2 more condos up for en-bloc sale: Amber Park and Jervois Gardens

Jervois Gardens, a smaller 17-unit freehold condo off River Valley Road, will launch its sale by tender on Tuesday (Aug 29) with an asking price of around S$68 million. PHOTO: COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL
En-bloc fever: Amber Park condominium in Katong is the latest property put up for sale by its owners.
ST PHOTO: FILE

SINGAPORE - The collective sale fever in Singapore just got a bit hotter with news on Monday (Aug 28) of two freehold condominiums up for sale.

Amber Park, a 200-unit freehold condominium in the East Coast, has been launched for en-bloc or collective sale at a minimum price of S$768 million, sole marketing agent JLL said.

Built in the mid-1980s, Amber Park comprises two 27-storey apartment blocks.

Under the 2014 Master Plan, the 213,670 square foot site is zoned "Residential" with a gross plot ratio of 2.8, meaning it can accommodate a high-rise apartment development of around 24 to 26 storeys.

But the big site has an allowable gross floor area (GFA) of 598,300 sq ft, which means close to 800 apartments averaging 70 sq m each can be built, said JLL.

The Amber Road area is an established private residential enclave that is popular with both locals and expatriates, due to its proximity to the Central Business District and the airport, and its appeal of being only minutes' walk to the beach at East Coast Park, said JLL.

"There are not many sites of similar size that are still available for redevelopment in the Amber Road location, as most of the larger projects have been sold en bloc and redeveloped over the years," said JLL regional director Tan Hong Boon.

The owners' reserve price of S$768 million works out to approximately S$1,284 per sq ft per plot ratio. Development charges are not payable for the proposed redevelopment, said Mr Tan.

The site's 80m road frontage onto Amber Road may offer developers some degree of flexibility in designing the new apartments, such that the number of sea-facing units are maximised, he added.

The tender for Amber Park closes on Oct 3.

Separately, Jervois Gardens, a smaller 17-unit freehold condo off River Valley Road, will launch its sale by tender on Tuesday with an asking price of around S$68 million, said marketing agent Colliers International.

Jervois Gardens comprises two, four-storey walk-up blocks for a total of 14 maisonettes and three apartments. The freehold site is regular in shape with a site area of approximately 34,038 sq ft.

Under the 2014 Master Plan, the site is zoned for "Residential" use with a plot ratio of 1.4. It has the potential to be re-developed into a five-storey development comprising 60 units of approximately 850 sq ft each.

Said Ms Tang Wei Leng, Colliers managing director: "Freehold sites are hard to come by in the current market and developers' landbanks are steadily depleting. Jervois Gardens offers developers the opportunity to build well-designed affordable two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments in prime district 10."

Each owner stands to receive S$3-S$4 million, based on the asking price of around S$68 million, which works out to be S$1,297 psf ppr, assuming no development charge payable.

A smaller freehold site along River Valley Road, in close proximity to Jervois Gardens, was recently acquired for S$110 million, which translated to S$1,582 psf ppr, said Colliers.

The selling price of newer projects in that area, which are largely leasehold, such as Mon Jervois, Principal Garden, The Crest and Alex Residence, is in the region of S$1,900 to S$2,350 psf, it added.

Tender for Jervois Gardens will close on Sept 26.

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