Rare redevelopment sites on Balmoral-Ewe Boon Road for sale

TWO adjoining, prime freehold residential redevelopment sites owned by two Singaporean families have been put on the market. One is a rectangular plot fronting Balmoral Road; the other is located on Ewe Boon Road.

The two sites have a combined land area of 57,349 sq ft and are zoned residential, with a gross plot ratio of 1.6 and a maximum building height of 12 storeys under the 2014 URA Master Plan. An estimated total development charge of S$31.5 million (RM99.8 million) is payable to redevelop the combined land parcel, which can yield 121 residential units, assuming an average size of 750 sq ft.

The bigger plot is the one on Balmoral Road, which can be developed into an 82-unit condominium; the Ewe Boon Road site can be developed into a 39-unit apartment block if sold separately. However, Swee Shou Fern, Edmund Tie & Co (ET&Co) senior director of investment advisory services,
thinks developers are likely to bid for both sites “because when combined, they can be developed into a bigger project with more facilities”. ET&Co is marketing both sites.

As the two sites are being sold in separate tenders, the asking price for the Balmoral site is S$88 million, and that of the Ewe Boon Road site is S$41 million. The total purchase price of S$160.5 million, including development charge, translates into about S$1,750 psf per plot ratio.

The tender is expected to attract a lot of developer interest as the last site sold on Balmoral Road was the former Balmoral Condominium in 2011. It was purchased by a consortium made up of Tiong Eng Group, Clarus Corpo (controlled by the Ng family of Pan United Corp) and Yuan Ching Development, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tiong Seng Holdings that paid S$141 million for the site.

The former Balmoral Condominium has since been redeveloped into the 72-unit Goodwood Grand, which is scheduled for completion by 2Q2017. Spanning 12 storeys, it contains 65 condo units and eight strata bungalows. Goodwood Grand is 44% sold. Units were sold last year at prices
ranging from S$1.89 million (S$2,442 psf) for a 775 sq ft unit on the ninth floor to S$2.8 million (S$2,282 psf) for a 1,227 sq ft unit on the third floor.

Located adjacent to Goodwood Grand is the 85-unit freehold condo Volari, which was completed in 2012. Volari is a redevelopment of the former Garden Hotel.

According to Swee, the two sites on Balmoral Road and Ewe Boon Road are regular and rectangular-shaped. “It’s rare to find two such redevelopment plots in the Balmoral-Ewe Boon Road area,” she says. Interested parties include locally listed companies and construction groups as well as Chinese developers that do not yet have a stake in the prime residential neighbourhood, adds Swee. The tender for the two sites will close on April 20.

This article first appeared in The Edge Property Singapore, a pullout of The Edge Singapore, on March 27, 2017.

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