Wing Tai bags Lakeside Apartments for S$273.9 million, 14% above reserve price

THE wholly-owned subsidiary of Wing Tai Holdings, Winville Investment, has won the tender for the collective purchase of Lakeside Apartments at some S$273.9 million, representing a 14 per cent premium to the S$240 million reserve price.

The sale tender, which marks Lakeside Apartments' second attempt at a collective sale, closed at 2 pm on May 25.

In a press statement issued by the site's marketing agent PropNex Realty on Thursday (May 26), head of investment and collective sales Tracy Goh attributed the site's appeal to its attractive location and proximity to the Jurong Lake District (JLD), where plans to develop an integrated tourism attraction are underway.

Developers are also anticipating healthy future demand for homes to be built on the plot given the relatively limited supply of new residential projects in the Lakeside area, said Goh.

Lakeside Apartments' collective sale committee chairman John See Toh added that owners were "mostly co-operative" during the sale process.

"Even after the announcement of fresh cooling measures in December 2021, the owners remained united and hopeful of a successful sale," he said.

PropNex is also the marketing agent of nearby en-bloc hopeful, Lakepoint Condominium. The property was re-launched for collective sale in April 2022 at the same S$640 million reserve price, after the last tender closed without a bid in December 2021.

Earlier on Thursday morning, Wing Tai announced plans to redevelop the site into an "iconic" residential development of more than 300 units with unobstructed waterfront views of Jurong Lake and its surroundings.

This is subject to approvals from the Strata Titles Board and the land dealings approval unit of Singapore Land Authority.

Wing Tai does not expect its latest acquisition to have a material impact on its net asset value.

Citing limited supply of new residential developments in the area, Wing Tai's executive director Tan Hwee Bin expressed confidence that demand for the new project will be strong.

"We are excited to be part of the Jurong Lake District transformation and look forward to building an iconic development which caters to the modern lifestyle needs of homebuyers," said Tan in a May 26 press statement.

Located at 9E and 9F Yuan Ching Road, the site spans 12,465.4 square metres (sq m) with a plot ratio of 2.1. It is zoned for residential use.

Lakeside Apartments comprises 120 residential units and has a 99-year leasehold land tenure commencing from March 1977.

The property was first put up for en-bloc sale in June 2018 with no successful bids, and subsequent talks of the S$240 million reserve price possibly being lowered to S$205 million in 2019.

It was most recently relaunched for collective sale again by PropNex in March 2022 at the original S$240 million reserve price, which works out to a land rate of S$1,077 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), including a lease top-up premium and development charge.

Wing Tai was trading unchanged at S$1.75 as at 10 am on Thursday, after the news.

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