Building on its success

Source : Today – 9 Jul 2009

SPURRED by the success of recent property launches at the upper end of the middle-class market, GuocoLand Ltd, the Singapore-listed arm of Malaysian tycoon Quek Leng Chan, will soon start marketing its Sophia Residence project on – where else? – Sophia Road.

Sophia Residence

The 272-unit project comprises several blocks of between eight and 14 storeys nestled in landscaped surroundings on a 166,000 sq ft freehold site, which was bought in September 2007 for some $230 million.

It is one of only three residential developments to have won the 2009 BCA Green Mark Platinum Award, the highest accolade for green buildings here.

Units will range from 610 sq ft studios to four-bedroom apartments of up to 2,960 sq ft, and will cost $1,500 to $2,000 per sq ft, depending on the view and floor.

The condominium, scheduled for completion in three years, is designed to be energy- and water-efficient, said investor relations and corporate communications head Chan Kong Leong. He expects investors to take to the well-located project – it is close to the Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station and Orchard Road.

All 272 units will be on sale at the launch – with the exception of 21 penthouses.

GuocoLand is also holding back the launch of its Goodwood Residence in Bukit Timah Road to wait for the “impending upturn” in the higher end of the property market.

Among the main features of Sophia Residence is a 200m-long landscaped roof garden, solar panels and a smart water management and harvesting system.

Earlier in the year, GuocoLand relaunched the remaining 182 units in The Quartz in Buangkok and the complex is now almost fully sold, it said.