Pine Grove gunning for fourth try at collective sale

SINGAPORE: Pine Grove condominium is back on the bandwagon for a collective sale via public tender – this time at a reserve price of S$1.95bil.

The 660-unit former Housing and Urban Development Co estate in Ulu Pandan, which has 60 years left on a 99-year lease, was previously put up for sale in 2019 at S$1.86bil.

This is the fourth collective sale attempt by Pine Grove since 2008, and the third time it has achieved 80% consensus for the sale.

If successful, owners of 1,163 sq ft units in the project stand to get gross proceeds of about S$2.39mil, while those who own 1,934 sq ft homes could get S$3.2mil, according to marketing agent ERA Realty Network.

At S$1.95bil, the land rate works out to S$1,434 per sq ft per plot ratio, after factoring in an additional 10% bonus gross floor area under various incentive schemes.

The land rate also includes an estimated land betterment charge (LBC) of about S$1bil for intensification and lease upgrade to a fresh 99-year lease, ERA said. Developers pay an LBC for the right to enhance the use of some sites or to build bigger projects.

The 893,218 sq ft site has a gross plot ratio of 2.1 and can be redeveloped into a residential project with up to 2,050 new units, subject to planning approval.

Tay Liam Hiap, ERA’s managing director of investment sales, said: “Pine Grove is the largest residential site, both in terms of land size and price quantum, to be launched for sale (en bloc) this year.

“The site is launched now because we have a year from achieving the 80% consensus to find a buyer for the site and make an application to the Strata Titles Board for a sale order.”

Based on the better-than-expected tender result for a government land sale (GLS) site at Pine Grove (Parcel A), the owners are hopeful of a better outcome, it added.

In June 2022, a joint venture between UOL Group and Singapore Land Group came out tops with a bid of S$671.5mil or S$1,318 per sq ft for the GLS plot – just S$800 ahead of a bid from a unit of Allgreen Properties.

The plot had attracted five bids in what analysts described as one of the tightest races at the time.

But Colliers’ head of research in Singapore, Catherine He, noted that despite the tight race, the number of bids was still lower than the average of seven received for tenders that closed earlier in 2022.

Although unsold new home supply remains low, developers face heightened development risks from higher construction costs, macro-economic uncertainty and dampening effects from the latest rounds of cooling measures, said Wong Xian Yang, head of research for Singapore and South-east Asia at Cushman and Wakefield. — The Straits Times/ANN