Logan Property bets big with Stirling Residences

EdgeProp Singapore |

June 29, 2018 12:30 PM SGT

The preview of Stirling Residences will be held on the weekend of June 30. The 1,259-unit private condominium is the maiden Singapore residential project by Hong Kong-listed, Shenzhen-headquartered property developer Logan Property Holdings Co.

Stirling Residences is a 51:49 joint-venture project between Logan Property and Chinese developer Nanshan Group. For Nanshan Group, Stirling Residences will be its second residential project in Singapore. Its first was the 288-unit Thomson Impressions, located on Sim Ming Avenue, off Thomson Road. Launched in November 2015, the private residential project is fully sold except for two strata houses. It is expected to obtain its Temporary Occupation Permit in July. Logan Property and Nanshan Group won the 99-year leasehold, 227,220 sq ft site on Stirling Road, located off Commonwealth Avenue, with a top bid of $1.003 billion, which translates into $1,051 psf per plot ratio (ppr). It beat 17 other bidders in May last year, winning the first fully residential site that crossed the billion- dollar mark.

The bid price was considered high even in psf ppr terms until it was surpassed two months later by a consortium led by Singapore- listed construction group Chip Eng Seng Corp, which won the Woodleigh Lane residential site 12 months ago with a bid of $700.7 million, or $1,100 psf ppr. The site will be developed into the 805-unit Park Colonial, which will also hold its preview on June 30.

Location and scale

The rainforest trail within Stirling Residences (Credit: Logan Property)

“It’s all about location,” says Chng Chee Beow, executive director of Logan Property (Singapore). “Stirling Residences is just a three-minute walk to the Queenstown MRT station; it has three towers of 38 to 40 storeys, which means units from the 20th floor will have a view of the city skyline or the sea.”

Chng, who joined the firm in January, heads the Singapore team at Logan Property. A veteran in the property industry with three decades of experience, Chng was formerly the executive director of CEL Development, the property development and investment arm of Chip Eng Seng Corp. Prior to that, he was the property director at Singapore-listed property group Wing Tai Holdings.

Besides its city-fringe location and proximity to the MRT station, Stirling Residences is also the largest-scale, high-rise residential development in Singapore to use prefabricated prefinished volumetric construction (PPVC). The appointed architect is P&T Architects and Engineers, while China Construction (South Pacific) Development Co is the main contractor.

Stirling Residences will have three high-rise towers: two 40-storey blocks and one 38-storey building. The three towers will be raised 15m — equivalent to five storeys — above street level. This frees up a greater site area for landscaping and amenities, says Chng.

The condo will have a diverse range of facilities. “In a large-scale project like this — with a wide mix of unit types from one- to four-bedders — you need to cater to different groups of people: young professionals, families with young children, multi-generational families and investors,” says Chng.

Limited unsold inventory

The showflat of a three-bedroom unit at Stirling Residences (Credit: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)

One-bedroom units starting from 441 sq ft account for 227 (18%) of the units at Stirling Residences. Two-bedroom units make up 687 (55%) of the units. Another 339 units (27%) are a mix of three- and four-bedroom units of 883 to 1,346 sq ft. There are just six 4-bedroom penthouses, of 1,959 to 1,970 sq ft.

Prices of the units start from $800,000 for a one-bedroom apartment, or upward of $1,800 psf.

In the neighbourhood of Stirling Residences, the only other new launch has been MCL Land’s 309-unit Margaret Ville. So far, 115 of the 120 units released have been sold at an average price of $1,880 psf.

Meanwhile, the 736-unit Queens Peak by Chinese developer Hao Yuan Investments, which is marketed by MCC Land, is 94% sold. The project is linked directly to the Queenstown MRT station. Next door to Queens Peak, the 845-unit Commonwealth Towers by City Developments Ltd is already completed and fully sold.

“We like the Stirling Road site because there is not a lot of new supply from new launches in the neighbourhood,” says Chng.

Growing the Singapore landbank

The infinity pool is one of two swimming pools within Stirling Residences (Credit: Logan Property)

Besides Stirling Residences, Logan Property has a second residential project that is targeted for launch next year. This will be the redevelopment of the privatised HUDC estate Florence Regency on Hougang Avenue 2, which Logan Property purchased en bloc for $629 million last October. With a land area of 389,236 sq ft and plot ratio of 2.8, the price translates into $842 psf ppr, including an estimated $288.6 million in differential premiums for topping up the lease to a fresh 99 years and intensification of land use.

According to Chng, the Florence Regency site will be redeveloped into a new private residential project with 1,400 units. The site is located within a 13-minute walk of both the Hougang and the Kovan MRT stations.

As the Florence Regency site is large, there is scope for generous facilities that cater for a wide spectrum of residents, notes Chng.

Within the span of 12 months, Logan Property has acquired two sizeable sites in Singapore, with the potential to build 2,659 residential units, says Lai Zhuobin, chief financial officer and executive director of Logan Property Holdings. “Logan Property is now ranked among the top developers in Singapore in terms of size of landbank,” he notes.

Even then, Singapore projects account for just 2.4% of Logan Property’s total saleable stock and 0.7% of its total landbank of 295.3 million sq ft.

Betting on China’s Greater Bay Area

Logan City — with 50,000 residential units — in Shenzhen is the group’s flagship and biggest development (Credit: Logan Property)

In China, Logan Property’s total sales for FY2017 were RMB43.42 billion ($8.96 billion), up 51.2% from the previous year. For the first four months of 2018, the company recorded total sales of RMB20.66 billion, an 80.8% y-o-y increase. Established in 1996 and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2013, Logan Property has a market capitalisation of RMB58.47 billion.

Logan Property is not new to developing large-scale projects — in Shenzhen, its flagship and biggest development is Logan City, with 50,000 residential units. Logan Property also has experience in developing projects that are integrated with transportation, such as underground metro stations. These include Acesite Park, a 2,058-unit residential development, and Logan Carat Complex, a mixed-use project with 6,800 apartments, 138,000 sq m of office and hotel space and 100,000 sq m of retail space.

Logan Property was ranked the top developer in Shenzhen in 2017; it sold 4,416 units that year. It was the top developer in Shenzhen again for the first four months of 2018.

Logan Carat Complex comprises 6,800 apartments, 138,000 sq m of office and hotel space and 100,000 sq m of retail space (Credit: Logan Property)

The group has maintained its “leading edge”, especially in major cities in the Guangdong- Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, which accounts for 81% of the group’s business focus, says Lai.

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area is a Chinese government initiative to link 11 cities into an integrated economic and business hub. In May, Vice-Premier Han Zheng, an official in charge of the bay area development, was reported to have said that it was an area that had been “personally planned, mapped out and promoted” by President Xi Jinping, a testament to the project’s importance.

Logan Property intends to use Singapore as a springboard to venture overseas. Beyond the city state, the company has set its sights on Australia, says Lai. “In Singapore, the group will continue to look for opportunities to replenish its landbank,” he adds. “However, the group will be selective in its future acquisitions, given the supply of en bloc sites in the pipeline.”

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