CDL 'confident' in master-developer ambitions; launching Irwell Hill Residences on April 10
CITY Developments Limited (CDL) has set its sights on becoming a master developer in Singapore, as part of the property group's focus on replenishing its land bank to ensure a stable launch pipeline.
In the meantime, updating the additional buyer's stamp duty (ABSD) rules on residential land purchases and allowing for more flexible business models could help encourage prudent bids and ease some pressure on developers, said CDL group general manager Chia Ngiang Hong, who is also president of the Real Estate Developers' Association of Singapore (Redas).
C09 , whose land banking approach entails participating in both collective-sale tenders and the government land sales programme, is now also exploring master-developer initiatives.
One opportunity it is eyeing is Kampong Bugis, next to Kallang Basin, said Mr Chia at a media briefing on Thursday. The 8.3ha site was released under the reserve list in December 2019.
Singapore occasionally sells a large chunk of government land to a master developer to comprehensively plan and develop the entire precinct or district, instead of individual, smaller parcels.
CDL is "very confident" and believes it "stands a good chance" of clinching such master-development projects once they are available for tender, given the company's track record of winning tenders under the two-envelope system, Mr Chia said.
Kampong Bugis is earmarked for future private residential use, and can potentially yield up to 4,000 new homes. That would provide CDL with "good land bank over the longer term", if the company is chosen as the waterfront precinct's master developer, Mr Chia noted.
Separately, he reiterated Redas' call for a review of the ABSD policy for developers, in part to prevent land prices from surging and to relieve the time pressure on the industry.
Developers have to complete and sell all units of a project within five years to qualify for upfront remission of the 25 per cent ABSD on residential site purchases.
The five-year ABSD deadline has "created a very tight cycle" of developers bidding for land, rushing to develop and sell, running out of inventory at around the same time as their peers, and then quickly replenishing their land bank again, Mr Chia said.
That also makes it challenging for developers to schedule their projects, and is "a real problem . . . especially now that we try to improve our projects, make sure that we incorporate green (elements) and nice architecture, which needs a bit more time", he added. "We certainly hope" there will be tweaks to the ABSD rules, Mr Chia said.
On previous occasions, he had recommended that some flexibility be given to developers in the timeframe for them to sell projects.
There have also been suggestions for the government to allow alternative housing models such as build-to-rent, instead of the standard build-to-sell approach, Mr Chia noted on Thursday. Build-to-rent involves the developer retaining long-term ownership of the entire development and renting out the units for income.
Meanwhile, in the current en-bloc market, Mr Chia said smaller plots will likely be more palatable; sites with price tags of around S$100 million should attract more interest.
CDL's residential launch pipeline this year totals more than 1,200 units, including the former Liang Court site, a joint-venture project with CapitaLand. CanningHill Piers, the 696-unit residential component of the Liang Court redevelopment, will launch in the second half of 2021.
Before that, CDL's Irwell Hill Residences in District 9 will launch on April 10. The 540-unit, 99-year leasehold project off Irwell Bank Road will be CDL's first launch for the year.
The bulk of the unit types at Irwell Hill Residences are smaller in size. About 438 units or 81 per cent of the project are studio apartments, one-bedroom units and two-bedroom units.
Sizes range from 398 square feet (sq ft) for a studio to 1,582 sq ft for a four-bedroom premium apartment. There are also three penthouses, each spanning 2,200-2,600 sq ft.
Indicative prices start at S$998,000 for a studio, about S$1.1 million for a one-bedroom plus study, S$1.4 million for a two-bedder, S$2.1 million for a three-bedder, and over S$4 million for a four-bedroom premium unit with a private lift.
CDL executive vice-president and head of property development, Lee Mei Ling, said that the "sweet spot" pricing of S$1-2 million per unit is expected to be "very attractive" to both owner-occupiers and investors. "These are very palatable prices", considering the prestigious location and iconic project, Ms Lee added.
The luxury project comprises two 36-storey towers on an elevated terrain with four existing heritage raintrees, and a champagne gold pixel-patterned facade.
To support residents working from home, the function rooms are equipped to host meetings and conferences. Irwell Vista, located on level 24 of both towers, features a purpose-designed workspace, with workstations fitted with WiFi and charging points. These design features were conceptualised last year, when the remote-work trend gained pace.
