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Market watchers estimate HPL's breakeven cost for a new condo on the 76,888 sq ft freehold site could be about $1,600 psf. HPL can develop the site into a new 36-storey condominium with about 107 units averaging 2,000 sq ft.

HPL officials were not available for commment yesterday. However, David Lawrence, CEO of Wheelock Properties (Singapore) which recently bought a 21 per cent stake in HPL, yesterday told BT: 'HPL has had big success in the area. Beverly Mai is next to Four Seasons Park condo and close to their Four Seasons Hotel. I'm sure they'll find ways to make money from this project. HPL has a reputation as a stylish developer and they have a good following. They will do very well.' HPL developed the Four Seasons Park condo and Four Seasons hotel in the 1990s.

Mr Lawrence said there were no plans for Wheelock to team up with HPL in redeveloping Beverly Mai, which he described as 'a very good freehold site'.

CB Richard Ellis brokered the sale. The tender for the site drew five bids when it closed on Tuesday - with HPL being the highest bidder. The other four bidders were said to be City Developments, Far East Organization, SC Global Developments and Wing Tai. The deal is subject to approval from the Strata Titles Board as unanimous approval from the owners has yet to be obtained.

The Beverly Mai site is zoned for residential use with a 2.8 plot ratio (ratio of potential gross floor area to land area).

The owners of Beverly Mai's 50 apartments will receive slightly over $4.4 million per apartment while the two penthouse owners will walk away with double that amount - about $8.81 million per unit. These sums represent collective sale premiums of 76 per cent to 146 per cent - depending on which benchmark is used - in terms of what the apartments would have fetched on an individual basis. In March 2004, before Beverly Mai's collective sale was initiated, an apartment in the development changed hands for $1.8 million while in August last year, after the owners began signing for the en bloc sale, another apartment was sold for $2.5 million. Market watchers reckon the latter deal probably factored in some of the potential collective sale premium.

Analysts observed that the acquisition of Beverly Mai marks HPL's first major property acquisition in nine years. In July 1997, HPL led a consortium that bought The Forum, a retail and office property along Orchard Road, for $359 million.

Analysts said the last time the group bought a major development site was probably in September 1993 when it teamed up with MCL Land to buy the Scotts Road bungalow of Khoo Teck Puat, which has since been developed into the Scotts 28 condo.