SINGAPORE - City Towers, a freehold development in prime District 10, has been sold for $401.9 million.
The development comprises 77 units of apartments and maisonettes, a penthouse unit and a shop unit. Depending on the size of their property, each residential owner stands to receive $2.78 million to $11.5 million from the successful sale.
The sale price - which is more than 13 per cent above the owners' reserve price - works out to a land rate of about $1,847 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), after factoring in a development charge of $3.5 million.
The land rate for the 17-storey City Towers is a tad higher than the $1,840 psf ppr achieved for the collective sale of nearby Crystal Tower in November 2017.
The City Towers collective sale tender, which was launched on Jan 4 and closed at 3pm on Feb 7, attracted a total of seven competitive bids, said marketing agent Colliers International.
"Despite several competing collective sale tenders in District 10, City Towers still attracted strong interest from developers, owing to its prime location near renowned schools, a wide range of amenities, and the Newton and Stevens MRT stations," said Colliers International managing director Tang Wei Leng in a statement.
"The site will provide a good opportunity for the successful bidder to take advantage of opportunities in a residential market that is on the cusp of a sustained recovery."
City Towers, which is along Bukit Timah Road, has a land area of 104,531 square feet, with a proposed total gross floor area of 219,516 sq ft.
Under the Master Plan 2014, it is zoned residential and has a plot ratio of 2.1.
The site can potentially be redeveloped to a 24-storey residential block offering about 190 new units - at an average size of 1,098 sq ft. The site is not subject to the pre-application feasibility study on traffic impact, which is required if a redeveloped site proposes a significant increase in the number of dwelling units over the existing ones.
City Towers collective sale committee chairman M. Singh said the collective sale process was conducted professionally and speedily.
"There are many collective sale projects on the market and competition is intense. Therefore, we are very pleased that Colliers International and Dentons Rodyk managed to garner such a great outcome for the owners despite the stiff competition from numerous sites that were launched for collective sale recently, particularly in District 9 and 10," he said.
"Amid price recovery in the high-end residential segment, the developer can adjust the size of the units offered to ensure that homes remain relatively affordable, with an average selling price of about $3 million - a very competitive price point for an apartment in prime District 10," said Colliers' Ms Tang.
