BT : Newton View for sale en bloc

Business Times - 19 Aug 2010

Newton View for sale en bloc

Freshly launched unit at The Scala in Serangoon also up for auction

By EMILYN YAP

OWNERS of Newton View have climbed aboard the collective-sale bandwagon, putting their estate up for tender with an indicative price of $153-155 million.

The freehold residential development at 26 Newton Road (between Newton and Novena MRT stations) sits on a 37,577 square foot site with a plot ratio of 2.8 and a permissible gross floor area (GFA) of 105,215 sq ft.

Including an extra 10 per cent of space for balconies, the GFA can go up to 115,737 sq ft. Savills Singapore is handling the tender and expects the winning developer to be able to build a condominium with about 80 units averaging 1,300 sq ft each.

The developer will have to pay an estimated development charge of some $582,000. At the indicative price, the overall cost of the site would work out to $1,460-$1,479 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr).

Savills' investment sales head Steven Ming reckons Newton View's location is a selling point. 'New developments in the area have been substantially sold, reflecting the location's desirability,' he said.

Separately, a two-bedroom unit at The Scala in Serangoon - fresh from a developer's launch last month - has been put up for auction.

Industry watchers say it is unusual for an owner to sell a residential property at auction so soon after a launch. Hong Leong Holdings rolled out the 99-year leasehold 468-unit project in the last week of July. According to official data, 68 units were left that month.

Jones Lang LaSalle is handling this owner's sale. Its head of auctions Mok Sze Sze said the seller is a regular client who has put other properties up for auction previously, and is confident of selling the unit this way.

DTZ's senior director for investment advisory and auction, Shaun Poh, said owners typically auction units some time after launch, when a project is close to obtaining its temporary occupation permit (TOP) or has been substantially constructed.

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