WATERFRONT WAVES//Waterfront View

SOLD: $241 psf ppr

NEW DEVELOPMENT: $924 psf

(as of Jun 2010)

See Developers Windfall

Waterfront Waves

Waterfront Waves is designed to merge as one with the picturesque Bedok Reservoir & Park. With unprecedented proximity to the reservoir, you can look forward to commanding vistas of shimmering waters from your home. This is truly a luxury many may desire, but only few will ever own.
The calm waters of Bedok Reservoir are the perfect arena for a whole host of water sports & activities. Brace your family for a lifestyle of pure action!
Renowned schools & tertiary institutions like Victoria Junior College, Temasek Polytechnic & the new United World College campus are within close proximity. Shopping & entertainment choices abound, from exciting malls like Century Square, an upcoming mall at Bedok Central, to megastores like Ikea, Giant or Courts.

Location: Bedok Reservoir Road (District 16)
Tenure: 99 years leasehold
Expected Completion: 2012
Site Area: 215,070sqft
Total Units: 420
Unit Types:
* 2-Bedrooms (981 – 981 sqft)
* 3-Bedrooms (1,267 – 1,314 sqft)
* 4-Bedrooms (1,560 – 1,655 sqft)

Waterfront Waves: Twice as costly, but residents still want to return

Bedok Reservoir en-bloc residents book units in new development 

FIRST you sell your apartment in an en-bloc sale.
Then you wait for a new condo to come up on the same spot and buy a unit in it.
That is what some have been doing at an estate on Bedok Reservoir Road.
The good thing for them: Their new home will be in a location they know and love.
The not-so-good thing: Prices have soared.
According to a spokesman for Frasers Centrepoint Homes, one of the developers for Waterfront Waves, there are at least five former owners who have bought a total of six units there.

Since the launch, 80 of the 148 units have been sold.
The spokesman said: ‘Former residents return as they feel a sense of belonging in the neighbourhood after living there for years.’
She said owners from the old estate, Waterfront View, were given a day for an exclusive preview and to select units ahead of invited guests. But she added that there would be no discounts for former owners.
These residents will have to pay around twice the sum they got from their en-bloc sale, if they choose to buy a similar-size apartment.
Depending on size and location, the new apartments cost $690 to $870 psf.
Said 71-year-old businessman OhBin Cheng, a former resident who visited the Waterfront Waves showroom two weeks ago: ‘The timing was terrible. We went en bloc before the property boom when property prices were still low.
‘Then, when we got the money for the collective sale and wanted to buy, housing prices started soaring.’

TWICE THE PRICE, HALF THE SIZE
Not content to live in a smaller apartment, Mr Oh, who got $660,000 for his 1,600 sqft Waterfront View apartment, decided to buy an HDB flat in Tampines for the time being.
Because Mr Oh is fond of his old estate, he hopes to buy a two-bedroom unit about half the size of his old apartment, which, he said, costs almost $700,000.
He said: ‘I hope prices will drop so that I can come back here to live.’
Another resident, a 54-year-old retiree who declined to be named, also found himself paying more, just to live in the same estate.
He made a down payment for a 1,600 sq ft, four-bedroom unit, which costs $1.27 million, more than twice the $630,000 he received for his old unit
.

Worth it: Former Waterfront View resident Oh Bin Cheng will be returning to the site of his old home. – File Picture: The Straits Times
But unlike other former residents, he is not complaining.
He said: ‘I am glad that they released the East Wing first, which is where my former block, 736, used to be.
‘What’s even better, this time, my view of the reservoir is not blocked. I’m looking forward to watching all the water activities.
‘Where else can you get a unit so near the water, except at Sentosa or Marina Bay, where it is so expensive?’

