ST : Pender Court up for sale again with $100m price tag

Mar 27, 2010

Pender Court up for sale again with $100m price tag

PENDER Court, off West Coast Highway, has been relaunched for collective sale at an asking price of about $100 million.

That is about 20 per cent above the price the condominium fetched in an ultimately abortive sale in the 2007 property boom. Buyer Bravo Building Construction called off the deal in early 2008.

The firm had, by then, also pulled out of two other collective sale deals - Tulip Garden near Holland Road and Makeway View in Newton.

Now, the sellers of the freehold 48-unit development are expecting offers in the region of $100 million to $108 million, said marketing agent Credo Real Estate's executive director of marketing Yong Choon Fah.

On this basis, the asking price range translates to a land price of about $992 per sq ft (psf) to $1,071 psf on the potential gross floor area, she said.

At this level, a developer may expect to break even at about $1,480 psf to $1,570 psf, Ms Yong added.

This price is for a total gross floor area of about 100,840 sq ft, including an additional 10 per cent space set aside for balconies.

Pender Court was sold at the peak of the last boom in July 2007.

Bravo agreed to pay $80 million or about $872 psf of potential gross floor area. No development charge was payable then.

It decided in April 2008 to cut its losses on the deal, rather than pump in more money and make a bigger loss by pursuing the development.

The property market had slowed considerably by then, from the boom days of the previous year.

Pender Court owners got to keep the $12 million deposit, which worked out to an average of $250,000 per unit.

Meanwhile in the east, Teakhwa Real Estate launched Changi Complex at the junction of Bedok Road and Upper Changi Road for collective sale on Thursday.

Owners are expecting prices of about $45 million to $48 million. This works out to $563 psf to $598 psf of potential gross floor area, including the estimated development charge of $3.6 million.

The tenders for Changi Complex and Pender Court close on April 20 and April 27 respectively.

JOYCE TEO