Wheelock Prop may make $116m from Cosmopolitan
12 Mar 05
By KALPANA RASHIWALA
WHEELOCK Properties (Singapore) could reap a pretax profit of about $116 million from The Cosmopolitan condo on the former Times House site, based on the average $1,100 per square foot (psf) price at which it is selling the project at a preview that began this week.
High living: More than 50 units from The Cosmopolitan have been released for preview, prices range from $1-2m
The $116 million profit calculated by analysts is a handsome gain considering that it nearly matches the $118.88 million price the listed property group paid for the site in late 2003.
Wheelock Properties, formerly known as Marco Polo Developments, bought the 112,859 sq ft site at the corner of Kim Seng and River Valley roads from Singapore Press Holdings (SPH).
The Cosmopolitan is a 36-storey freehold development with a total of 228 apartments, of which more than 50 selected units located at various floors - but excluding the top floor - have been released for the preview.
Unit prices range from about $1 million to $2 million. The units come in four sizes: two-bedroom units of 1,141 sq ft, three-bedroom apartments of 1,324 and 1,399 sq ft and four-bedders of 1,679 sq ft. All the apartments have balconies. There are no penthouses.
The $1,100 psf average price is after a 10 per cent discount.
The apartments will be housed in two blocks set on colonnades, or a row of columns, resulting in the lowest floor being the eighth storey in one block, and the ninth storey in the other.
Typically, apartments on higher levels command higher prices, and this design scheme - by Architects 61 - should help Wheelock Properties command a higher price. Based on the price that Wheelock Properties paid for the site, once the nerve centre of Singapore's English-language newspapers, analysts estimate Cosmopolitan's break-even cost at $750 psf.
Over at Orange Grove Road, Sime Properties Singapore officially launches today, marking the start of an advertising campaign for Orion. The 27-storey freehold development, which will come up on the site of the Orange Court serviced residences, has 46 apartments priced on average at $1,350 psf.
More than five units have been sold since the preview began a couple of weeks ago, including a 4,400 sq ft penthouse, which was sold to a Permanent Resident couple for nearly $6 million. Orion has two penthouses. The remaining apartments have either three or four bedrooms.