Kingsford bets on riverfront location in Upper Serangoon View

March 24, 2015 9:11 AM SGT

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SINGAPORE: Cui Zheng Feng, board chairman of Kingsford Development, discreetly rearranges the cushions on the couch of the living room in one of the showflats at Kingsford Waterbay as real estate agents from ERA walk by with their entourage of potential clients.

Kingsford Waterbay is Cui’s second and latest residential development in Singapore.

The 1,165-unit project on Upper Serangoon View will feature nine 16-storey linear blocks fronting Sungei Serangoon.

Almost every unit in the development will enjoy a water view, with half the units facing the river, and the other half looking towards the swimming pools and water features of the project.

Cui says he visited the site “many times” before submitting his winning bid in a government land tender two years ago.

The 293,807 sq ft, 99-year leasehold site that Kingsford Waterbay sits on is in fact an amalgamation of two plots of land (Parcel A and Parcel B).

He explains that, by creating a single large development rather than two separate condo projects on the two parcels, he could orientate the units to maximise the water views.

Apart from the uninterrupted 400m riverfront — which is equivalent in length to eight Olympic-sized swimming pools — Cui was also captivated by the idea that future residents of the project could enjoy a waterfront lifestyle right at their doorstep, with leisure activities such as fishing, cycling or taking a stroll along the river trail, which leads to the Serangoon Park Connector and major parks such as the nearby Punggol Park.

Kingsford beat seven other developers to win the two sites at Upper Serangoon View in 2013.

The developer paid $258.8 million ($522 psf per plot ratio) for Parcel A, which has a site area of 165,141 sq ft.

For the 128,663 sq ft Parcel B, Kingsford paid $201.6 million ($522 psf ppr).

This is not the first time the developer has bid aggressively for a site in a government land tender.

Kingsford’s debut in the local market was in 2012, when the then little-known developer surprised the market by submitting the highest of six bids for a 136,148 sq ft, 99-year leasehold residential development site at Hillview Rise.

Cui paid $243.2 million ($638 psf ppr) for the land, which has since been developed into the 512-unit Kingsford Hillview Peak, where construction is at an advanced stage.

Based on URA’s data, as at end-January, 169 (or 33%) of the units at Kingsford Hillview Peak had been sold, with the latest median price at $1,360 psf.

An auspicious bet While most developers traditionally wind down their marketing activities during the long Lunar New Year break, Cui decided to take advantage of the lull by opening the sales gallery and showflats at Kingsford Waterbay for preview on Feb 21, the third day of Chinese New Year.

Perhaps a significant launch such as Kingsford Waterbay is just what is needed to jump-start a moribund residential market that has seen lacklustre sales over the last two months, reckons a property consultant.

The project is expected to be officially launched in the first half March.

Kingsford Waterbay has a wide range of units, starting from 474 sq ft for one-bedroom units to 1,302 sq ft for five-bedroom units.

There are also six strata terraced houses of 1,625 sq ft and a pair of semi-detached houses measuring 1,593 to 1,948 sq ft.

Prices of one-bedroom units start from $500,000; two-bedroom units, from more than $600,000; and three-bedroom units, from $800,000.

ERA is the exclusive marketing agent for the project.

According to Doris Ong, chief operating officer of ERA, the project has seen strong interest, with many of the visitors being residents in the area, as Upper Serangoon View borders the established HDB estate of Hougang.

Thus, there is a ready pool of HDB upgraders and first-time homebuyers, reckons Ong.

In future, residents at Kingsford Waterbay will benefit from the completion of the upcoming integrated transport hub at the Hougang MRT station, she adds.

More than 1,000 visitors are believed to have visited the showflat over the weekend of Feb 21 and 22.

The market indicative price for Kingsford Waterbay is said to be in the range of $1,100 to $1,300 psf.

In the vicinity is the newly completed and fully sold 493-unit Boathouse Residences developed jointly by Far East Organization and Frasers Centrepoint.

Recent sub-sales at the 99-year leasehold Boathouse Residences have been at $1,065 and $1,189 psf, according to caveats lodged in November and December.

Meanwhile, at the 716-unit Rio Vista, which is adjacent to Kingsford Waterbay, units have changed hands at lower prices of $767 to $885 psf, based on caveats lodged in the last two months of 2014.

The lower resale prices are due to the fact that the 99-year leasehold Rio Vista was completed more than a decade ago, in 2004.

Cui is aware of the premium price attached to an unmatched waterfront view.

In 2013, he emerged as the buyer of the biggest bungalow plot in Sentosa Cove, Singapore’s upscale waterfront enclave.

The six-bedroom bungalow comes with a roof terrace and swimming pool, and sits on a site area of 18,794 sq ft.

The 12,000 sq ft house has 270-degree views of the waterway from the first level, as well as unobstructed views of the sea and the Southern Islands from the second level and roof terrace.

Cui was willing to pay $33 million ($1,756 psf) for the bungalow, which is now his primary residence in Singapore.

It is still considered to be the second most expensive bungalow in Sentosa Cove today.

From Shenyang to Singapore Cui hails from Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning province, and the largest city in northeast China.

Even though the privately held Kingsford Development is little known in Singapore, the company is one of the leading developers in Shenyang, he says.

A former civil servant for 20 years, Cui became a businessman at 40.

He started his business in manufacturing and, given the success of the venture, he ploughed his profits into real estate development in 2000.

Since then, Kingsford has developed more than 35,000 housing units in Shenyang, he estimates.

Most of the housing developments built by Kingsford in Shenyang average 3,000 to 4,000 units, with the largest surpassing 5,000 units.

So far this year, the developer has launched three new projects in Shenyang.

While Cui spends most of his time in Singapore now, his daughter runs the operations in China.

Kingsford will also be undertaking the construction of its projects in Singapore, the way it has done in Shenyang.

The company has close to 600 construction workers in Singapore today.

Cui, who turns 57 this year, says he likes Singa pore for its political stability, forward-looking government policies and its focus on longterm economic growth.

That was the main reason he chose Singapore as his first overseas market outside Shenyang, he adds.

Certainly, the Singapore government’s property cooling measures have dampened market sentiment and even eroded property developers’ profit margins.

Yet, Cui intends to continue looking for new development opportunities here.

He has explored markets such as Iskandar Malaysia and Australia, but still feels most comfortable in Singapore, he says.

He even became a Singapore citizen a year ago.

According to Cui, he has adapted Kingsford Waterbay’s design and layout of the units to suit the tastes and changing lifestyle needs of Singaporean homebuyers.

He had viewed many showflats across the island before crafting his sales gallery and showflats for Kingsford Waterbay.

In a departure from the norm, in addition to providing the unit sizes of the showflats, the developer has gone one step further by providing the floor area of the individual rooms — from the living area and kitchen, to the bedrooms, bathrooms, balconies and private enclosed spaces, as well as air-con ledges.

While 2015 is expected to be a challenging year for property developers in Singapore, Cui believes Kingsford Waterbay will be able to differentiate itself from other projects with its product offering, location and waterfront views.

This article appeared in the City & Country of Issue 666 (Mar 2) of The Edge Singapore.

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