Natura Loft to be launched on Friday

Source : Straits Times - 29 Oct 2008

QingJian upbeat about condo-style HDB project despite market blues

UNDETERRED by gloomy sentiment in the local financial and private property market, Chinese firm QingJian Realty is launching Singapore’s fourth condo-style public housing project on Friday.

Natura Loft at Bishan, a project under the Housing Board’s Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS), will feature three 40-storey blocks of 160 four-room units and 320 five-roomers.

The four-room units of about 95 sq m each are priced from $465,000 to $586,000 while the five-roomers of 120 sq m will go from $600,000 to $739,000.

That works out to around $450 to $570 per sq ft (psf).

QingJian Realty’s move reflects the relative strength of the HDB market amid a general downturn in the property market here. Managing director Zuo Hai Bin said demand is still strong and resale flat prices are holding.

‘We’re very confident that there’ll be a strong demand for our flats, which are new and attractively priced compared to resale flats in Bishan,’ he added.

Natura Loft is QingJian Realty’s first foray into property development here. The firm is a unit of QingJian Group, formerly known as Qingdao Construction Group Corporation. The China-based builder won the tender in February with a bid of $135.9 million or $237 psf per plot ratio for the Bishan Street 24 site.

QingJian Realty has 15 property and construction units worldwide with real estate developments in Qingdao, Jinan and Beijing. It began operations here nine years ago, starting as a sub-contractor on HDB projects. It then moved to taking on the main contractor role for HDB homes in Sengkang and Punggol and now to being a DBSS developer, said Mr Zuo.

‘We’ve moved step by step in the Singapore market and we see it as an important expansion location in our firm’s overall strategy,’ he added.

The firm is on the look-out for more DBSS sites to develop but considers the private market ‘too risky’ to venture into at the moment, said Mr Zuo.

Flat prices at Natura Loft are a notch higher than HDB’s third DBSS project, Park Central at Ang Mo Kio. This was priced between $400,000 and $500,000 each for four-roomers, and $600,000 and $670,000 for five-roomers.

Mr Zuo said his firm has already revised the Bishan prices down due to the prevailing cautious sentiment. Its prices are competitive, considering Sim Lian’s Clover By The Park condo in Bishan sold for about $750 psf, he added.

Natura Loft is also an eco-friendly project, with bamboo flooring for its bedrooms - a first for public housing - bay windows and energy-saving inverter air-conditioning systems, said architect Tang Too Voon of ADDP Architects.

The homes are also built with universal design, and have amenities such as basement carparks, playgrounds, fitness corners, jogging track and barbecue pits.