Yet another residential project is up for collective sale - this time in a quiet pocket of the east where land sites rarely go on the market.
The Changi Garden condominium site joins the ever hotter en bloc scene here as developers look to bolster their land holdings.
The owners of the freehold development - with 60 apartments, 12 penthouses and 12 shops - are asking for $196 million, or $700 per sq ft per plot ratio, said consultant Edmund Tie & Company yesterday.
It is putting up the development for sale by public tender today.
The firm noted that if the owners get their asking price, gross sale proceeds for an apartment would range from $1.69 million to $1.79 million; a penthouse from $3.18 million to $3.74 million; and a shop from $3.7 million to $5.5 million.
Changi Garden is at the junction of Upper Changi Road North and Jalan Mariam, and sits on about 200,093 sq ft of elevated grounds, surrounded by landed houses.
It is also near Changi Prison but Mr Tan Chun Ming, Edmund Tie & Company director of investment advisory, said the site remains an attractive option as land earmarked for residential homes has not been sold within a 2.8 km radius of Changi Garden since 2013.
"We believe a developer can take advantage of this huge freehold site to create a residential development with full communal and lifestyle facilities to tap on the potential pent- up demand," he said, adding that freehold sites of this size were rare.
Mr Tan said the process for the collective sale started in March last year, and owners have told him "this is the fifth or sixth time" over the year that it is being put up for sale. Previous attempts were not successful. Changi Garden was developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
"I've spoken to a number of developers and they like the size as it can let them be creative with their plans, and that can help in their product," he added.
The site is zoned for residential use at a plot ratio of 1.4 and, owing to a high development baseline, there is no development charge.
Edmund Tie & Company added that the Changi area is "slated for transformation into a major employment centre", noting how it has become a popular industrial and commercial cluster, including housing Changi Business Park.
"The upcoming Jewel Changi Airport and Terminal 4 will serve to further enhance the attractiveness of the location," it added.
Maybank Kim Eng analyst Derrick Heng said in a recent report that more than $3 billion in collective sales deals have been concluded so far this year, with another 30 properties at various stages of the en bloc process.
He noted that six of these potential deals, if completed, could lift sales value by another $2.3 billion and add 4,600 units to the pipeline here.
The tender for the Changi Garden site closes on Oct 16 at 3 pm.
