Why did Wing Tai pull out of the Holland Tower en bloc deal
Wing Tai Holdings on July 28 announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Wincove Investment had withdrawn from the en bloc purchase of Holland Tower for $76.3 million, citing “non-fulfilment of certain conditions” as the reason for the move.There were 19 units at the 14-storey apartment block with the majority of them being 1,873 sq ft three-bedroom units, located at 10 Holland Heights. It had been zoned “Residential” under the URA Master Plan 2019 and was situated within the Holland Park Good Class Bungalow (GCB) Area in prime District 10.Being next to Queensway, a Category 2 road, further restrictions such as height and gross floor area (GFA) were added. This led to a reduction of any potential development for the site.Wing Tai had planned to leverage the superior location of the site and develop a luxury and iconic residential development with unblocked views of the greenery and city skyline. Developers sought a boutique luxury condominium with predominantly large-format apartments, however the site constraints could have prevented this.
On March 15, Wing Tai announced plans to purchase Holland Tower for a transacted price of $76.3 million, translating to a land rate of $1,764 psf per plot ratio. Still, due to the site constraints and restrictions, the cost was estimated to be around $2,800-$2,900 psf with an average selling price of the new project in the range of $3,200 to $3,300 psf.
Families with older children also have the benefit of selecting schools close to the Orchard Boulevard Condo. Singapore Chinese Girls’ School and Anglo-Chinese School (Barker Road), both offering secondary education, are conveniently located within a short drive from the condo. These institutes have good reputations due to their well-rounded education system with excellent academics and engaging co-curricular activities.
However, with the introduction of additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) for foreigners rising from 30% to 60%, wealthy foreign buyers and Permanent Residents (PRs) began to shy away from the condominium market in the Core Central Region (CCR).
Developer City Developments (CDL) plans for the 246-unit Newport Residences, a redevelopment of the former FujiXerox Towers on Anson Road, were postponed indefinitely after the introduction of the government’s cooling measures.
Shun Tak Holdings had similar issues two-and-a-half-years prior, where they had won the tender for the en bloc purchase of High Point for $556.7 million. After the introduction of new cooling measures, which increased foreign ABSD from 20% to 30%, the developer opted out of the deal and forfeited its $1 million tender fee.
Based on the $76.3 million purchase price for Holland Tower, the 5% down payment amounting to $3.815 million had likely already been paid. It is believed that the collective sale committee had applied to the Strata Title Board (STB) to have a sales order issued to the buyer, Wing Tai.
With this latest episode at Holland Tower, it appears to have cast a pall on the collective sale market which is already in a downturn.