KSH Holdings awarded S$266.3 million contract for former Rio Casa redevelopment project

PROPERTY group KSH Holdings has secured the contract for the redevelopment at Riverfront Residences in Hougang, it announced on Friday.

The S$266.3 million contract will see KSH build nine 17-storey apartment blocks and 21 strata landed units, as well as stores, car parks and communal facilities, with construction expected to begin in November 2018 and finish in February 2022.

The deal will lift mainboard-listed KSH's order book to more than S$577 million, to be progressively recognised up to FY2022, said the group.

KSH has a 35 per cent stake in the consortium that bought the former Rio Casa estate in May 2017. Rio Casa was sold en bloc for $575 million to a joint venture that also includes Oxley Holdings, Lian Beng Group and Apricot Capital, the private investment arm of the Super Group's Teo family.

KSH executive chairman and managing director Choo Chee Onn said in a media statement: "We are pleased to be entrusted by the consortium to play a dual-role in this project as both a joint-developer and contractor. This also demonstrates the operational synergies between our property development and construction pillars within our diversified business model.

"Taking the lead in the construction allows us to play an active role in managing project costs efficiently to optimise margins both for our construction contract and for the development project's profitability amidst the challenging operating environment. We are also pleased that the project has so far resonated well with the market as the consortium continues to monitor the market carefully to push sales appropriately at the right prices."

Riverfront Residences was launched for sale in July 2018, just as the authorities unveiled surprise property cooling measures, with the opening date moved forward to accommodate a last-minute panic-buying stampede.

It sold 628 of its 1,472 units that month at $1,307 per sq ft, with KSH adding in an update on Friday that more than half the units have now been moved at "average selling prices that are within expectations".

KSH closed up by half a Singapore cent, or 0.83 per cent, to S$0.605, before the news.