Each homeowner could receive $2.45 million to $10.17 million if the sale goes through. (Photo: Colliers International)
The freehold City Towers condominium at 317-325Q Bukit Timah Road will be put up for collective sale again this Thursday (4 January) at a reserve price of $355 million, marketing agent Colliers International said.
“This is the owners’ fourth attempt at collective sale and we believe the site will appeal to investors and developers owing to its choice location in the city fringe,” said M. Singh, chairman of the City Towers collective sale committee.
The reserve price includes a development charge of $3.505 million to intensify land use, and works out to a land rate of $1,633 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr). This compares favourably to the $1,840 psf ppr achieved for the collective sale of nearby Crystal Tower in December 2017.
Depending on the size of their property, each homeowner could receive $2.45 million to $10.17 million if the sale goes through. According to Colliers, the amount is more than double the open market value of the individual units.
The 17-storey development was completed in the 1960s and comprises 77 apartments and maisonettes, one penthouse and a shop unit. City Towers is close to the Newton and Stevens MRT stations, Balmoral Plaza and established schools.
The approximately 104,531 sq ft site is zoned for residential use and has a gross plot ratio of 2.1 under the Master Plan 2014. Subject to relevant approvals from the authorities, it could be redeveloped into a 24-storey apartment block of about 190 units with an average size of 1,098 sq ft.
The site is not subject to the Pre-Application Feasibility Study, which requires developers to assess traffic impact and recommend car-lite measures as part of their redevelopment proposals.
“We think the high-end private residential market is poised for recovery after prices fell by about 20 percent since June 2013,” said Tang Wei Leng, managing director at Colliers International.
“City Towers presents a good opportunity for developers to add a plum District 10 site to their portfolio in preparation for the potential pick-up in prime home prices in the coming years.”
The public tender for City Towers will close on 7 February.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg