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AIRVIEW Towers in River Valley Road is for sale - sort of. DTZ Debenham Tie Leung has been appointed by a sale committee of owners to look for developers keen on the 63,264 sq ft property.

Airview Towers: Through a collective exchange, owners hope to reap future capital appreciation

DTZ's director of investment advisory services Tang Wei Leng said an expression-of-interest exercise will give both buyers and sellers 'flexibility' to negotiate the terms before anyone actually signs on the dotted line, or even before a contract is drawn-up.

With the recent 'collective exchange' of Paterson Lodge - existing home owners opted for new units in the redevelopment of their building rather than cash payment - more home owners are considering this route rather than a traditional collective sale, as there could be more upside.

Based on recent prices at new developments in the area, Ms Tang reckons the land price for Airview Towers, which has a plot ratio of 2.8, could be about $750-$800 psf ppr. This would work out to about $135-$142 million in total. On average, existing owners would reap a 30-40 per cent premium on the current market price for individual units.

But through a collective exchange, Ms Tang says owners who take a 'future view can ride through the market and hope for future capital appreciation rather than cash out at a particular price at this point in time'.

Although a collective exchange throws up contractual complexities, as owners and the developer have to be amenable to the terms, Ms Tang says she has received more requests for this option recently.

Developers, however, have a choice in the vicinity of Airview Towers. Also for sale in the same area is a warehouse at Martin, Narayanan Chetty and Muthuraman Chetty roads.

Opposite the former TradeMart site, which is now RiverGate condominium, the 44,477 sq ft redevelopment site, with a plot ratio of 2.8, is being marketed by Jones Lang LaSalle.

JLL's regional director and head of investments Lui Seng Fatt says the site will primarily be for residential use but will also have a commercial component on the first storey.

The maximum GFA is 124,500 sq ft and the land price is likely to be $750-$800 psf ppr including development charge.