Hoi Hup-Sunway previews high-end Terra Hill in Pasir Panjang
By Cecilia Chow
/ EdgeProp Singapore |
SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Long-term joint venture partners Hoi Hup Realty and Sunway Developments are set to preview their upcoming condominium development Terra Hill, on Feb 10. Nestled within a quiet residential enclave, Terra Hill is perched at the top of Yew Siang Road — just 350m or a five-minute walk from the Pasir Panjang MRT Station on the Circle Line.
Sitting on a 208,445 sq ft, freehold site with a plot ratio of 1.4, Terra Hill is a low-density project with just 270 units spread across nine five-storey blocks. As the project is outside the Central Area, the units have an average size above 100 sqm.
Located within the Queenstown Planning Area in District 5, Terra Hill is positioned as a high-end condominium. “We wanted to elevate the quality of the project in this market segment,” says Koon Wai Leong, general manager of Hoi Hup Realty, the spokesman on behalf of the joint venture partners. “Even though it’s located in District 5, the specifications and design features are comparable to that of luxury projects in the prime districts of D9, 10 and 11.”
Koon: It was an opportunity to create a unique product (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
The last freehold project launch was over eight years ago
The last major launch of a residential project in the neighbourhood was the 548-unit Kent Ridge Hill Residences in November 2018. The 99-year leasehold residential development on South Buona Vista Road has a mix of apartments and 50 strata-titled terraced houses. The project was fully sold as of November 2022, with the latest transaction being the sale of a strata terraced house for $3.266 million ($1,580 psf). Apartments sold from July 1, 2022, to Nov 30, 2022, ranged from $1,644 psf to $2,062 psf, according to caveats lodged.
One has to go back to 2014 for the last freehold development within walking distance of an MRT station in the Pasir Panjang area: According to Ken Low, managing partner of SRI, it was the 120-unit Bijou by Far East Organization. Located on Jalan Mat Jambol, it is directly opposite Pasir Panjang MRT Station. The latest transaction at Bijou was for a 775 sq ft, two-bedroom unit that fetched $1.755 million ($2,265 psf) in late November.
“In the Rest of Central Region (RCR), especially District 5, there are very few new freehold projects, hence they are very desirable,” says Low. Further up on Pasir Panjang Road, there is another freehold condominium slated for launch sometime in 3Q2023. It is the new 59-unit condominium on the site of the former Gloria Mansion. The site was sold en bloc for $70.3 million in January 2022 to a private investment vehicle controlled by Daniel Teo and his brother Teo Teck Weng along with Fraxtor Group’s collective investment platform.
The last freehold project that was launched in the area was Bijou in 2014 (Source: EdgeProp Landlens)
Apart from Bijou, which is relatively new — having been completed in 2018 — most of the condominiums in the vicinity of Terra Hill were built in the mid- to late-1980s, for instance, the 32-unit Pepys Hill (completed in 1988), the 72-unit Island View (completed in 1984) and the 20-unit The Peak (completed in 1988).
Terra Hill is a redevelopment of the former 72-unit Flynn Park, a freehold condominium completed in 1986. Hoi Hup and Sunway purchased the site en bloc for $371 million in September 2021. “It was an opportunity to create a unique product,” says Hoi Hup’s Koon. (See potential condos with en bloc calculator)
Given its hillside terrain, Terra Hill has two different tiers to cater to different market segments: At the highest point of the plot is The Prestige Collection, with three identical blocks containing just 30 units. The remaining six blocks with 240 units make up The Signature Collection.
Showflat of a 1,894 sq ft, four-bedroom unit in the Prestige Collection which has a 6m frontage (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Catering to HENRYS
Of the 30 units at The Prestige Collection, 24 are four-bedroom units of 1,894 sq ft. The other six units are five-bedroom duplex penthouses of 3,035 sq ft with double-volume ceilings. The units in The Prestige Collection enjoy unblocked views of the surroundings.
The four-bedroom units of The Prestige Collection will have a living room with 6m wide frontage, equivalent to the width of an intermediate terraced house, notes Koon. Meanwhile, the five-bedroom duplex penthouses have living rooms with 9m frontage, he adds.
Befitting an upscale development, the units in the Prestige Collection will come with a private lift lobby, all en suite bedrooms including master and junior master bedrooms, full marble flooring with 800mm x 800mm tiles and ample storage space.
High-end fittings for The Prestige Collection include Swiss brand V-Zug kitchen appliances. Units will also be provided with two refrigerators: a V-Zug integrated refrigerator in the dry kitchen and a Samsung refrigerator in the wet kitchen. Bathroom fittings and sanitaryware boast top-end European names, Italian brand Gessi and Swiss brand Laufen.
The five-bedroom duplex penthouses in The Signature Collection will also enjoy the same design features and specifications as those in The Prestige Collection, notes Koon.
The showflat of an 807 sq ft two-bedroom-plus-study in the Signature Collection (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
All units at Terra Hill will be provided with a ceiling fan in the living room, and rooftops will be fitted with solar panels. These efforts have contributed to Terra Hill being one of the first private residential developments in Singapore to be awarded Platinum and Super Low Energy — the highest rating under the Building Construction Authority (BCA) Green Mark ratings.
At The Signature Collection, the smallest units start from 624 sq ft for a two-bedroom. Two-bedroom-plus-study are from 807 sq ft. Three-bedroom units start from 904 sq ft and four-bedroom from 1,302 sq ft. There are just five 5-bedroom duplex penthouses with sizes from 2,120 to 2,164 sq ft.
