It is quite startling to see just how much has changed in the past few years along Commonwealth Avenue. The whole stretch after Queenstown Secondary School has drastically morphed from the low-rise hawker centre, pool/ex-movie theatre, and old HDB blocks – to new sky-high BTO blocks, and gleaming condos like Commonwealth Towers and Queens Peak. Margaret Ville was the second last development to be launched (after Commonwealth Towers and Queens Peak but just a month or so before Stirling Residences). It drew bullish bids from 14 developers back then, which was finally won by MCL Land with a winning offer of $238.39 million, or $997.85 per sq ft per plot ratio (PSF PPR). And clearly, because it was launched later, it had a higher land cost than both Commonwealth Towers (which cost $883 psf ppr), and Queens Peak (which cost $871 psf ppr). As for Stirling Residences, it was the last to be acquired, and that was done at a stunning $1.03 billion bid ($1,051 psf ppr)....