CHAR YONG GARDENS

Char Yong Gdns sold for record $1,788 psf ppr

August 4, 2007

Setting a new benchmark price for residential land in Singapore, CapitaLand has bought Char Yong Gardens at the corner of Cairnhill and Hullet roads at a unit land price of $1,788 psf of potential gross floor area inclusive of development charges payable to the state.

The 93,274 sq ft freehold site is next to the Silver Towers plot which CapitaLand bought in September last year for $1,107 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr). The average land cost of the two sites works out to about $1,400 psf ppr. It remains to be seen if CapitaLand will amalgamate the two plots for a single project.

Prior to yesterday’s deal, the record price for residential land was $1,735 psf ppr set by the sale of The Parisian at Angullia Park in December last year to Overseas Union Enterprise.

CapitaLand said yesterday it has signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire Char Yong Gardens through a collective sale for $420 million. The unit land price of $1,788 psf ppr is inclusive of a $47 million development charge.

Market watchers reckoned CapitaLand’s break-even cost for a new condo on the site could be around $2,200 to $2,300 psf.

Char Yong’s unit land price is 16 per cent higher than the $1,542 psf ppr that Sing Holdings paid in March this year for the nearby Hillcourt Apartments.

Jones Lang LaSalle brokered the collective sale of Char Yong Gardens.

The sale to CapitaLand was agreed following the lapse of an earlier offer made in late April by a joint venture involving China, Indonesia and Singapore entities. But that offer is believed to have had a series of conditions.

CapitaLand’s acquisition of Char Yong Gardens is subject to approval from the Strata Titles Board. Consent from owners controlling at least 80 per cent of share values at Char Yong Gardens has been obtained, JLL regional director and head of investments Lui Seng Fatt confirmed yesterday.

CapitaLand said yesterday it is in talks with Wachovia Development Corporation to develop the Char Yong site through a 50:50 joint venture. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wachovia Corporation, one of the biggest diversified financial services groups in the US, through which certain real estate activities are transacted.

For now, the plan is to redevelop the Char Yong plot into a 20-storey condo with about 130 biggish apartments. The project is slated for launch in end-2008.

CapitaLand said that since 2005, it has bought four residential sites and one mixed development plot in Singapore. These include Gillman Heights, for which it has partnered Hotel Properties and two funds. ‘The company will continue to seize opportunities to acquire prime sites to augment its existing landbank,’ it said.
Source : Business Times – 13 Jun 2007