All locations were put out to bid in December as part of the GLS 2H2022 initiative
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Three government-owned land sales (GLS) sites – a site located at Marina Gardens Lane, a mixed-use site located at Tampines Avenue 11, and an executive condominium (EC) site at Plantation Close in Tengah closing on June 27. The three sites were open to tender in December of last year in the GLS 2H2022 program.
The auction for the site located at Marina Gardens Lane drew four bids. A consortium comprised from Kingsford Huray Development (a unit of the Chinese developer Kingsford Group), Obsidian Development and Polarix Cultural & Science Park Investment offered the highest price of $1.034 billion, which is an average land value of $1,402 per square foot for each plot ratio (psf ppr).
This consortium’s proposal was% more than the second-highest bid submitted by an alliance between GuocoLand together with Hong Leong Group. The joint venture partners made an offer that was $727.04 million, which is $985 psf per person per day. “The huge variance in bids is a reflection of the difficulty in determining fair values for a city-fringe site in a relatively unknown zone,” remarks Lee Sze Teck who is the director of research for Huttons Asia.
A 99-year leasehold site located at Marina Gardens Lane, measuring approximately 131,805 square feet which is zoned residential and commercial at the first storey. It is estimated to yield 790 residential units, and 8,073 square feet of commercial space. It has a the maximum GFA (GFA) of around 738,114 square feet.
“The Marina Gardens Lane site will be the first seafront residential development that includes Singapore’s iconic Marina Bay Sands and Gardens by the Bay as neighbors,” says a spokesperson for Kingsford. “The development will give homebuyers uninterrupted sea views as well as an advantage of first-movers within this area of the Marina South precinct,” the company adds.
It is the site was the very first parcel of land within the Marina South precinct to be offered for auction. It’s located next to the white site located at Marina Gardens Crescent which can produce approximately 775 housing units, and 64,583 sq feet of space for commercial use. The site is set to open in the month of April, according to URA’s website.
Eugene Lim, key executive officer of ERA Realty Network, highlights that the offer from the consortium headed by Kingsford is greater than the $1,379 per sq ft ppr that was paid to IOI Properties for the Marina View GLS site and was granted in September 2021. ” This indicates that developers believe that condo prices in the region] to continue to rise in the near future,” he adds.
With the huge amount needed to build this site, Justin Quek, the deputy CEO at OrangeTee & Tie, views the four bids that were received as a good quantity. “Developers might have been interested in being the first to move in the new area, because the supply in the Marina South precinct remains low for the moment,” he comments.
Furthermore it is noteworthy that this site also is the one within this area Marina South precinct which has direct access to the Marina South MRT Station. “The new development, which is an integrated development that is linked to the MRT it will be a great appeal to both investors and owners,” says ERA’s Lim. The location of the site, which is adjacent to Gardens by the Bay will appeal to potential buyers, he claims.
If the site be granted with the highest bid of $1,402 per square foot per the prices for housing units in the future development could start at $2,450 per sq ft, then move upwards to about $2,600 psf and $2,700 per sq ft, according to Leonard Tay, Knight Frank Singapore’s director of research. “Currently, Downtown Core condominium units are priced around $2,700 per sq ft and up to $3000 per sq ft for the most desirable condos,” he says.