Preview of Marina Bay Suites next week

AFTER an almost two-year wait, Marina Bay Suites will finally be previewed next Wednesday to VVIPs and invited buyers, BT understands.

Pricing for the preview has not been finalised, but some market watchers suggest it could be a shade below $2,500 per sq ft on average. Others tip the average price at about $2,300 psf. No interest absorption scheme will be offered.

Early last year – when the 99-year leasehold project was expected to be released – the average price was tipped at about $2,800 psf.

The 66-storey condo block has 221 units, comprising 218 three- or four-room apartments and three penthouses.

Three-bedders range from about 1,570 to 1,620 sq ft; four-bedders will be 2,050 to almost 2,700 sq ft. The penthouses include two duplex units of about 4,700 and 8,100 sq ft and a single-level unit of around 5,600 sq ft.

Marina Bay Suites was due to be released early last year, but steadily worsening market conditions that culminated in the global financial slump meant the project could not be released in 2008. In March this year, Keppel Land – which is part of the consortium developing the condo – confirmed the project’s construction was deferred.

The other members of the consortium are Hongkong Land and Cheung Kong Holdings/ Hutchison Whampoa. Marina Bay Suites will be the second residential project on the Business and Financial Centre site, which the consortium bagged in a Singapore Government tender in 2005.

The first residential project – the 428-unit Marina Bay Residences (MBR) – sold out in three days in December 2006. The 55-storey development achieved an average price in the region of $1,850 psf, according to a statement by the developer at the time.

Many buyers flipped their units – in some cases within days of their purchase – for handsome gains as high as $1 million or even more for four-bedroom units that face Marina Bay.

MBR has one and two-bedroom units in addition to three and four-bedders. The project, along with the neighbouring completed development, The Sail @ Marina Bay, continues to make news in the secondary market. Sources say a 900 sq ft bay-front unit on the 50th floor at The Sail sold recently for about $3,000 psf, while a 30-odd storey four-bedder at MBR facing the bay fetched just above $2,700 psf.

Marina Bay Suites’ preview will be held on the mezzanine level of One Raffles Quay.

Source: Business Times, 21 Nov 2009