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Residential buzz for former Zouk site

EdgeProp |

January 19, 2019 7:00 AM SGT

Along the Singapore River, Rivière is generating a lot of interest. It is located on Jiak Kim Street, where Zouk had been for 26 years before it closed in December 2016; it reopened at Clarke Quay soon after. Zouk was ranked third in the world’s top 100 clubs last year.

Given the nostalgia factor, the site was hotly contested when the government put it up for sale two years ago. Frasers Property beat nine others to win the site in December 2017 with a bid of $955.4 million, or $1,733 psf per plot ratio.

Frasers Property has yet to announce when the project is going to be launched, but it’s likely to be some time in 1H2019. Rivière is a 455- unit residential project and part of a mixed-use development that includes serviced apartments by Frasers - Frasers Residence Promenade - and the warehouse (where Zouk was located), which will be conserved.

“The site is special,” says Dominic Lee, PropNex Realty’s head of luxury team. “It’s nostalgic for many born in the 70s and 80s who remember clubbing there in their youth.” According to Lee, he’s had a lot of enquiries for the project. “Those who were born in the 70s and 80s are in their mid-30s to 40s now, and are at the peak of their careers,” he observes. “They want to buy what is equivalent to a trophy property.”

PropNex is one of the appointed marketing agents for Rivière together with ERA Realty and Huttons Asia. Given the purchase price for the site and its prime waterfront location as well as its District 9 postcode, the project is likely to achieve a record price, notes Lee.

The upcoming launch is having a spillover effect on the transaction prices of its neighbours. Across the river is the freehold, 545-unit Rivergate, which was completed in 2009. Average resale prices have gone up 11.3% from an average of $1,981 psf in 4Q2017 to $2,205 psf in 4Q2018, based on caveats lodged.

The latest project launched in the Martin Road-Martin Place area was GuocoLand’s 450- unit Martin Modern in July 2017. Construction of the project located at Martin Place is underway. Of 320 units launched to date, 308 have been sold as at end-December, with the latest transactions at a median price of $2,932 psf. Units even hit a high of $3,208 psf last month: It was for the sale of a 1,012 sq ft, three-bedroom unit on the 29th floor of one of the twin 30-storey towers.

Adjacent to the upcoming Rivière is Mirage Tower, a freehold, 248-unit private condo that was completed 22 years ago. The development has seen a pick-up in transactions in the second half of last year, with units changing hands at prices of $1,720 to $1,791 psf, according to caveats lodged with URA Realis.

Located further down the river is 8 Rodyk, a freehold, 50-unit boutique development completed in 2011. A 1,227 sq ft, three-bedroom unit on the ninth floor there changed hands for $2.4 million ($1,956 psf), according to a caveat lodged early this month. There hasn’t been a transaction at 8 Rodyk for close to a year — not since February 2018 when a 1,432 sq ft, three-bedroom unit on the fourth floor was sold for $2.85 million ($1,991 psf).

However, the spotlight is likely to be on the upcoming launch of Fraser Residence Promenade in the coming months. The site has a prominent frontage right on the bank of the Singapore River, and is a “prime location that has created many meaningful memories for many Singaporeans”, Christopher Tang, CEO of Frasers Property Singapore, had commented recently.

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