Good turnout at new DBSS project

AT first glance, you might not have thought an economic slowdown was in the wind, with 1,000 visitors thronging the sale launch of the Housing and Development Board’s latest project at Bishan on Day One.

Natura Loft, a Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) project, features three 40-storey blocks of 160 four-room flats and 320 five-room units.

Describing the response as “enthusiastic”, developer Qingjian Realty’s deputy general manager, Mr Li Jun said: “In fact, online registrations started coming in at 8am ... There are interested buyers who have not even seen the show flat.” .

The crowd was a mix of young couples and families looking to upgrade. IT professional Ashley Yong turned up with fiancee Rebecca Lim. .“We can’t afford a private property, and we like this location,” he said. His parents live in Bishan and the couple expects several Government grants to help them finance their first flat.

“Economic crisis or not, I don’t expect public housing prices to come down by, say, 50 per cent, especially in a prime location like Bishan where resale flat prices will still continue to be high,” added the 32-year-old. .One prospective upgrader was project manager Edmund Lim, 40.

“I am here to compare the differences between a DBSS flat and a private condominium,” said Mr Lim, who lives in a Pasir Ris executive flat with his wife and nine-year-old daughter. .Still, good turn-out aside, by the time the show-flats closed at 6pm on Friday, there were just 80-or-so applications.

So, has the weakening economy dampened the mood of property hunters — especially with Natura Loft units asking prices higher than DBSS flats at Boon Keng and Ang Mo Kio?

In January, more than 1,100 applied for 714 DBSS units at City View@Boon Keng on its first day of launch. In July, 130 applied for 578 DBSS units at Park Central@AMK within the first few hours after having been launched on a Wednesday. .Calling the first-day take-up at Natura Loft “normal”, Mr Li said the company expects a better response this weekend.

From TODAY newspaper 1st November
By Tan Hui Leng

Application for Natura Loft is opened!

The application for Natura Loft is opened from 31st Oct to 15th Nov 2008 and the Showflat open daily from 31st Oct to 15th Nov 10 am-6 pm.

You may accessed the application link via the http://www.cnqc.com.sg/

In the current economic situtaion, it will be interesting to see what is the take up rate for this DBSS project. I will update the data once it it is available on this blog.

Pros and Cons of Natura Loft

Why would you apply for a unit at Natura Loft and why would you not?

PROS

• Near Bishan Park
• Not too far from Bishan MRT (4-5 busstops)
• Bishan is a nice estate
• Near to Junction 8 shopping mall
• Near to some good schools like Catholic High School and Raffles Institution

CONS

• Not too cheap but still a HDB flat
• Hard economic times are coming so the loans are getting tough to service
• Still need to take a feeder service to go to the Bishan MRT
• Near to Bright Hill Temple

Any more?

Who devepled Natura Loft

Qingjian group co., ltd is the holding company of Qingjian Realty PTE LTD.

Qingjian Group Co., Ltd.（formerly as “Qingdao Construction Group Corporation”）was established in 1952, with its scope of business covering project contracting, real estate development, international economic and technological cooperation, property investment, technology research & design, engineering consultancy and property management etc. Its registration capital is 300 million RMB.


Since starting its international business from 1983, Qingjian Group Co., Ltd has now extended its market in more than 30 countries or regions, such as south-east Asia, Middle-east, Africa and Oceania with over 40 domestic and international branches.


Qingjian Group Co., Ltd. owns its advanced management. It has been continuously listed into China’s Top 500 Enterprises for six years. In 2007, the Group was listed in “ENR The top 225 international contractors” and ranked as No.18th among all Chinese contractors in the list. In 2005, it won the “National Quality Management Award” as the third building construction enterprise honored with this prize in china. In recent years, it has also attained over 100 honors and awards at provincial level and above, such as “Excellent National Building Construction Enterprise”, “China Customer Satisfaction Enterprise”.


As one of the National Contract-honoring and Credit-valuing Enterprises, Qingjian Group Co., Ltd keeps good records of credit and reputation. The Group has been honored as “Shandong AAA Enterprise” and “Credit Grade AAA Enterprise” by many banks, such as China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank of China. The Group is one of the first batch of “China Credit Example Enterprise” approved by the Ministry of Commerce of China, and “Credit Grade AAA International Contractor” & “Credit Grade AAA International Labor Cooperation Enterprise” by China International Contractors Association.


Qingjian Group Co., Ltd. owns rich human resources. It has over 20No. “ State Council’s Special Subsidies” experts and “Engineering Technological Application” researchers. Among all the staffs , over 40% are intermediate and senior professional qualification holders and more than 70% have Bachelor degrees or above.


Qingjian Group Co., Ltd enjoys its advanced technology. In 2003, the Group set up its post-doctoral scientific research workstation, which is the first technological center in Construction Enterprise all over Shandong Province. The Group has achieved more than 200No. provincial level or above scientific research results, among which 15No. items have reached internationally advanced level.


In project contracting field, the Group has completed numbers of landmark buildings and significant projects such as the 2008 Olympic Sailing Center, Liuting international Airport, International Conference Center, and National Center for the Performing Arts etc. It has attained 11 No. Lu-Ban Prize and more than 200 No. provincial level (or above) Eengineering Quality Prizes. In real estate development field, the group has developed many commercial and residential project in Qingdao, Jinan, Beijng, Shenyang and Singapore etc. Many of the project have been awarded with “China’s Famous Building”, “China Top Ten Commercial Real Estate Project”, and “National Comfortable Housing Demonstration Project ” .


Qingjian Group Co., Ltd always took its social responsibilities and participated in social commonweal business actively. In 2007, the Group had a turnover of more than 11.1 billion RMB and provided 55,000 work positions for the society.

About Natura Loft

Natura loft located at the Bishan street 24, launch on 31st October 2008.
Showflat open daily from 31st Oct to 15th Nov 10 am-6 pm

A designer built luxurious apartment project featuring 3 towering blocks of 4-room and 5-room DBSS public housing flats with full amenities nearby for modern urban life-style prestige living and yet so close to the tranquility and peace of nature.

Situated at one of the most sought after location in Singapore, surrounded by many of Singapore’s reputed schools and flanked by a lavish array of nature retreats ranging from parks to reservoirs, Natura loft is your ideal choice to fulfill your dreams of enjoying the best of both worlds.



Photo and Text Source : Qingjian Realty Pte Ltd

Natura Loft to be launched on Friday

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.

By Jessica Cheam
Published: October 29 2008,
The Straits Times