NEWTON MEADOWS

Wing Tai bags Newton Meadows: sources

July 20, 2007 WING Tai is said to have clinched the freehold Newton Meadows through a collective sale for about $73 million or around $660 per square foot of potential gross floor area inclusive of an estimated development charge of about $6.9 million.
The mainboard-listed property group has developed two projects – Amaryllis Ville and the adjacent Newton 18 – just opposite Newton Meadows.
Newton Meadows’ tender, which closed last week, was handled by Jones Lang LaSalle. The firm declined to comment on the winning bidder.
The 42,886 sq ft elevated site is zoned for residential use with a 2.8 plot ratio (ratio of potential gross floor area to land area).
The plot can be redeveloped into a 36-storey condominium with about 95 units averaging 1,300 sq ft each.
Owners of the existing 28 units at Newton Meadows stand to reap collective sales premiums of more than 50 per cent.
The existing units in the 10-storey development range in size from about 1,200 to 3,600 sq ft.
Market watchers say the price for Newton Meadows is likely to be used as a benchmark for other impending collective sale launches in the area, including the nearby Elmira Heights which has a 108,500 sq ft land area.
That site, too, is zoned residential, with a 2.8 plot ratio and 36-storey maximum height. An estimated $18 million DC is payable to maximise the site’s use.
Wing Tai has been busy restocking its residential land bank and has been featuring regularly in residential land tenders – both for 99-year leasehold site sold by the state as well as freehold sites sold by private owners.
Last month, Wing Tai teamed up with NTUC Choice Homes to place the winning bid for a 99-year leasehold condo site near Tanah Merah MRT Station. Their price was $210 million or $318.50 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr).
In October last year, Wing Tai clinched Belle Vue at Oxley through a $227.3 million collective sale.
The unit land price works out to almost $666 psf ppr.
Wing Tai last year sold its stake in Park Mall to Suntec Reit for $230 million, which helped to release resources for the group’s landbanking spree.
Source : Business Times - 4 May 2006