Kopar at Newton first to open show gallery following URA’s viewing by appointment advisory

Kopar At Newton, Chip Eng Seng’s condominium project off Newton Circus, is the first project to open its sales gallery following the advisory released by Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Controller of Housing (COH) on showflat viewings by appointments.

This makes the 378-unit development the test case on how developers could launch projects at showflats in the coming weeks, reported The Business Times. In its advisory, COH strongly urged developers to offer viewing at sales galleries by appointment to minimise queues.

Developers should also ensure that they adopt safe-distancing measures at sales galleries, in line with the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) advisory on 24 March

These include ensuring that there is no more than one person per 16 sq m of usable space within the sales gallery. This means that a sales gallery with a usable space of 1,600 sq m must only have not more than 100 persons inside the gallery at any one time, which include the developer’s staff, agents, cleaners and prospective buyers/visitors.

Groups within the gallery should also not exceed 10 persons, inclusive of the sales agent. Developers should also comply with relevant health advisories, such as temperature taking.

Moreover, developers are mandated to implement space markings at queues as well as relevant areas within the sales gallery like the place where the project model is displayed, making sure that groups disperse quickly.

Show galleries of earlier-launched projects are also mandated to comply with the advisory

In case of non-compliance with the advisory, a developer may be ordered to close the show gallery until it has complied with the measures.

Developers that intend to open show galleries for public viewing should approach the COH to confirm the measures they will put in place prior to opening the show gallery to the public.

The staff of COH may visit the showflat and check whether the arrangements put in place by the developer comply with the requirements.

“As the situation is evolving rapidly, developers should keep abreast of the latest developments and take immediate steps to comply with any new requirements,” said URA’s spokesman

Chip Eng Seng opened the sales gallery of its Kopar At Newton project on 25 March, on a site adjacent to the actual location of the development.

With entry strictly via appointments, the developer only offers seven slots per day of one-and-a-half hours each. Each slot is limited to not more than 10 groups of up to five persons, inclusive of the property agent. This works out to a maximum of 50 visitors at any time – which is within the 80 people limit based on the usable space of the show gallery.

Michael Ng, Executive Director of CEL Development, revealed that response “has been very positive” with all slots from 25 to 29 March fully taken up.

“It might take us about two weeks to finish our preview before we begin sales,” he added

Kopar At Newton comprises of two 23-storey towers, with units ranging from one- to five-bedroom apartments. The project also offers penthouses.

The wholly-owned unit of Chip Eng Seng Corporation is expected to price the 99-year leasehold project at around $2,350 per sq ft (psf) on average. “Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, we were looking at an average price of $2,500 psf,” said Ng.

Prices begin from $1.09 million for a 517 sq ft one-bedder and $1.35 million for a 614 sq ft two-bedder. The eight penthouses on Level 23, measuring between 1,350 sq ft and 2,900 sq ft, will be offered from $3.5 million to $8.2 million.

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Marketed by OrangeTee & Tie, ERA, PropNex and SRI, Kopar At Newton is within one-km radius of St Joseph’s Institution Junior and Anglo-Chinese School (Junior and Primary).

Meanwhile, Kheng Leong is set to preview its freehold project 15 Holland Hill on Saturday, in accordance with the URA advisory. Viewings at the show gallery of the 59-unit project will be by appointment only, with four groups of not more than 10 individuals per group allowed to enter per hour.

Eugenia Rosaline Shlaen at PropertyGuru edited this story. To contact her e-mail eugenia@propertyguru.com.sg