Project Spotlight: Scotts Square

Scotts Square hits $3,764psf
by Cheryl Cheah

One of the prime condominiums that saw increased buying interest from foreigners last month was Scotts Square by Wheelock Properties, which obtained its temporary occupation permit (TOP) in September. It features 338 high-end apartments in two towers of 35- and 43-storeys sitting on top of an 80,000sqft retail podium. The freehold development is located in the prime Scotts Road, flanked on both sides by the Grand Hyatt and Marriott Hotel. Apartments are a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units, with sizes ranging from 624 to 1,249sqft.

Since obtaining their TOPs, the residential units in the development have seen a spike in transactions. There were three in the week of Nov 15 to 22., based on the latest caveats lodged and downloaded from URA Realis as at Dec 6. According to Joseph Tan, executive director of residential services at CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), the exclusive marketing agent for Scotts Square, almost 20 units were sold since TOP, with most of the units sold in November. However, caveats have yet to be lodged.

Although there haven't been that many sub-sale transactions, owners are now asking for prices in the range of $4,000 to $5,000psf, says Don Chiam, a property agent and division head of Savills.

The most recent transaction was the sub-sale of a 1,249sqft, three-bedroom unit on the 13th floor, which changed hands for $4.7 million ($3,764psf). Two other units on the 11th level, both 635sqft, one-bedroom apartments, were sold for $2.4 million each ($3,710psf) on Nov 17. To date, well over 250 units have been sold at the latest median price at $3,710psf. In terms of rental rates, a 947sqft, two-bedroom unit was recently transacted at $8,000 per month, which works out to around $8.44psf per month, notes CBRE's Tan. Quite a few customers are also "repeat buyers", those who had bought a unit for their own use earlier, and then purchased another unit as an investment. Almost half of the buyers are said to be foreigners.

Scotts Square is said to be popular with foreign buyers, particularly Indonesians and Chinese. "The Indonesian buyers, in particular, like it because of the location where there are many luxury boutiques but the interest among local investors are increasing as well," says Lily Gozali, a senior realty adviser of KF Property Network. "It's too early to tell what the new measures will have on foreign buying interest."

Investor interest has returned to Scotts Road area possibly owing to the recent preview of Far East Organization's 231-unit Scotts Tower, a small office/home office (Soho) project. Of the initial 56 units released in the 103-year leasehold project located at the corner of Scotts Road and Cairnhill Road, 34 had been sold prior to its official launch. Average prices achieved for the units sold are said to be $3,100psf. Quantum prices start from $1.9 million for a 624sqft one-bedroom Soho apartment. The project is designed by award-winning, co-founder and principal architect of UNStudio in Amsterdam, Ben van Berkel, and contains one- to three-bedroom apartments and four-bedroom penthouses. Given the positive response, Far East Organization officially launched the project on Dec 7.

Source: THEEDGE SINGAPORE

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