After the penultimate effort in 2023 failed to meet the 80% threshold required for its opening at a reserve price of $2.88 billion, the collective sales hopes of owners in the 1,006-unit Mandarin Gardens ended. Of the owners, just 42% approved of the group sale. Elected at the end of 2022, the collective sales committee (CSC) had put great effort into gathering support for the sale. But the property cooling strategies in April 2023 soured owner mood. Foreigners were especially affected since the stamp fee of the extra buyer quadrupled to 60%. On high level with sea views, owners of the smaller units had strongest support for the group sale and lowest among those of the bigger units. That is the biggest challenge to a group sale nowadays: replacement cost, says Mandarin Gardens resident Thomas Ong, a member of the CSC.
Ong, a member of Mandarin Gardens’ management council as well, said it was evident from the annual general meeting (AGM) last September that residents’ ideas had already “pivoted towards renewal and rejuvenation plans.” At the AGM, improvement proposals received overwhelmingly positive reception. Among these were overhauling the water tanks and completing government mandated waterproofing projects. Residents approved $5 million in upgrading projects at last. Before the failed collective sale, Ong claims the MCST struggled to get support for such large-ticket outlays.
On a 1.08 million square foot property, Mandarin Gardens boasts 1,006 condo units spread over 17 blocks ranging in height from nine to twenty-three. There are also eleven stratum commercial units part of the project. Among the facilities are three swimming pools, barbeque pits, a fitness area, a gym, a children’s playground, four tennis courts, a mini-mart, a nursery centre and a restaurant. Built in 1986, the 99-year leasehold condo boasts 61 years left on it. Mandarin Gardens already dates back 38 years. Ong & Associates looks after the property.
Respected Mandarin Gardens resident and management council member Patrick Wong claims that condo upkeep has been continuous. These comprise general repairs and repainting, replacement of circuit breakers and emergency generators. The management council of Mandarin Gardens has gathered comments and ideas on suggested facility and estate enhancements over the last few months. These will be under discussion at the forthcoming AGM next month. Among the most often discussed ideas include improving the function room, adding new bike racks, installing solar panels on rooftops, redesigning the lift interiors, including an outdoor gym for elderly people and bringing in a new restaurant operator. Though the wish list is large, any new amenities or enhancements approved by residents will be gradually introduced.
Working with Charge+, Singapore’s biggest EV (electric vehicle) charging network, the management council is also retrofitting 26 car park locations with EV chargers including two fast chargers. Charge+ would provide the charging stations as a billable service, therefore lessening the capital investment condos like Mandarin Gardens would otherwise have to pay for. Management council member Davey Khoo adds, depending on Land Transport Authority final permission, the EV charging stations would be operational by October.
Rising development and constructing expenses of new condos in recent years have coincided with maintenance expenses rising as well. “Since the end of the Covid pandemic, the costs of maintaining residential developments and estates have spiked due of higher manpower costs,” says Winnie Wong, managing director of property management at Savills Singapore. She points to the Progressive Wage Model (PWM), which the government implemented to enable lower-wage workers—including cleaners, security guards, landscape maintenance staff, and trash managers—have their salaries raised. Higher wages have typically been passed on to consumers in most circumstances.
Condos will surely have to raise service charges shortly given rising maintenance costs and inflationary pressures. Council member Ong of Mandarin Gardens claims that for many years, owners’ monthly service payments for the maintenance and sinking funds at Mandarin Gardens have stayed essentially the same. “The condo is seated on a healthy amount in its sinking fund for non-recurring and larger expenditures,” he explains.
Based on clauses entered as of Aug 20, 12 units have changed hands since the beginning of the year. Prices varied from $1 million ($1,366 psf) for a 732 square foot, one-bedroom apartment on the eighth floor, which sold in February, to $2.85 million ($1,401 psf) for a 2,034 square foot, three-bedroom apartment on the 18th floor in April. The opening of the stations in the fourth phase of the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) in June, comprising stations from Tanjong Rhu to Bayshore, has also motivated some owners to profit from the increased local buying demand. Between two MRT stations on the TEL, Marine Terace and Siglap, Mandarin Gardens lies.
