Horizon Towers takes another shot at selling en bloc with unchanged $1.1b reserve price
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Horizon Towers has been relaunched for collective sale at an unchanged reserve price of S$1.1 billion.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Michelle Zhu
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SINGAPORE - Horizon Towers has been launched for collective sale again at an unchanged reserve price of $1.1 billion.
Including an estimated lease top-up premium of $277 million, this works out to a $2,049 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr) for the 204,742 sq ft site. It has about 55 years left on its 99-year lease.
The tender for the collective sale of Horizon Towers, located in Leonie Hill Road in River Valley, closes at 3pm on March 30.
The site holds “significant upside potential for redevelopment into a super luxurious high-rise residential location with spectacular city views”, said exclusive marketing agent JLL Singapore on Thursday.
Situated in District 9 on 1.9ha of elevated ground, the site is zoned “residential” in the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s 2019 Master Plan, with an allowable height of up to 36 storeys. Its “as-built” approved gross plot ratio is approximately 3.28228.
Mr Tan Hong Boon, JLL’s executive director of capital markets in Singapore, said developers may build various small and large unit permutations as the development is not subject to minimum-average-unit size controls, given its location within the central area.
Given the site’s high development baseline, there is no land betterment charge for the intensification of the site, even up to the maximum 10 per cent bonus gross floor area. JLL said this reflects a unit land rate of $1,862 psf ppr.
“At this reasonable pricing, this is a compelling redevelopment opportunity to be re-evaluated in view of the imminent changing market conditions in favour of the high-end market segment now,” Mr Tan said.
A relaunch of the site will enable developers to “bolster their land bank and be ready to capitalise on the continued rising demand for CCR units”, added Mr Tan, who noted a dwindling number of unsold units in the core central region (CCR), against significant increases in primary-market sales by developers over the last two years.
JLL said an apparent shortage of high-end properties – especially premier ones around the Orchard Road area – will be felt in the near term. The agency expects rising sales volumes to continue after significant improvement in primary-market sales within the CCR over the last two years.
Built in the late 1970s, Horizon Towers was nearly sold in 2009 for $500 million to a consortium led by Hotel Properties. The sale was disputed by a group of minority owners, and was eventually overturned by the Court of Appeal based on findings that the sales process was improperly handled.
The condominium development has been launched several times since 2018 for collective sale via tender at a $1.1 billion reserve price. The last tender
Other offers for mega developments in Singapore remained on the table as at Thursday.
The $890 million collective sale of Chuan Park, another 99-year leasehold condo development, has been in limbo as the Strata Titles Board continues to review the deal following objections from dissenting owners.
Last week, Kensington Park in Serangoon Gardens was relaunched for sale at a reserve price of $1.28 billion. Collective sale tenders for the 314-unit development were launched multiple times at the same reserve price over 2022. The latest tender closed on Nov 18, 2022, without a sale. THE BUSINESS TIMES
