Chancery Court at Dunearn Road up for en bloc sale at S$390m

CHANCERY Court at Dunearn Road has launched its collective sale by tender with an asking price of S$390 million. If it succeeds, it will leave just five of Singapore's 18 former HUDC estates still around.

The 99-year leasehold site has an enviable location: about five to seven minutes' walk to Newton MRT station, near landed estates and Good Class Bungalows and within one kilometre of popular primary schools like Anglo Chinese School (Primary), Anglo Chinese School (Junior) and St Joseph's Institution Junior. Situated less than two kilometres away are Singapore Chinese Girls Primary School, CHIJ Primary (Toa Payoh) and St Margaret's Primary School.

The development, which has a balance lease of about 62 years, comprises 136 apartments and eight commercial units spread over one tower block and seven blocks of four-storey walk-up maisonettes.

The site has a land area of about 24,074.4 square metres (sq m), or about 259,134 square feet, and is zoned Residential with gross plot ratio (GPR) of 1.4 under the 2014 Master Plan.

A redevelopment could potentially yield a maximum 480 units, averaging 70 sq m in size, said its sole marketing agent OrangeTee Advisory Pte Ltd.

The site is subject to Pre-Application Feasibility Study (PAFS) on traffic impact and a traffic consultant has been commissioned to undertake the study, said OrangeTee.

After including an estimated differential premium of about S$180 million to the government to top up the lease from about 62 years to a fresh 99 years and the intensification of the site to GPR of 1.4, the asking price works out to a land rate of S$1,572 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr), which OrangeTee executive director Alex Oh said "is comparatively attractive in relation to recent land sales nearby".

"We believe Chancery Court will generate good interests from developers given its excellent location in District 11, easy access to town via public and private transport and also its close proximity to the few popular and reputable schools," he said.

The firm's managing director Marcus Oh added: "To give more certainty to developers, we took the initiative to undertake the PAFS and would expect the advisory on the maximum dwelling units from the authority before the tender closes. With this, developers will be able to conduct the redevelopment feasibility with peace of mind."

Twelve former HUDC estates have been sold, with five of the deals - Rio Casa, Serangoon Ville, Eunosville, Tampines Court and Florence Regency - done last year, the most in any year.

The remaining five - Ivory Heights, Pine Grove, Laguna Park, Braddell View and Lakeview - are at various stages of the collective sale process.

The government began building HUDC estates in 1974 and ceased 10 years later due to waning popularity. By then, 7,731 units had been built. A decade later, the authorities moved to allow such estates to be privatised.

The tender for Chancery Court closes at 3pm on May 15.