Sweet Interest In These Suites

Source : TODAY, Thursday, January 17, 2008

Sales previews for Marina Bay luxury condo to start end of this month

DESPITE worries of a global slowdown and a decline in sales of private property these few months, developers of the Marina Bay Suites are confident they will be able to attract enough buyers for this luxury condominium.















Sales previews for these 221 units will start by the end of the month, and marketing agents said they have seen substantial international interest, as well as interest from earlier buyers of the sister residential development, Marina Bay Residences.

“We believe that currently, the market is strong enough,” said Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) head of residential marketing Kan Kum Wah, who added that while last year was exceptionally good for the residential property market, he expects demand from buyers to continue this year.

While prices for the units in the 66-storey development have not been fixed, Mr Kan said people could get some indication from current market transactions of around $3,000 per square foot (psf).

This translates to at least $4.8 million per unit, which ranges from $1,600 to $2,700 psf.

Marketing agents DTZ Debenham Tie Leung and CB Richard Ellis, which have done pre-marketing visits to Shanghai, Dubai, Jakarta and Hong Kong, said there is significant interest from international buyers.

Between 40 and 60 per cent of the buyers for the luxury residential property segment in Singapore are usually from overseas, said Ms Ong Choon Fah, executive director and regional head of consulting and research at DTZ. Forty per cent of the buyers of Marina Bay Residences were from overseas.

Mr Donald Han, managing director of property consultancy Cushman and Wakefield, agrees that these prices are reflective of the rates in that area, but the developers “might offer a lower price for early birds”.

“I’ve got no doubt that the project is able to sell well,” he said.

The Marina Bay Suites, located at the bayside near One Raffles Quay, will feature 218
three- and four-bedroom apartments, and three penthouse units. There is a significant demand for big units, explained Mr Kan, who received feedback from buyers about the earlier development that offered one to-four bedroom apartments.

This project, which is a joint venture between three developers, Cheung Kong/Hutchison Whampoa, Hongkong Land and Keppel Land, will appeal to a distinct group of internationally-well-travelled buyers, said Mr Kan. He noted that this is the last call for buyers interested in owning an apartment directly fronting Marina Bay.

But he added that this is not the last chance for buyers who are interested in having an address in this “new downtown”.

While this residential property may be the last few available in the necklace of developments at Marina Bay, said Mr Han, “the government still holds a fair bit of undeveloped and unreleased URA sales of sites in that area”.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is setting aside 60 hectares of land at Marina South for a landmark residential district.

URA said last September that some 11,000 housing units have been planned.