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The SingHaiyi Group will begin showing off the Grand Dunman, a condominium with 1,008 units, on July 1. The official launch is scheduled for July 15.
Mark Yip, CEO of Huttons Asia, has said that “Grand Dunman is the first and only launch of a mega development above 1,000 units this year.”
However, Grand Dunman will be the third property to debut this year in the East’s most desirable District 15 neighborhood. The first was City Developments Ltd (CDL) and MCL Land’s 638-unit Tembusu Grand, which has a 99-year leasehold. Over half (53%) of the apartments were purchased on the opening weekend in early April, with an average price per square foot of $2,465. According to reservations submitted to URA Realis, 362 apartments have been sold.
Launched at the beginning of May, The Continuum has seen the sale of 229 apartments at an average price per square foot of $2,734. The 816-unit freehold condo on Thiam Siew Avenue was developed by Hoi Hup Realty and Sunway Group in a joint venture.
Raymond Chia, CEO of SingHaiyi Group, explains, “We have the benefits of seeing the Continuum and Tembusu Grand launch price and momentum.” Before setting a final pricing, we need to see how much demand there is during the preview time. But we’ll make sure the project’s costs are reasonable, so Grand Dunman will be on the radar of East Coast homebuyers.
On April 1, Chia, formerly the group CEO of Chip Eng Seng, became the CEO of the SingHaiyi Group. After SingHaiyi, a property developer, was delisted from the main board of the Singapore Exchange on January 31, 2022, and Chip Eng Seng Corp. was delisted on April 11, 2023, he was appointed to the position. Celine Tang and her husband, the millionaire Gordon Tang, are now joint owners in both enterprises.
Chia plans to obtain economies of scale by merging the human resources, administrative, and business development divisions of his two real estate firms. He also notes that other divisions, including project management, will remain autonomous.
Joint Venture
In October 2018, for a total of $201 million, the Tang family acquired the remaining 29.73% of Chip Eng Seng from the Lim family, the company’s initial shareholders. After that, Chip Eng Seng appointed Celine Tang to the position of non-executive chairman.
Since then, Chip Eng Seng and SingHaiyi have been submitting joint site bids. In May of 2021, for instance, a group including Chip Eng Seng, SingHaiyi, and Chua Investments paid $276.8 million to acquire the former Maxwell House.
The Peace Centre and Peace Mansion at 1 Sophia Road were enbloc by Chip Eng Seng and SingHaiyi, together with listed businesses KSH Holdings and SLB Development and construction company Ho Lee Group, in December 2021 for a total of $650 million. The pricing works out to $1,388 per square foot per plot ratio.
Eight Shenton Way (previously AXA Tower) was purchased by Chip Eng Seng and SingHaiyi for 21% in April 2022. Alibaba Group and Perennial Holdings joint venture for this collective sales.
The new mixed-use construction on the 99-year leasehold site will reach a height of 305 meters, making it Singapore’s tallest building. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is responsible for the design of the building; they also built the 64-story Wallich Residence and the 290-meter-tall Guoco Tower.
Perennial Holdings and Alibaba’s 63-story skyscraper may be found near the crossroads of Anson and Prince Edward Roads. There will be 215 high-end apartments there, topped off with a super penthouse. Skywaters Residences is the name of the high-end development.
Upcoming Launch at TMW Maxwell
TMW Maxwell condo will replace the former Maxwell House, which has a 99-year lease. The new development is a 20-story tower with a 3-story pedestal and 11 retail spaces. There will be 324 apartments on the higher levels. The launch of TMW Maxwell is scheduled for the third quarter of 2023.
“The location of TMW Maxwell property is very different from Skywaters Residences,” explains Chia. “Considering its proximity to the conservation shophouses around Tanjong Pagar Road, we will highlight the culture of the neighborhood.”
Maxwell Food Centre, as well as Tanjong Pagar, Ann Siang, and Chinatown’s restaurants, pubs, and clubs, are conveniently close by. “The units will be designed as transformer apartments with the flexibility of multiple uses,” explains Chia. During the day, the furniture will be used for productive purposes. You may change the flat into a bedroom in the morning, a living room in the afternoon, and a space to host guests in the evening.
Launch of Grand Dunman
SingHaiyi’s proposal for the Grand Dunman condominium, which is 271,622 square feet and has a 99-year leasehold, was the highest of two filed in a Government Land Sales bid that ended in June 2022.
The $1.284 billion offer by SingHaiyi ($1,350 psf ppr) was 20.3% higher than the $1.067 billion bid by CDL, Hong Leong Group, and TID ($1,122 psf ppr).
There will be seven 18-story blocks in the development. The apartments vary in size from a 420-square-foot studio to a 6-bedroom, dual-key home. “We are able to handle a whole variety of investors as well as owner-occupiers,” says SingHaiyi Group Gary Lim.
