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23-04-2014, 01:51 PM
Pearl Bank owners bank on conservation order
Aim is to raise gross floor area, get lease top-up and higher psf price
PUBLISHED ON APR 23, 2014 1:58 AM
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The 38-year-old Pearl Bank in the Outram area is Singapore's first high-rise apartment block. The estate's three attempts at a collective sale between 2007 and 2011 had no takers due to the high asking price of $1,300 to $1,400 psf, well above the market value of $850 to $900 psf. -- ST PHOTO: MATTHIAS HO
BY RENNIE WHANG
THE owners of Pearl Bank Apartments are seeking a conservation order for their building as part of an ambitious plan to entice a developer to rejuvenate it.
If they succeed, the owners, who have tried three times for a collective sale of the 38-year-old building, would have broken new ground in the private property sector with their strategy.
Under the plan, the management committee will ask the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to increase its gross floor area (GFA), which has been maximised at 55,102 sq m, or a plot ratio of 7.2.
This could allow the owners to build a 27-storey residential block of about 15,000 sq m on the area now occupied by a five-storey carpark. This block will have a rooftop garden, a swimming pool and a bridge to the existing block's 28th-floor common space.
The owners will also ask the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) to extend the 99-year lease.
"Once our gross floor area is increased, we're going to raise capital by selling this extra development quantum to external developers," said Mr Tan Cheng Siong, who designed the original block and has drawn up plans for the new development.
"We can then use this money to pay for the upgrading and lease extension. Our goal is that existing residents will not have to pay extra."
The strategy was devised after the failed bids for a collective sale at the estate, Singapore's first high-rise apartment block.
The three attempts between 2007 and 2011 had no takers due to the high asking price of $1,300 to $1,400 psf, well above the market value of $850 to $900 psf.
But winning a conservation order is no easy task.
A URA spokesman said this is the first time a multi-strata private development has applied for conservation.
A building must have architectural significance and rarity, social and historical significance as well as contribute to the environment if it hopes to win an order.
If the order is won, the owners will work with the URA to restore the original design and facade of the block. With upgrading and a lease extension, the owners hope their units will be worth up to $1,800 psf.
Mr Tan, who also designed Pandan Valley, Singapore's first condominium, said the additional block would enhance the building and surrounding landscape.
Even winning a lease top-up would be a first for a residential project, industry sources said.
Arcadia, an early-generation condominium in Arcadia Road, applied in 2011 but was rejected.
Mr Tan said Pearl Bank stood a better chance: "I think the feeling about Pearl Bank is totally different; the Government feels it is worthy of conservation."
An SLA spokesman said applications for a lease top-up would depend on factors like whether the development will result in land optimisation and whether the redevelopment is in line with long-term land use plans for the area.
Mr Nicholas Mak, the head of research at SLP International Property Consultants, said the redevelopment plan strengthened Pearl Bank's case.
He also said issues with 99-year leasehold blocks will become more pressing in the next 20 years: "These developments are going to age, but they may still be structurally sound. We will face more questions from owners who want to keep their building, as this makes it easier for them to sell."
Mr Tan's firm, Archurban Architects Planners, has spent about six months drawing up plans.
Owners representing about 45 per cent of the overall share value turned up at an extraordinary general meeting on April 13 to vote on whether to submit the application for voluntary conservation and upgrading to the URA.
More than 98 per cent were in favour.
wrennie@sph.com.sg
Aim is to raise gross floor area, get lease top-up and higher psf price
PUBLISHED ON APR 23, 2014 1:58 AM
The 38-year-old Pearl Bank in the Outram area is Singapore's first high-rise apartment block. The estate's three attempts at a collective sale between 2007 and 2011 had no takers due to the high asking price of $1,300 to $1,400 psf, well above the market value of $850 to $900 psf. -- ST PHOTO: MATTHIAS HO
BY RENNIE WHANG
THE owners of Pearl Bank Apartments are seeking a conservation order for their building as part of an ambitious plan to entice a developer to rejuvenate it.
If they succeed, the owners, who have tried three times for a collective sale of the 38-year-old building, would have broken new ground in the private property sector with their strategy.
Under the plan, the management committee will ask the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to increase its gross floor area (GFA), which has been maximised at 55,102 sq m, or a plot ratio of 7.2.
This could allow the owners to build a 27-storey residential block of about 15,000 sq m on the area now occupied by a five-storey carpark. This block will have a rooftop garden, a swimming pool and a bridge to the existing block's 28th-floor common space.
The owners will also ask the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) to extend the 99-year lease.
"Once our gross floor area is increased, we're going to raise capital by selling this extra development quantum to external developers," said Mr Tan Cheng Siong, who designed the original block and has drawn up plans for the new development.
"We can then use this money to pay for the upgrading and lease extension. Our goal is that existing residents will not have to pay extra."
The strategy was devised after the failed bids for a collective sale at the estate, Singapore's first high-rise apartment block.
The three attempts between 2007 and 2011 had no takers due to the high asking price of $1,300 to $1,400 psf, well above the market value of $850 to $900 psf.
But winning a conservation order is no easy task.
A URA spokesman said this is the first time a multi-strata private development has applied for conservation.
A building must have architectural significance and rarity, social and historical significance as well as contribute to the environment if it hopes to win an order.
If the order is won, the owners will work with the URA to restore the original design and facade of the block. With upgrading and a lease extension, the owners hope their units will be worth up to $1,800 psf.
Mr Tan, who also designed Pandan Valley, Singapore's first condominium, said the additional block would enhance the building and surrounding landscape.
Even winning a lease top-up would be a first for a residential project, industry sources said.
Arcadia, an early-generation condominium in Arcadia Road, applied in 2011 but was rejected.
Mr Tan said Pearl Bank stood a better chance: "I think the feeling about Pearl Bank is totally different; the Government feels it is worthy of conservation."
An SLA spokesman said applications for a lease top-up would depend on factors like whether the development will result in land optimisation and whether the redevelopment is in line with long-term land use plans for the area.
Mr Nicholas Mak, the head of research at SLP International Property Consultants, said the redevelopment plan strengthened Pearl Bank's case.
He also said issues with 99-year leasehold blocks will become more pressing in the next 20 years: "These developments are going to age, but they may still be structurally sound. We will face more questions from owners who want to keep their building, as this makes it easier for them to sell."
Mr Tan's firm, Archurban Architects Planners, has spent about six months drawing up plans.
Owners representing about 45 per cent of the overall share value turned up at an extraordinary general meeting on April 13 to vote on whether to submit the application for voluntary conservation and upgrading to the URA.
More than 98 per cent were in favour.
wrennie@sph.com.sg
