Amber Glades Up For En Bloc Sale At $145m

Source : The Business Times, October 24, 2007

JUDGING by the asking prices of new collective-sale sites, it would seem there is no shortage of confidence in the property market.

Amber Glades: The site can be redeveloped into 88 residential units of 1,300 sq ft each. Based on the asking price, the breakeven price is $1,700-$1,800 psf.

Amber Glades, off Amber Road on the East Coast, has just been put up for collective sale at an indicative price in the region of $145 million. And the buyer can also expect to pay a development charge of about $9 million on top of that.

Amber Glades is on a 40,917 sq ft site with a 2.8 plot ratio. At the indicative price, the cost works out to $1,345 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).

In August, a smaller site off Meyer Road sold for $58 million or an estimated unit land price of $882 psf per plot ratio including a development charge.

Marketed by Colliers International, the Amber Glades site can be redeveloped into 88 residential units of 1,300 sq ft each. Colliers executive director of investment sales Ho Eng Joo estimates that based on the indicative price, the breakeven price is about $1,700-$1,800 psf. This would put the launch price at over $2,000 psf.

But a selling price of $2,000 psf would not be a new benchmark for the East Coast area. Mr Ho believes some new developments have already been transacting at this price.

Market watchers claim that the Aalto on Meyer Road is one development achieving such prices - though a check of the latest data for on the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s website reveals that only one unit was sold in September and the transacted price was $1,570 psf. Whether subsequent sales have been done at a higher price will be known next month.

For now, according to caveats lodged, The Seafront on Meyer has had units transacted at over $2,000 psf but these have been penthouse units.

Closer to the Amber Glades site are the residential developments One Amber and The Esta. Recent transactions in these developments are in the range of $1,000 psf and $700 psf respectively.