Last Thursday, M+S announced that it has sold about 206 units (85%) of a total of 242 units released for bulk purchasers in the first tower of Marina One Residences. This is well above the 150 to 200 units it had intended to release. It also implies that the 521-unit tower is 40% sold, primarily to bulk purchasers prior to the official launch on Oct 11. Balloting for buyers of three or more units was held on Oct 3, while balloting for purchasers of two units was on Oct 8. Balloting for single unit purchasers was on Oct 10, the eve of the official launch.

According to marketing agents, there was a good mix of Singaporeans and foreigners — Malaysians, Indonesians and mainland Chinese. Most of the bulk buyers were said to be investors, as the most popular units were the one- and two-bedroom apartments. After a 10% early bird discount, one-bedroom units of 657 to 775 sq ft were priced from about $1.4 million to $1.73 million, with average prices from $2,074 to $2,375 psf. The two-bedroom units had prices starting from about $2 million or $2,013 psf. “The prices are very attractive compared with other existing residential developments in the Marina Bay area,” says Bruce Lye, managing partner of SRI5000, who represented a number of foreign buyers who picked up two units apiece. For instance, at the 428-unit Marina Bay Residences, which was completed four years ago, one-bedroom units of 743 to 753 sq ft have asking rents of $4,700 to $5,200 per month. Based on those rates, gross rental yields for investors of one-bedroom units at Marina One Residences are projected to be around 4%, which, Lye says, “is a very good yield” in the current market.

When fully completed in 2017, Marina One will have twin residential towers of 1,042 units, two premium-grade office towers with a total of 1.88 million sq ft, and a retail podium of about 140,000 sq ft. At the heart of the development is a central park which, at 65,000 sq ft, is equivalent in size to a soccer field. M+S has said that the second tower of Marina One Residences, which also contains 521 units, will not be released until 2016. The project’s show gallery was opened to the public on Oct 11.

This article appeared in the City & Country of Issue 647 (Oct 13) of The Edge Singapore.