Owners of freehold Balestier Regency seek $255 mil in fourth collective sale attempt
Balestier Regency, a freehold 10-storey apartment block with 72 units, was launched for tender on May 4 at $255 million (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
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After three failed attempts, Balestier Regency has returned to the market with a $255 million collective sale, as a tightening supply of city-fringe sites and renewed developer confidence reshape the en bloc landscape.
Balestier Regency, a freehold 10-storey apartment block with 72 units, was launched for tender on May 4, with SRI Capital Market as the exclusive marketing agent. The tender will close on July 9.
This fourth collective sale attempt follows an unsuccessful bid in 2021, when the development failed to secure the required 80% owners’ consensus. It was previously launched for sale in 2018 at $218 million. Its first collective sale attempt in 2013 also did not take off, after failing to garner the mandatory 80% consent.
“The latest launch comes amid firm developer demand, with recent 99-year leasehold Government Land Sale (GLS) sites drawing strong bids and limited redevelopment opportunities in the city fringe,” says Low Choon Sin, managing partner of SRI Capital Market.
The Balestier Regency site (centre building with landscaped garden in front) is zoned “Residential” under the URA Master Plan 2025, with a gross plot ratio of 2.8. This translates to a maximum gross floor area of 173,407 sq ft and a maximum height of 36 storeys (Photo: SRI Capital Market)
Balestier Regency sits on a 61,931 sq ft, freehold rectangular plot at 4 Jalan Ampas, within a quiet residential enclave just off the bustling Balestier Road. The 10-storey development comprises predominantly three-bedroom units ranging from 1,453 to 1,496 sq ft, with a single smaller unit of 1,270 sq ft.
The site is zoned “Residential” under the URA Master Plan 2025 with a gross plot ratio of 2.8. This translates to a maximum gross floor area (GFA) of 173,407 sq ft and a maximum height of 36 storeys, says Low.
Based on an average unit size of about 100 sq m (1,076 sq ft), Low estimates that the new project could have up to 161 apartments.
The guide price of $255 million, therefore, reflects a land rate of about $1,473 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr), including a land betterment charge (LBC) of about $381,181. As the development enjoys a high baseline of 2.793, only a nominal LBC is payable, Low explains.
If LBC and bonus GFA for balconies are factored in, the land rate translates to $1,437 psf ppr.
Last successful en bloc in Balestier was eight years ago
“When Balestier Regency was launched for collective sale in 2018, it was one of seven freehold collective sale hopefuls in the Balestier area that year,” notes Low. The others included the 43-unit Ampas Apartment, 124-unit Ava Towers, 89-unit Kemaman Point, 18-unit Kingsley Mansion, 34-unit Minbu Villa and the 24-unit Summer Green.
Of the seven, only Kemaman Point was successfully sold, to Soilbuild Group for $143.88 million, or $1,173 psf ppr, in June 2018. The new development, the 162-unit, freehold Verticus, was launched in February 2020 and fully sold by 2024, when the project was completed.
Based on caveats lodged, the latest transaction at Verticus is for a 775 sq ft, two-bedroom unit, which changed hands for $1.85 million ($2,387 psf) in December 2025. It is the highest psf price achieved in the 28-storey residential tower.
The 28-storey Verticus, the tall residential tower behind the low-rise white Ampas Apartment (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Verticus is located just one street away on Jalan Kemaman. Adjacent to it is Ampas Apartment, which was sold to Oxley Holdings for $95 million in 2018. However, Oxley later backed out of the deal after one of the sale conditions — approval to redevelop the site into a 120-unit apartment project — was not met.
Adjacent to Balestier Regency is The Viridian, a 108-unit freehold apartment block that was launched in 2011 and completed in 2015. The 23-storey residential block is a redevelopment of a former three-storey industrial terraced factory building at 6 Jalan Ampas, which developer Global Orion Properties acquired en bloc for $27.5 million in 2010.
Hence, there hasn’t been a successful collective sale in the Balestier neighbourhood since Kemaman Point in 2018, SRI’s Low points out.
Unlike eight years ago, there are currently no competing collective sale sites in the Balestier area, he adds.
Pricing benchmarked against GLS sites
Also in the city fringe, or Rest of Central Region of District 12, a GLS site at Kallang Close was sold in early April to a joint venture between Frasers Property and Mitsubishi Estate for $610.75 million, or $1,415 psf ppr. The 99-year leasehold site of 123,320 sq ft could yield 470 residential units and has a Kallang River frontage.
A joint venture between Frasers Property and Mitsubishi Estate paid $610.75 million, or $1,415 psf ppr for the 99-year leasehold site of 123,320 sq ft fronting the Kallang River, which could yield 470 residential units (Source: URA)
Meanwhile, the GLS site at Dover Drive — acquired by a joint venture comprising Forsea Holdings, Qingjian Realty and Jianan Capital — achieved a benchmark price of $1,556 psf ppr in the RCR this March.
