Thomson View condo up again for sale en bloc with $918 million reserve price

SINGAPORE – Thomson View Condominium has been put up for collective sale again, at an unchanged reserve price of $918 million.

The relaunch of the tender for the 99-year leasehold development comes after a previous tender closed on April 18 with no deal signed.

The $918 million reserve price would translate to a land rate of $1,275 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr), after including an estimated $630 million required to upgrade the lease to a fresh 99-year period and a land-betterment charge for the intensification of land use.

The additional costs would take the effective acquisition cost for Thomson View condo to about $1.55 billion.

Marketing agent Edmund Tie said on July 3 that the authorities have advised that, in principle, there is no objection to the proposed redevelopment of the condominium to yield 1,240 units, based on an average apartment size of 85 sq m.

The developer also stands to gain from 7 per cent bonus gross floor area (GFA) over and above the allowable gross plot ratio, which can be used for balconies, Edmund Tie added.

With a land size of 50,197 sq m, the Thomson View site is zoned for “residential” use with a plot ratio of 2.1, which can yield a total GFA of 112,792 sq m.

The current lease of the development starts from 1975. The condo comprises 200 apartments, 54 townhouses and a shop unit. Each unit owner stands to get between $2.5 million and $4.39 million.

Ms Swee Shou Fern, Edmund Tie’s head of investment advisory, said: “These days, buyers are becoming more targeted in their choices, and they look at many other factors beyond pricing, such as location. The new project will be able to provide the ideal setting for urban dwellers and families to enjoy ready access to amenities – live, work, play, learn, right at the doorstep.”

Thomson View was last put up for sale in February at a guide price of $918 million, lower than the $950 million price in previous sale attempts in May 2022 and November 2021.

Four earlier attempts to launch the site for sale in 2018 fell through. In 2013, the condominium was marketed at $590 million, but the deal was voided after the former marketing agent was found to have offered incentive payments to four owners to get them to sign the sale agreement.

The market for residential collective sales has gone quiet over the past year, with several tenders closing without a sale. Developers have grown cautious on big-ticket deals, while owners hold out for higher asking prices.

Most recently, Pine Grove’s tender closed without any bids in May. The site was put up for sale for the fifth time since 2008 in February for $1.95 billion.

The last successful deal was signed in December, when a small project at 132 Sophia Road was sold for $33.59 million at a land rate of $1,172 psf ppr, below its guide price of $35 million.

In May 2023, freehold Kew Lodge was bought by Aurum Land, a subsidiary of Woh Hup, for $66.8 million, at a 5 per cent premium over the development’s guide price of $63.8 million, giving a land rate of $1,940 psf for the 34,433 sq ft site.

The biggest deal struck in recent years was Chuan Park’s sale, which finally went through in May 2023, for $890 million to buyers related to developers Kingsford Group and MCC Singapore.

Meyer Park was sold to a UOL-Singapore Land Group joint venture for $392.18 million in February 2023, higher than its guide price of $390 million.

The tender for Thomson View will close on Sept 6.