Hiap Hoe buys Clemenceau Court

Niche property developer Hiap Hoe has bought a prime freehold residential site in Cavenagh Road for $72 million through a private treaty.

The price paid for the District 9 site, now occupied by Clemenceau Court, works out to $899 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr). The site is 38,100 sq ft and the plot ratio is 2.1, giving a gross floor area of 80,100 sq ft.

Hiap Hoe will combine the plot with an adjacent site it recently acquired, plus some state land, to develop a larger property. Last August, Hiap Hoe bought the 43,100 sq ft Le Chateau site next door. The combined site, with the state land, will amount to 101,300 sq ft and a maximum gross floor area of about 212,700 sq ft.

The price of the combined site, including the state land, works out to $609 psf ppr, said Hiap Hoe.

Market watchers said about 100 apartments of an average of 2,000 sq ft can come up on the combined site. Savills Singapore director for marketing and business development Ku Swee Yong reckons that by the time a new condominium is launched, apartments will fetch about $2,000 psf.

Hiap Hoe’s managing director Teo Ho Beng said: ‘By combining the Clemenceau Court site with Le Chateau, we will be able to accommodate more facilities into the development, and have the flexibility of building a good variety of apartment types in terms of size and layout. This acquisition will enable us to cater to a wider group of potential buyers.’

Clemenceau Court is Hiap Hoe’s fifth en bloc purchase since 2006 and takes the company’s prime district land bank to more than 300,000 sq ft of gross floor area. The purchase is in line with its effort to fortify its position in the mid to high-end residential sector.

Hiap Hoe shares closed 3.5 cents higher at 91.5 cents yesterday.

The stock has surged 66.4 per cent this year.

Separately, the freehold Jubilation Apartment in District 11 has been put up for collective sale for around $33 million. The price works out to about $540 psf ppr including a nominal development charge of $99,600.

The 21,900 sq ft site has a 2.8 plot ratio, giving it a potential gross floor area of about 61,200 sq ft. About 60 apartments of between 900 to 1,100 sq ft each can be built, says Teakhwa Real Estate, which is marketing the site.

Teakhwa estimates break even cost at close to $800 psf, which means a new project can be expected to go for upwards of $1,200 psf.

The tender closes on May 3 at 3pm.

Source : Business Times - 10 Apr 2007