“The 99-year leasehold GLS sites have been pushing up price thresholds,” says Low. “The success and strength of the GLS bids also show two things: developers’ confidence and optimism in the residential market.”
Balestier Regency sits on a 61,931 sq ft, freehold rectangular plot at 4 Jalan Ampas, a quiet residential enclave just off the bustling Balestier Road. The 10-storey development comprises three-bedroom units ranging in size from 1,270 to 1,496 sq ft (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Limited new supply in District 12
The last successful collective sale site sold in District 12 was the former 84-unit Euro-Asia Apartments on Serangoon Road, in the Boon Keng–Bendemeer area. The freehold site was sold for $222.18 million, or a land rate of $1,313 psf ppr in July 2022, inclusive of bonus balcony area, with the deal brokered by SRI Capital Market’s Low.
The new project, the 172-unit The Arcady at Boon Keng, was developed jointly by KSH Holdings, Ho Lee Group and SLB Development. Launched in January 2024, The Arcady is 53% sold at an average price of $2,588 psf, based on caveats lodged as at May 3.
At Toa Payoh Lorong 1, also in District 12, a GLS site was sold in November 2023 to a joint venture of City Developments, Frasers Property and Sekisui House for $968 million ($1,360 psf ppr). The new project, the 777-unit The Orie, was launched in January 2025 and is over 95% sold at an average price of $2,701 psf, based on caveats lodged.
District 12 has seen just two recent launches — The Arcady and The Orie — and the pipeline of unsold residential units is “diminishing”, notes Low. “These trends highlight the sustained attractiveness of well-located city-fringe sites.”
Aerial view from a height equivalent to the 28th floor of Balestier Regency (Photo: SRI Capital Market)
‘A lot of potential’
Joshua Ong, Balestier Regency collective sale chairman, recalls 2018 as a peak en bloc cycle. That year, three developments he owned units in — Balestier Regency, Olina Lodge at Holland Hill and Newton Lodge — were put up for collective sale. Only Olina Lodge was successfully sold to Kheng Leong Co for $230.9 million ($1,712 psf ppr) in April 2018. The deal was brokered by SRI Capital Market.
Ong also owned units at the former Euro-Asia Apartments, which was later successfully sold en bloc.
“As an older development sitting on a large site, Balestier Regency has a lot of potential,” he says.
Joshua Ong (left), Balestier Regency collective sale committee chairman and Low Choon Sin, managing partner of SRI Capital Market, who's handling the sale (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
About 50% of the existing owners are investors, while the rest are owner-occupiers. Given the project’s age, many longtime residents are now elderly, he adds. Wheelchair-bound residents have difficulty navigating the development because there are no ramps from the carpark to the lobby, and there are steps at the main entrance.
Making the development more accessible would require significant cost, says Ong.
Refurbishing the lobby to create ramps would also mean sacrificing some parking spaces, he adds.
This led the owners to embark on their fourth attempt at a collective sale.
The refurbished Shaw Plaza shopping mall along Balestier Road is adjacent to Balestier Regency (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Neighbourhood uplift reshapes Balestier’s appeal
“Historically, people associate Balestier Road with old shophouses,” says Ong. “But the area has changed significantly over the years.”
Next door is Shaw Plaza, a recently refurbished mall with additional F&B and retail offerings, as well as a cinema that was revamped two years ago. A FairPrice supermarket also opened in the mall three years ago.
Zhongshan Park and Zhongshan Mall along Balestier Road is near Balestier Regency (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Residents also have access to Zhongshan Mall and Whampoa Market & Food Centre. Within a short drive is the Novena area, including Velocity@Novena Square and Square 2, offering a range of healthcare, wellness and retail amenities.
A key catalyst for the area’s transformation is HealthCity Novena, alongside a growing cluster of hotels, serviced apartments and co-living developments.
The 17-ha HealthCity Novena is anchored by Tan Tock Seng Hospital (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital and Medical Centre is part of the broader Novena HealthCity (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
In December, the Singapore Land Authority awarded a 139,700 sq ft site at Moulmein Road, comprising 40 heritage properties, to Country City Investment. The site is slated to be transformed into a lifestyle destination with dining, wellness and retail offerings, with completion expected in 1Q2027.
The 139,700 sq ft site at 2 Moulmein Road is slated to be transformed into a lifestyle destination with dining, wellness and retail offerings (Photo: SLA)
The upcoming 12ha Toa Payoh integrated development — which includes new health and wellness facilities, a regional sports centre, a public library, polyclinic and a regional town park — is also within walking distance of Balestier Regency. It is targeted for completion by 2030.
“These two developments — the future lifestyle destination at Moulmein Road and integrated health and wellness development at Toa Payoh — will be a game changer in the next few years for the residents in Balestier,” says SRI’s Low.
Check out the latest listings for Balestier Regency, District 12 properties
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