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Listed giant property developer City Developments Ltd (CDL) is said to have sold 19 of the 56 units released in the first phase of its 228-unit The Residences at W Singapore, Sentosa Cove, as at April 5. This comprises sales over the Good Friday weekend of April 2 to 4 and private previews held on March 27 and 28.
One of the recent buyers at The Residences at W Singapore was Madam Cecilia Kok, wife of CDL’s executive chairman and property tycoon, Kwek Leng Beng. According to an April 6 announcement on the Singapore Exchange, CDL’s board had approved the sale of a unit at the development, specifically unit #03-42, which is a 1,755 sq ft, three-bedroom apartment. The price Kwek’s wife paid was over S$4.6 million (about RM10.7 million), which works out to an average of S$2,641 psf. According to the CDL filing, the final price includes a 22% discount — comprising a general 20% for those who buy at the time of the grant of the Option to Purchase and a 2% preferential discount given to CDL’s directors, their spouse and children.
This is not the first time Kwek’s wife has purchased units in one of his projects. The last time she did so was at the launch of the 999-year leasehold, 173-unit St Regis Residences, another luxury-branded residence, in mid-2006. At the time, she purchased two units for close to S$20.3 million —a 4,306 sq ft apartment for S$11.4 million (S$2,650 psf) and a 3,757 sq ft unit for S$8.8 million (S$2,355 psf). The project, located next door to luxury hotel St Regis Singapore, was completed in 2008. The Residences at W will also be linked to the upcoming 240-room W Singapore, Sentosa Cove.
Elsewhere on Sentosa Cove, Ho Bee Group sold 31 of the initial phase of 40 units released in its 151-unit luxury project The Seascape, as at last Thursday. The project is a joint venture (JV) between Ho Bee and IOI Properties, the property arm of Malaysian public-listed conglomerate IOI Group. Previews also started on the last weekend of March, with prices ranging from S$2,600 to S$3,000 psf.
In the prime district 10 neighbourhood of Nathan Road, off River Valley Road, TID Pte Ltd, the JV between Hong Leong Holdings, the privately held parent company of CDL, and Mitsui Fudosan, Japan’s largest property group, officially launched the 65-unit Nathan Suites on Nathan Road over the weekend of April 10 and 11. At private previews over the Good Friday weekend, 23 units were sold at an average of S$2,100 psf.
Meanwhile, CDL and Hong Leong (in a 60:40 JV) will be previewing the 429-unit Tree House at Chestnut Avenue in the last week of April. The JV was the highest bidder, beating 12 others, for the 99-year leasehold site at Chestnut Avenue last August, with a bid of S$143.68 million. The sprawling site measures 244,000 sq ft and the condominium will have four 24-storey towers designed in a “tree house theme” with vertical gardens and plenty of greenery, hence its name, according to a marketing agent. The project is also in the vicinity of Zhenghua Park, Dairy Farm Park and Bukit Panjang Park, thus it will be surrounded by greenery. According to a marketing agent, the indicative price is in the range of S$800 to S$950 psf. The development contains a variety of unit types, starting from 721 to 990 sq ft two-bedroom units all the way to five-bedroom penthouses measuring more than 2,900 sq ft.
The project is also near the upcoming Cashew MRT station on the future Downtown Line. ERA and Huttons Asia are said to be joint marketing agents for the project. — by Alex Chan and Cecilia Chow of The Edge Singapore
This article appeared in City & Country, the property pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 802, April 19-25, 2010
