Jervois Road site buys: Tiong Seng unit backs out

Tiong Seng Holdings said its subsidiary TSky (Jervois) yesterday exercised its right to rescind the option to buy two freehold sites in Jervois Road.

This comes after the necessary redevelopment approval for the sites was not granted to TSky (Jervois) "due to restriction of redevelopment plans for the remaining left-behind plots", Tiong Seng said in a regulatory filing with the Singapore Exchange.

Located in prime District 10, the two sites have a combined site area of about 13,415 sq ft and are zoned "residential" with a gross plot ratio of 1.4 under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Master Plan 2014.

On July 17, Tiong Seng had announced that TSky (Jervois), its 60:40 joint-venture company with Ocean Sky International, had exercised the option to buy the sites for $21 million and would undertake the development of the plots.

In its statement yesterday, Tiong Seng said the termination is not expected to have any material impact on the earnings per share and net tangible assets per share of the group for the current financial year ending Dec 31, 2017.

In August, Tiong Seng and Ocean Sky teamed up to acquire the historic Tudor-style Sloane Court Hotel and a small adjoining plot in Balmoral Road - belonging to the children of the Sloane founder, the late Chiam Heng Luan - for $80.5 million.

  • $21m

    What TSky (Jervois) paid in July for the two District 10 residential sites.

    $80.5m

    What Tiong Seng and Ocean Sky paid in August for Sloane Court Hotel and a small adjoining plot in Balmoral Road.

Mr Lim Geok Hwee, chief operating officer of Tiong Seng Properties, the real estate arm of Tiong Seng, said at the time that the site would be redeveloped into a 12-storey, 80-unit condominium with units averaging 700 sq ft.

Kalpana Rashiwala

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 02, 2017, with the headline Jervois Road site buys: Tiong Seng unit backs out. Subscribe