Gilstead View, a freehold 17-storey apartment block in the Newton area, has gone under the en bloc hammer for $96.5 million.
Chedstone Investment Holdings bought the site at approximately $1,070 per square foot per plot ratio (ppr), inclusive of the estimated $10-million development charge.
Real-estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle believes this is a new record for the Newton area.
“The sale of Gilstead View has set a new benchmark in the Newton area. It is the only property to go beyond $1,000 psf ppr,” said Mr Lui Seng Fatt, regional director and head of investments for Jones Lang LaSalle.
Last month, investment company Ho Bee paid $990 psf ppr for Elmira Heights, which topped the previous benchmark price of $666 psf ppr that Wing Tai paid for Newton Meadows.
The 35,510 sq ft Gilstead site has a gross plot ratio of 2.8 and is subjected to height restrictions of up to 36 storeys. The estate has a total of 64 apartments averaging between 830 and 850 sq ft each.
Chedstone Investment is an associate company of Selangor Dredging Berhad (SDB), a premium lifestyle property company that specialises in niche residential developments.
A new high-rise, luxury development could be built on the plot, which has a gross floor area of 99,428 sq ft. This equates to around 75 luxury apartments averaging 1,300 sq ft each. Jones Lang LaSalle estimates the break-even price for this new project to hover around the $1,600 psf mark.
This is SDB’s second property in Singapore. Its first project, currently known as Mount Emily Tower, is located at Wilkie Road.
“Like the development at Wilkie Road, the development at Gilstead Road will be a luxury condominium development and will have the unique brand of an SDB development,” said Ms Teh Lip Kim, managing director of SDB.
Source: Weekend Today, 26 May 2007