80 units sold at preview of The Greenwich

Source : Straits Times – 4 Aug 2010

THE Greenwich condominium caused a rare traffic jam in the quiet Seletar Hills estate on Monday when potential buyers flocked to its showflat to get the first bite of the cherry in a special preview.

Developer Far East Organization said yesterday that it has sold 80 out of 96 units released at the 319-unit The Greenwich on Monday. The showflat closed at 2am the following morning, in order to cope with the demand.

Prices ranged from $650,000 to $1.25 million, with the price per sq ft (psf) at $980 on average. The psf price is a record for the area, said Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak.

‘The buyers are those who really like this corner of Singapore,’ he said.

Singaporeans accounted for almost all of the buyers at the preview, Far East said in a statement yesterday. Most are from the Seletar estate area, it added.

More than 80 per cent of the one- and two-bedroom units released were snapped up, and all 10 of the three-bedroom units released were sold, it said.

The Greenwich, at the junction of Seletar and Yio Chu Kang roads, has residential units and retail shops. Of the 319 residential units, 160 are one-bedroom units that Far East describes as Soho-type (small office, home office) units.

Ranging in size from 603 sq ft to 721 sq ft, they offer users the flexibility to combine an efficient work environment with the comfort and privacy of a home, Far East said. It has since sold 32 out of 40 such units released in the preview. The two- to three-bedroom units go up to 1,485 sq ft in size.

The retail shops will be in a 45,000 sq ft two-storey mall called Greenwich V, which is close to 60 per cent committed.

Far East’s executive director and chief operating officer of property sales, Mr Chia Boon Kuah, said The Greenwich is ‘quite unlike the typical suburban condominium’.

‘It differentiates itself as a new ‘trans-urban’ development, set to transform the suburban enclave into a vibrant live-work-and-play urban environment,’ he said.

Recently, another new 99-year leasehold project, The Scala near Lorong Chuan MRT station, also attracted hordes of eager buyers.

It has since sold 90 per cent of the 468 units, said developer Hong Leong Holdings yesterday. The Scala was priced at $1,150 psf on average.