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The
Straits Times, 12 Oct 04
Live
on a private island in Singapore
By Joyce Teo
A private island with just 24 homes, each with berthing space, will
soon become reality with collective sale of Coral Island
LIVING on an island with only 23 neighbours and a private berthing
space for one's yacht will soon become reality here for the well-heeled.
Coral Island is one of its five reclaimed islands. What is special
about these houses is they will be built on a man-made island in an
artificially created cove off another island - Sentosa.
Called Coral Island, the 17,153 sq m piece of land, the size of four
football fields, has been put up for tender. It is one of five reclaimed
islands at Sentosa Cove, a massive waterfront development on the east
coast of the southern island. Coral Island is surrounded by a 40m
to 60m water channel and is linked to the Sentosa 'mainland' by a
road.
The developer who buys the 99-year leasehold land just needs to design
and build the houses as the infrastructure is there. He is free to
re-carve the 24 land parcels, the maximum allowed by the Urban Redevelopment
Authority.
Knight Frank managing director, Mr Tan Tiong Cheng, believes developers
will want to look at Coral Island because of the flexibility they
are allowed. Sentosa Cove chief executive officer, Mr Bernard Kong,
said: 'Developing an entire island presents the holy grail of creativity
for the developer.' The developer has four years to put up the houses.
Like other houses in Sentosa Cove, they cannot go higher than two
storeys.
The Coral Island tender opened on Sept 1 and closes on Oct 26. Mr
Kong said he expects some foreign interest. Since the second Sentosa
Cove tender, some rules have been relaxed to make the development
more accessible to foreign buyers. For example, they need submit only
a simple application form to the Land Dealings (Approval) Unit of
the Singapore Land Authority, which will grant them fast-track approval
in two days.
CB Richard Ellis executive director, Mr Li Hiaw Ho, said Coral Island
allows Sentosa Cove to capture a bigger market, as it offers foreigners
a ready product. While many bungalow owners here like to build their
own homes, foreigners may prefer to buy something ready-built, said
Mr Li.
Sentosa Cove sells bungalow plots in the main development but buyers
of Coral Island plots can get the successful tenderer to design their
homes to order.
Coral Island should come cheaper than individual bungalow plots in
the main development. 'When you sell en bloc, you have to give some
sort of wholesale discount,' said Mr Kong. In its first tender for
bungalows facing the waterway, Sentosa Cove fetched prices of $260
to $400 psf. Chesterton International director of research and consultancy,
Mr Nicholas Mak, said developers are likely to want a 15 to 20 per
cent profit margin. Assuming there are 24 bungalows, each could go
for $4 million to $5 million, the price of a similar-size bungalow
in District 10 or 11.
Sentosa Cove will announce the results of its second tender, which
includes 11 waterway-facing bungalow plots, only on Oct 26, but it
has awarded a condominium plot and two terrace plots at higher levels.
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