En-bloc news: Toh Tuck Apartment

The ST reported today that Toh Tuck Apartment, formerly known as Toh Tuck Garden, has been put up for sale.


The 26-year-old condo currently sits on a 40,449sqft of freehold site in the Bukit Timah area, which has a plot ratio of 1.4, allowing it to be built to five storeys.

Marketer HSR said the seller’s expected price of $35.5 million works out to $650 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), inclusive of an estimated development charge of $5 million.

The site is owned by Aik Hwa Trading, formerly a small-time developer but now in the building materials business. Because the plot is owned by one party, the sales is likely to go through quicker than a typical collective sale lacking 100% owner approval.

According to the head of investment sales at HSR, the site could be redeveloped into 75 apartments with sizes ranging from 590sqft to 1660sqft. A new development on this site could command a price of at least $1,200psf. Already, developers have indicated interest and asked for more information.

Property experts report that developers are hungry for land, but at present find some asking prices in the private collective sale market too high.

Toh Tuck Apartment is near developments such as Kismis View, The Beverly and Green Lodge. The tender for Toh Tuck Apartment closes on April 23.

As some of you may recall, Green Lodge (also a freehold site) was put up for collective sale in December last year. Several bids were received during the tender but they failed to meet the reserve price. The owners were looking for $135 million and adding a state charge of about $9.5 million, the price would come up to be $683psf ppr. Their collective sale agreement (CSA) has since lapsed.

The story is similar with Mayfair Gardens at Rifle Range Road. The tender was closed in January, but no winner emerged and the CSA has since lapsed. The wife and I have reported about this en bloc sale in our post dated 22 Dec 2009.

There were several bidders for Mayfair Gardens as well, but their offers were below the asking price. The owners had hoped for at least $210 million for their leasehold site. On top of this, a developer would have to pay $40 million to restore the lease to 99 years, from the current 72. This means that the cost would have come up to $857psf ppr.

The collective sale agreement (CSA) for Mayfair Gardens was signed in March last year and has expired. The CSA is a crucial document in the collective sale process. From the time that the minimum 80% consent level is secured for the CSA, agents have up to 12 months to find a buyer and submit an application to the Strata Titles Board for an order for the sale. If the CSA expires before the application, home owners have to convene extraordinary general meetings again to restart the sale process.


Third time lucky for Toh Tuck Apartment, maybe?

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