By Kalpana Rashiwala
kalpana@sph.com.sg
@kalpanaBT
source: The Business Times
THE Tsai family of Taiwan behind snack food giant Want Want China Holdings is the party that has bought all 20 units at the completed freehold luxe development, Eden, at 2 Draycott Park.
The $293 million transaction involves three tranches, The Business Times (BT) understands.
The Hong Kong-listed group’s chairman, Tsai Eng-Meng, is purchasing one apartment.
His son Shao Chung, who is also an executive director of the company, is picking up 18 units in one deal, as well as the remaining unit in a separate transaction. He is a Singapore permanent resident, aged about 40; he at tended the Canadian International School in Singapore.
All in, the average price being paid by the duo for the 20 units works out to about $4,827 psf.
Nearly a fortnight ago, Swire Properties of Hong Kong, which developed Eden, said that it had sold all 20 units in the project. However, it did not disclose whom it sold the units to.
In its statement, Swire said that the sale will be completed by May 26, 2021, subject to the fulfilment of the purchase agreement.
All 20 apartments in the project are four-bedroom units of about 3,035 sq ft each. Every unit occupies an entire floor. Eden was designed by Thomas Heatherwick of Heatherwick Studio.
Located at the corner of Draycott Park and Draycott Drive, the 22-storey development was completed in 2019. Its facilities include a swimming pool, children’s pool, land scaped garden and sky garden, Eden is next to The Tanglin Club and also a stone’s throw from The American Club.
Swire Properties developed the project on the former Hampton Court site, for which it paid $155 million or $2,526 per square foot per plot ratio, inclusive of an estimated development charge of $22.3 million, according to a BT report in January 2013.
Industry watchers are not sure if Swire will make a profit from the development based on the average price of $4,827 psf.
Swire would have incurred additional buyer’s stamp duty charges on the land purchase price, and possibly, extension charges under the Qualifying Certificate rules for foreign housing developers in Singapore, said a property consultant.
Word in the market is that Swire had been asking for about $6,000 psf on average for individual units since late-2019. So the $4,827 psf for the bulk deal reflects a bulk discount.
Still, market watchers said the sale is a good exit opportunity for Swire, given that the price is higher than for high-end deals in the past six months, BT reported last week.