With the exception of the five-bedroom duplex penthouses, the units at The Signature Collection will have kitchen appliances from the French brand De Dietrich. Bathroom fittings and sanitaryware are from Gessi and Laufen brands too.
Indicative prices for Terra Hill’s Signature Collection show two-bedroom units from at least $1.5 million, with three-bedroom units upwards of $2.3 million and four-bedroom units above $3.4 million. For the Prestige Collection, four-bedroom units are priced upwards of $5 million.
According to Koon, there is a gap in the “$5 million to $7 million price point” that caters to HENRYS or “high-earners, not rich yet”. “These are affluent individuals who want to enjoy some of the luxuries in life,” he says. “While the four- and five-bedroom units in the prime, freehold districts of 9, 10 and 11 in the $9 million to $10 million price range may be beyond their reach for now, we believe that we can fill that gap with a new product in the $5 million to $7 million price range.”
The Tanjong Pagar terminal will be relocated, and will be redeveloped as part of the Greater Southern Waterfront (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Greater Southern Waterfront, proximity to MRT station
Mark Yip, CEO of Huttons Asia, sees Terra Hill as “one of the few projects that are at the doorstep of the future Greater Southern Waterfront (GSW) — which could be the greatest transformation for Singapore after Marina Bay.” At 2,000ha, GSW is six times the size of the 360ha Marina Bay business district. With only 270 units, “owners can enjoy the benefits of GSW for generations to come, given that Terra Hill is a freehold project”, he adds.
When the project is completed in 2028, residents of Terra Hill will have direct access to Kent Ridge Park, HortPark and Southern Ridges, a 10km nature trail that connects Mount Faber Park, Telok Blangah Hill Park, HortPark, Kent Ridge Park and Labrador Park.
Terra Hill’s proximity to the Pasir Panjang MRT Station on the Circle Line should not be overlooked, notes SRI’s Low. “The Circle Line has been undervalued because of the three missing MRT stations needed to close the loop — Keppel, Cantonment and Prince Edward stations,” he says. “When these three MRT stations are completed in 2026, properties near the Circle Line will increase in value too.”
Once the loop on the Circle Line is closed, it will just be seven MRT stops from Pasir Panjang to the CBD. According to SRI’s Low, “half of the stations on the Circle Line intersect with stations on other lines and sit along the GSW, catering for the future growth area”.
Residents of Terra Hill will have direct access to Kent Ridge Park, HortPark and Southern Ridges, a 10km nature trail that connects Mount Faber Park, Telok Blangah Hill Park, HortPark, Kent Ridge Park and Labrador Park (pictured) [Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
District 5 – ‘active rental market’
In the RCR, District 5 (Pasir Panjang/Buona Vista/Clementi/West Coast) commands one of the highest average rental rates, and enjoys one of the highest rental transaction volumes — after District 3 (Alexandra/Bukit Merah/Tiong Bahru) and District 15 (Katong/Joo Chiat/Amber Road), says SRI’s Low. “This is because District 5 is surrounded by business nodes — from Mapletree Business City to Alexandra Technopark, one-north and the Science Parks — where a lot of the tech companies are located, as well as near the National University of Singapore (NUS). The residential developments in the area are therefore able to hold their value.”
This year will see three other residential developments slated for launch in District 5, says Nicholas Mak, head of research & consultancy at ERA Singapore. Besides the new development on the site of the former Gloria Mansion at Pasir Panjang Road, the other two residential projects are on 99-year leasehold government land sale (GLS) sites at Slim Barracks Rise in one-north. One is EL Development’s 275-unit Blossoms By The Park and the other is Kingsford Development’s 142-unit The Hill @ One-North.
“These projects are unlikely to be in direct competition with Terra Hill as they will be launched in the coming months,” notes Mak.
Showflat of a 1,087 sq ft, three-bedroom unit at Terra Hill (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Freehold premium
Freehold developments generally command a 15% to 20% premium over L99-year leasehold developments in the same location, notes Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex “If 99-year leasehold condominiums in the Outside Central Region (OCR) located near MRT stations are now commanding an average of $2,100 psf, and 99-year leasehold projects in the RCR are in the $2,300 to $2,400 psf range, then one can expect freehold developments near MRT stations in the RCR to be priced in the $2,500 to $2,600 psf range,” he says.
SRI’s Low agrees. Assuming Terra Hill is priced at about $2,600 psf, and new leasehold developments in the RCR within walking distance of an MRT station are priced in the $2,300 to $2,400 psf range, the price gap is estimated to be between 8% and 11.5%. “Whether you’re buying for your own use or investment, the growth potential of the GSW presents good exit points when future developments come up,” he adds.
Huttons’ Yip sees buyers of Terra Hill gaining a first-mover advantage with the GSW at their doorstep. Some of the homeowners of the landed property in the area may want to consider buying a unit for their children or themselves if they choose to downsize, he says. Besides the proximity to a large tenant pool given NUS and other business nodes in the area, from Science Park to the Alexandra precinct, SP Group is also building Labrador Tower, a Grade-A office building targeted for completion by 2024. “It will boost the working population in the area, another added attraction for investors,” he adds.
Besides owner-occupiers, investors are also drawing comfort from the fact that the recent interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve was just 25 basis points, unlike last year, when there were four rate hikes of 75 basis points, says PropNex’s Gafoor. “This gives assurance to homebuyers that interest rates are at their peak and will stabilise in the coming months.”
Check out the latest listings near Terra Hill, Bijou, Pepys Hill Condominium, Slim Barracks Rise, Blossoms By The Park, The Peak, Island View, Pasir Panjang MRT Station
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