EAGER TO RETURN
Indeed, so eager was he to return that he was among the first few to visit the showroom.
For now, his family is living in another condominium just two streets away. He had bought a unit there earlier.
But he will have to sell that apartment to pay for his new home when it is ready in three years’ time.
‘Still, I’m happy with my purchase, I can get back many of the memories from living there,’ he said.
Some property agents The New Paper on Sunday spoke to, however, felt that most residents would welcome a change, and prefer not to return to new developments on the sites of their en-bloc sale estates.
Property agent Andrew Lin, 28, said: ‘It’s not really common for former residents to return. Most of them settle down well in their new homes.
‘The only reason for them to return would be if there was any additional discount given to them by the developer.’
Source : New Paper – 3 Feb 2008

Far East, Frasers Centrepoint buy Waterfront View

July 20, 2007 In a move seen as reducing the risks of undertaking a massive development, Far East Organization and Frasers Centrepoint have set up their maiden joint venture, which has bagged Waterfront View, a privatised former HUDC estate facing Bedok Reservoir, for $385 million.
The price for the private treaty deal sealed late Tuesday night before the planned tender close for the property this Friday works out to a land price of $241 psf per plot ratio inclusive of an estimated $102.2 million payment to the state for lifting title restriction to enhance the site’s plot ratio, and upgrading the site’s lease from a remaining 78 years to 99 years.
The 809,037 sq ft site can be developed into a new condominium with a whopping gross floor area of over two million sq ft – enough for a massive project with about 1,600 units.
This is the biggest residential collective sale to date in terms of number of units involved (there are 583 units in the existing development), land area as well as dollar quantum, says DTZ Debenham Tie Leung, which brokered the sale.
Far East’s and Frasers Centrepoint’s breakeven cost could be about $450 psf, say analysts. Currently, 99-year condos in the area are going for above $500 psf for units that face the reservoir and below $500 psf for those that don’t.
Depending on how Far East and Frasers Centrepoint come up with their design scheme, about 80 per cent of units in the new development may face the reservoir.
Industry watchers reckon that instead of competing with each other for Waterfront View at the tender, Far East and Frasers Centrepoint figured it made more sense to team up.
This reduces their risks in terms of exposure to such a huge development – and eliminating at least one competitor in the process. The duo are said to have made their offer, good for only a day, late Tuesday afternoon, accompanied by a $19.25 million cheque (for a 5 per cent deposit).
The collective sale agreement signed by Waterfront View’s owners give the sales committee the mandate to negotiate a private treaty deal as long as the reserve price is met. This is understood to have been $370 million.
‘The sales committee could either take the offer on the table, good for only a day – or take the risk of waiting and hoping for a higher offer at the tender that may or may not come,’ said a source.
Waterfront View’s sales committee chairman Matthew Yu said: ‘We are very happy. It’s a good price. The outcome came earlier and is better than we expected.’
DTZ’s director for investment advisory services Tang Wei Leng said: ‘Given the size of the development, there were really only a few parties who have demonstrated genuine interest. The sales committee was decisive, having considered all the options carefully. We are very happy for the owners.’
The $385 million price is above an independent valuation for the property which DTZ did not disclose. Owners controlling 82.33 per cent of share values in Waterfront View have agreed to the collective sale, which will be subject to approval from the Strata Titles Board. Owners of the existing 583 apartments and maisonettes have equal share values, which means they will each receive about $660,377 per unit, which is over 60 per cent more than what the units would fetch if sold individually today.
The site is zoned for residential use with a 2.5 plot ratio.
While the deal involves the maiden tie-up between Far East and Frasers Centrepoint, it is not the first time that the men helming the two organisations have joined hands. Far East is headed by property magnate Ng Teng Fong while Frasers Centrepoint is the property arm of listed Fraser & Neave group, which is now headed by Han Cheng Fong who, during his days as group CEO of the former DBS Land, oversaw many tie-ups with Mr Ng’s Singapore unit Far East and Hong Kong arm Sino Land.
Market watchers are wondering if the two sides will team up for other acquisitions, including the second Somerset site being offered by the state. Far East clinched the first Somerset plot, the former Glutton’s Square site, in January.
Waterfront View is the fifth site Far East has bought here this year. The five total $1.2 billion.
Source : Business Times – 25 May 2006