Stars of Kovan unveiled

/ The Edge Property |

April 25, 2016 10:00 AM SGT

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An upcoming project scheduled for launch in early May is Cheung Kong Property Holdings’ Stars of Kovan. Located at the junction of Tampines Road and Upper Serangoon Road, the development will have 390 condominium units, five strata houses and a single-storey commercial block with 46 strata shop units.

Artist’s impression of the upcoming Stars of Kovan, which will have 395 residential units and 46 shop units

Source: Cheung Kong

Scheduled for completion in 2020, the project will have a 110m frontage on Upper Serangoon Road; all the commercial units, which are strata-titled shops, will be located on street level. It will be the “the first Britsh-inspired commercial development in Singapore”, and will incorporate replicas of the red telephone booths, red mail boxes and street lamps of London city.

The condominium will have a mix of one- to three-bedroom units with mostly unobstructed views, as the surroundings are predominantly low-rise landed homes. There will also be five strata-titled houses in the development, which will offer full condo facilities such as a 50m lap pool, a duplex clubhouse with a private pool for private parties, kitchen facilities in the entertainment area and a gymnasium.

Site’s potential Cheung Kong’s subsidiary Asset Legend won the 99-year leasehold, 108,685 sq ft site in Upper Serangoon in a government land tender in November 2014. It beat 10 other bids with a price of $276.8 million, or $848.84 psf per plot ratio. “When we looked at the piece of land, we saw its potential,” says Francis Wong, director of Cheung Kong Real Estate. “It is located within an established residential neighbourhood where 60% are landed homes. It is a peaceful and convenient location, just a two-minute walk from the Kovan MRT station.”

According to Wong, Cheung Kong plans to spend $10 million on the showflats and sales gallery of Stars of Kovan. “We want our sales gallery and showflats to reflect the quality of the future project,” he says. “We don’t have too many projects in Singapore. Our plan is to build the most eye-catching project that will change the landscape of the Kovan area.”

Cheung Kong had spent an equivalent amount on the sales galleries and showflats of its two other recent launches, Thomson Grand and The Vision at West Coast. The 339-unit Thomson Grand on Upper Thomson located just off Upper Thomson Road was launched in 2011, fully sold in 2012 and completed last year. The 295-unit The Vision at West Coast, which was launched in March 2010, fully sold at the end of that year and completed in 2014.

Wong: Our plan is to build the most iconic and eye-catching project that will
change the landscape of the Kovan area

Pent-up demand No doubt, housing prices in Singapore have corrected since 3Q2013. As at end-1Q2016, the URA private property index was back to 4Q2010 levels, points out Wong. “That means prices are more affordable, and it’s a good time to buy property,” he says. He reckons there is pent-up demand of more than 10,000 units built up over the last two years because of the property cooling measures.

Based on the government land sales awarded over the last few years, the number of private residential units scheduled for completion next year is about 14,000, with another 10,000 targeted to come onstream by 2018. However, the supply of new completions is expected to fall off significantly to 6,000 units in 2019 and just around 2,000 units by 2020. “Even if a developer were to buy a piece of land today, the [Temporary Occupation Permit] will be in 2021. With future supply slowing and pent-up demand building up, property prices should be bottoming,” reckons Wong.

Pegged at market price The showflats and sales gallery of Stars of Kovan will open at end-April, and the sale of units will start in early May. Two neighbouring residential projects on Tampines Road are Wing Tai Holdings’ The Tembusu, which was launched in August 2013, and Roxy-Pacific Holdings’ Trilive, which was released for sale in July 2014. Recent transactions at these two developments have hovered at $1,550 to $1,600 psf, according to Wong. He therefore estimates that one-bedroom units at Stars of Kovan are likely to be priced from $800,000, two-bedroom units from $1.2 million and three-bedroom units from $1.5 million. Sizes start from 506 sq ft for a one-bedroom unit to 1,023 sq ft for a three-bedroom unit. Two-bedroom units from 732 to 807 sq ft make up 61% of the units in the project. “A Cheung Kong tradition in Hong Kong is that we give an earlybird incentive to the initial group of buyers,” says Wong.

The commercial units at Stars of Kovan are slated for launch at a later date. Cheung Kong also intends to showcase them for sale in Hong Kong and London. Wong is looking to price the commercial units at $5,500 to $7,000 psf. “We believe the Kovan area has good prospects,” he says. The closest mall in the vicinity is the Heartland Mall — Kovan, located just across the MRT station. It is a four-storey ageing complex built by HDB in 1984. “It’s more than 32 years old,” he adds. “We’re providing a new mall that will uplift the Kovan neighbourhood.”

This article appeared in the City & Country, Issue 725 (April 25, 2016) of The Edge Singapore.

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