Completed back in 1973, City Towers has been successfully sold for a whopping S$401.9 million or S$1,847 psf ppr (inclusive of a S$3.5 million development charge) via collective sale to Japura Development – a subsidiary units of Hong Kong’s property group Cheung Kong Holdings, owned by tycoon Mr Li Ka-shing.
This collective sale marked Cheung Kong group’s first successful acquisition in the ongoing en bloc fever in Singapore.
It was mentioned by marketing agency Colliers International that the City Towers en bloc drew a total of 7 bids from various property developers.
The 45-year-old freehold development, situated along the Bukit Timah Road stretch, comprises of only 77 residential units – including apartments, maisonettes, 1 penthouse and 1 commercial shop space.
At an en bloc sale price of S$401.9 million, it exceeds the initial reserve price set for City Towers by 13% and each owner at City Towers is expected to receive a sales proceed in range of S$2.78 million – $11.5 million.
It was reported that the sale price of City Towers en bloc is just slightly higher than the nearby Crystal Tower, which was sold at S$1,840 psf ppr to Allgreen Properties in November 2017.
The 17-storey tall City Towers has a total land area of 104,531 square feet and as pointed out under the URA Master Plan 2014, the site has a 2.1 gross plot ratio and can be redeveloped into a brand new 24-storey condominium – yielding around 190 units (based on a median unit size of around 1,098 square feet).
As luxury properties in Singapore continue to be spurred on by new launches, market watchers believe that the property developer will be able to still adjust sizes of the units for the future new launch condo at Bukit Timah in order to keep pricing affordable and competitive within the prime District 10.