Monday, September 04, 2006
[RealEdge] BT : Chip Eng Seng tipped as buyer of Grange Tower
| Published September 4, 2006  | |||
| Chip Eng Seng tipped as buyer of Grange Tower Site's reserve price of $1,200 psf ppr a new benchmark for area
By KALPANA RASHIWALA
CHIP Eng Seng is close to finalising a deal to buy Grange Tower through a collective sale, sources said.
The reserve price of the property - said to be about $180 million - has been met. This works out to $1,200 per square foot (psf) of potential gross floor area. No development charge (DC) is payable. 'This will be a new high for the Grange Road location as prices like $1,200 psf per plot ratio are currently seen only in the super-prime Ardmore/Draycott location,' said a property market watcher. The deal comes just a fortnight after news broke that the tender for the nearby Horizon Towers at Leonie Hill failed to attract bids that met the owners' reserve price - which works out to $835 psf per plot ratio inclusive of an estimated $31 million land premium to top up the site's lease to 99 years from a remaining term of 72 years. Apparently, no DC is payable for Horizon Towers. Market watchers had suggested that part of the reason for the failure of the Horizon Towers tender, handled by First Tree Properties, is the site's huge land area of 204,742 sq ft, which increases the business risk to any potential developer. In contrast, the freehold Grange Tower has a smaller land area of 53,527 sq ft. The site is zoned for residential use with a 2.8 plot ratio and 36-storey maximum height. This means the site can be redeveloped into a new condo with about 83 units averaging 1,800 sq ft. CB Richard Ellis, which is brokering the deal, could not be contacted. Once it clinches Grange Tower, Chip Eng Seng may approach the Singapore Land Authority to potentially acquire a 1,632-sq-ft strip of state land in front of the property. Doing this will not only enhance the site's area but also lower the unit land price to the developer. Grange Tower is a 20-storey development comprising 76 apartments and four penthouses, completed 23 years ago. One of its units has an infamous owner - former Asia Pacific Breweries (APB) executive Chia Teck Leng, who is serving a 42-year jail term for using forged documents to borrow large sums in APB's name for massive gambling debts incurred overseas. Sources say Chip Eng Seng's property arm Chip Eng Leong Enterprise - recently renamed CEL Development - is expected to team up with a property fund for the Grange Tower purchase. CEL Development recently teamed up with Lehman Brothers to redevelop Venus Mansion in Cairnhill. Chip Eng Seng also has a stake in Ritz Residences nearby at Devonshire Road, on the former Quelin Gardens and Parc Devon plots. Its partner in this project is Keppel Land. Chip Eng Seng bought the Quelin Gardens plot in 2004 for $79 million or $491 psf per plot ratio inclusive of development charge. | |||
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