Grange Heights condominium in St Thomas Walk is making their third attempt at an en bloc sale with the same reserve price of $820 million from their second tender exercise in October last year.
Grange Heights, Condo.
$820 million reserve price remains for third en bloc attempt
The site’s freehold status may attract developers but the market has been subdued over the last two quarters.
The St Thomas Walk property is an addition to the number of properties near the Orchard shopping belt already in the collective sale market.
Will this dilute developers’ interest or raise the level of competition?
The restriction on the maximum number of units in non-landed residential developments outside the central area implemented by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) does not apply to Grange Heights due to its central region location.
There is also no development charge for the 136,676 sq ft site. The site has a gross plot ratio of 2.8 and can potentially yield 508 new units. This is more than 4 times the 120 units the property currently holds.
Should the sale be successful, each apartment owner will receive between $5.24 million to $10.76 million.
Raise or reduce reserve price? – Different folks different strokes
While most may think that the lacklustre collective sale market will push sellers to lower their prices, there are some who choose to buck the trend and instead raise their asking prices.
The Dairy Farm Estate. Picture: iProperty
People’s Park Centre raised their asking price from $1.3 billion to $1.35 billion while The Dairy Farm estate raised theirs from $1.69 billion to $1.84 billion and Pine Grove, from $1.72 billion to $1.86 billion.
Others such as Horizon Towers and Grange Heights have stuck to their original reserve prices and yet others have made the decision to lower their prices as had Park View Mansions.
While Grange Heights has all the attributes of a well-located site with an exclusive address easy transport access, analysts see their move and pricing as a realistic one.
Analysts are hopeful for its success as there has been limited number of new launches in the area, which could mean more pent-up demand in the years ahead, especially as new supply completion is expected to shrink after 2023.
