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OWNERS at the high-end Nassim Park condominium are out to wrest the title of Singapore's most expensive collective sale site from Eng Lok Mansion.

Fourteen-year-old Nassim Park, which is just a stroll from Orchard Road, is a plum site to bag.

Owners have yet to name a figure but believe its superb Nassim Road position will fetch a higher price, on a per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr) basis, than Eng Lok. The psf ppr is an industry yardstick that measures the price of each square foot of potential gross floor area.

Eng Lok in Napier Road achieved a record $1,218 psf ppr in March, but Nassim Park's marketing agent, Savills Singapore, is confident it can do better.

'Freehold sites in prime districts are always in demand but this site is the creme de la creme of all the sites available in the market,' said managing director Michael Ng. 'We would expect the price to surpass what was paid for Eng Lok and Beverly Mai.' Beverly Mai on Tomlinson Road was sold last month to Hotel Properties at $1,184 psf ppr.

If Nassim does achieve at least as much as Eng Lok, it will sell for $418 million, including an estimated development charge of $8 million. Its owners will reap prices significantly above the open market rate. That will also make it the highest absolute price paid for a collective sale transaction, surpassing the $385 million earlier this week for the 99-year leasehold Waterfront View in Bedok Reservoir Road, an estate of 583 units.

But some property experts baulked at the comparison with Eng Lok, which they deemed a 'special case'.

'The Eng Lok buyer was not your typical developer. It had certain plans for it and therefore was prepared to pay that kind of price,' said one.

Former Parkway Holdings boss Tony Tan, whose Napier Properties bought Eng Lok, has said he wants to build medical suites on the site, which is next to Parkway's Gleneagles Hospital.

But Mr Ng, noting that Nassim Road was largely made up of good-class bungalows, said: 'There are no large condominium sites other than this one in the area.'

Nassim Park is a 245,135 sq ft freehold site with 104 apartments and townhouses. It has a plot ratio of 1.4 and a height restriction of four storeys. This means that a new project could comprise about 160 apartments from 1,900 to 2,200 sq ft, Savills Singapore said.

Almost 80 per cent of the owners - the required minimum - have backed the sale. 'We are sure that once we get offers at this price level, we will breach the 80 per cent mark,' said Mr Ng.

Savills Singapore, which is scouting for buyers in an expression of interest exercise until June 21, said it already has some foreign developers looking at the project.

Its estimated breakeven cost is almost $1,700 psf so owners could reap more than twice what they would from selling individually.

The last transacted sale of a Nassim Park apartment was last month at about $750 psf, the company said.

kelvwong@sph.com.sg