Another prime District 10 freehold site in the Bukit Timah enclave has been put up for collective sale yesterday with an asking price of $138 million.
Owners at Crystal Tower will each get between $4.6 million and $5 million if the sale goes through, while the penthouse owner will reap about $9.2 million.
The site is within walking distance of Stevens and Newton MRT stations, and is also near Orchard Road, the Botanic Gardens and Dempsey Hill.
"Crystal Tower is well located in a mature residential precinct where there are not many redevelopment sites left within the vicinity. We are expecting strong interest given its prime location and ideal size," said Ms Swee Shou Fern, senior director for investment advisory at Edmund Tie & Company, the estate's marketing agent.
The asking price reflects a land rate of $1,406 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr) based on the existing gross floor area. No development charge is payable.
Built in the 1970s, the 28-unit property in Ewe Boon Road has a gross plot ratio of 1.6 and could yield about 130 units with an average size of 70 sq m.
The 60,482 sq ft site can be redeveloped up to its existing gross floor area of 98,179 sq ft.
"Most of the projects in districts 9, 10, 11 and 15 are a bit older and have more potential for redevelopment," said Edmund Tie & Company research head Lee Nai Jia.
District 10 ranks second in terms of the total number of non-landed homes with about 25,457 units, after District 15's 28,848 units, he said, citing Urban Redevelopment Authority data.
Other developments in the area that are in various stages of being sold en bloc include Royalville, Villa D'Este and Spring Grove. Jervois Gardens was sold last month to a subsidiary of SC Global for $72 million.
"Since the en bloc fever began, there have been a number of former HUDC estates sold. Now, it's the prime districts' turn," noted ZACD Group's executive director Nicholas Mak.
"The owners, depending on their tenure and specific location within prime districts 9 and 10, are now emboldened to ask for higher land prices that translate to land rates of more than $1,400 to $1,500 psf ppr, after Amber Park snagged a land rate of $1,515 psf ppr."
The tender for Crystal Tower closes at 3pm on Nov 28.
