only three stations. But after studies were concluded, it decided to include an additional station so that more commuters will be directly served by the MRT system.
The LTA will also be building another much larger MRT depot to cater to more trains that will ply the North-South and East-West lines. Spanning some 26 hectares, the depot will be able to house some 60 trains.
Thirteen more trains will be added for the extension.
There's also good news about the Circle Line. The last stretch of 12 stations from Marymount to HarbourFront - which includes Holland Village and Caldecott stations - will open this year.
Sixteen more trains will also be added to meet an increase in ridership. This will increase the total fleet of Circle Line trains by 40%.
The trains are scheduled to arrive around 2015.
On the safety aspect, LTA says that to date it has completed the installation of half-height platform screen doors on 11 elevated MRT stations.
Two stations - Bedok and Paya Lebar - began operations of the screen doors on Tuesday morning.
LTA says it is on track to complete the installation of the screen doors on the East-West Line by the third quarter of the year and for the North-South Line, by 2012.
- CNA/ir
- wong chee tat :)
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