SingHaiyi also plans to own the five commercial apartments on the ground floor of Grand Dunman, which are strata titled.
At Grand Dunman, every apartment faces due north and due south. Views of the pools and landscaping may be enjoyed by those living on the Dunman Road frontage. According to Lim of SingHaiyi, residents who face south would have a view of the sea beyond the landed estate on Mountbatten Road and Meyer Road. He also mentions that it just takes two minutes to walk to the Dakota MRT Station from Grand Dunman.
Huttons’ Yip says it takes less than an hour to go to the CBD and the Sports Hub by car or rail. Both Kong Hwa Primary School and Tanjong Katong Primary School are within a mile of Grand Dunman.
Grand Dunman starts its preview on 1st July. Interested parties can register their interest here.
Near the Dakota MRT and a few good schools.
Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex, predicts that SingHaiyi would set the price of the Grand Dunman project “very similar to or slightly higher as compared to Tembusu Grand” due to the land cost of $1,350 psf ppr.
Gafoor observes that almost half of the apartments at Grand Dunman are one- and two-bedroom flats, which should attract homebuyers and investors who were unsuccessful in securing the smaller units at Tembusu Grand.
The smallest apartments are 452 square feet in size, while the largest units are 667 square feet in size. The square footage for a three-bedroom unit is above 980. There are also 36 three-bedroom condos (1,044 and 1,055 square feet) and 34 two-bedroom units (721 and 775 square feet) that share keys.
ERA Realty Network’s chief executive officer, Eugene Lim, says that Grand Dunman is the best of the three condo developments because of its convenient location near the Dakota MRT Station.
To paraphrase, “as such, we may not see market saturation in District 15 at all,” he argues. “Two-bedroom apartments are in high demand, so we anticipate a quick sellout.”
Lim, of ERA, also notes that homes that are within walking distance of MRT stations are in strong demand. “Grand Dunman is expected to attract an array of investors, homeowners, and HDB upgraders,” he continues.
According to HDB’s classifications, the Geylang estate units that sold for above $1 million in 1H2023 were all found in the Dakota area, as pointed out by Lim. “This is great news for people who own HDBs and are thinking about switching to private condos in the same area.”
All of the apartments at Grand Dunman face either the north or the south, with those on Dunman Road looking out over the swimming pool and those on Mountbatten Road and Meyer Road looking out over the private landed housing estate and the ocean.
Strategic Location at Grand Dunman
Ken Low, managing partner of SRI, says the land at Grand Dunman is very unique. He explains, “Waterbank and Dakota Residences are the only two condos in the area.” The Waterbank at Dakota, a 616-unit complex, was unveiled in 2010, and all of its units were sold and finished by 2013.
Waterbank’s closeness to the Dakota MRT Station and its position on the city’s outskirts make it an attractive investment, according to Low of SRI. He observes that Grand Dunman has comparable qualities.
Good Unit Mix target Homebuyers with different requirements
There are standard and premium apartments in Grand Dunman. There is a 100-unit gold block with spacious three- to five-bedroom apartments. This complex offers apartments with floor plans starting at 1,475 square feet for a three-bedroom, 1,787 square feet for a four-bedroom, and 2,131 square feet for a five-bedroom.
The whole building complex has just 10 penthouses. Penthouses with five bedrooms are between 2,336 and 2,756 square feet in size, while those with six bedrooms are between 3,057 and 3,068 square feet.
Grand Dunman plans to achieve the Super Low Energy Platinum grade from Green Mark. Prefabricated, volumetric pre-construction is used in around 65% of the building. Rooftop solar panels are being installed, and all apartments will have ceiling fans in the living room. West-facing homes will also have double-paned windows.
SingHaiyi is installing energy-efficient Samsung refrigerators in each apartment at Grand Dunman. Gessi faucets and showers will be installed in the bathrooms, and Kohler sanitary ware will be supplied because of the company’s dedication to eco-friendly manufacturing.
Collective Sales at Park View Mansions
Chip Eng Seng, KSH Holdings, and SingHaiyi purchased Park View Mansions on Yuan Ching Road for $260 million ($1,023 psf ppr) in July 2022, a month after SingHaiyi purchased the Grand Dunman site. The Jurong condo plot has 99-year leasehold and features views of Lakeside Gardens.
Lakeside Apartments in Jurong were bought by Wing Tai Holdings for $273.9 million ($1,250 to 1,260 psf ppr) in May 2022. More info can be found here. The new development at former Lakeside Apartments will be named as The Lakegarden Residences.
Chia estimates that the Chip Eng Seng land price is roughly 20% less on a psf ppr basis. As a result, he hopes to begin work on the new Park View Mansions complex by the end of the year or the first quarter of 2024.
