www.shaproperty.com

IN ANOTHER major collective sale transaction, a joint venture company owned by UOL Group and a subsidiary of Kheng Leong Co Pte Ltd has signed a deal to buy Nassim Park for $380 million.

Prime location: Nassim Park sits in an exclusive residential area surrounded by embassies, good class bungalows and high-end developments

Including an estimated development charge of $8 million, the price works out to around $388 million or about $1,131 per square foot (psf) of potential gross floor area.

The breakeven cost for a new development on the Nassim Park site is estimated to be between $1,600 and $1,700 psf of gross floor area.

The joint venture company, Park Developments, is 70 per cent owned by UOL and 30 per cent owned by Kheng Leong's subsidiary, Russville.

Kheng Leong is considered as an associate of UOL's directors Wee Cho Yaw, Wee Ee Lim and Wee Ee Chao under the listing rules.

UOL and Russville are currently in negotiations with an unrelated third party for equity participation in Park Developments.

Completed in 1992, Nassim Park sits on a 245,135 square feet site which is zoned for residential use with a 1.4 plot ratio (ratio of potential maximum gross floor area to land area) and a maximum height of four storeys under Master Plan 2003.

Market players note that the price psf for such a choice location would have been steeper if the height restriction was higher as developers can sell units on upper floors at a higher price psf.

Located along Nassim Road, Nassim Park sits in an exclusive residential area surrounded by embassies, good class bungalows and high-end developments. The site is the largest condominium site on Nassim Road.

Michael Ng, managing director of Savills Singapore, which brokered the sale of Nassim Park, said the sale price achieved 'reflects strong demand for quality sites in prime area'.

He added: 'Confidence in the luxury condominium segment is robust.'

The existing Nassim Park has 104 strata-titled apartments and townhouses. The conditional agreement to sell Nassim Park to Park Developments was entered into with subsidiary proprietors of strata lots with not less than 80 per cent of the share values in Nassim Park.

Singapore's residential property market is currently in the midst of an upcycle led by the high end of the market.