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GuocoLand bids S$595.1m for River Valley site

SINGAPORE — A plum housing site in River Valley has attracted strong interest from developers, with a GuocoLand unit submitting the top bid of S$595.1 million, Urban Redevelopment Authority data showed after the close of tender yesterday.

SINGAPORE — A plum housing site in River Valley has attracted strong interest from developers, with a GuocoLand unit submitting the top bid of S$595.1 million, Urban Redevelopment Authority data showed after the close of tender yesterday.

The 99-year leasehold site, launched on April 28 from the Confirmed List of the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme for the first half of this year, sits on about 171,535sqft and has a plot ratio of 2.8. That gives it a maximum permissible gross floor area of 480,307sqft that can yield an estimated 450 housing units. The top bid from GuocoLand subsidiary First Bedok Land, which beat 12 others, translates to S$1,239 psf per plot ratio.

Mr Nicholas Mak, head of research and consultancy at SLP International Property Consultants, said: “A total of 13 bids were submitted, which reflected a robust level of participation from the developers … The top bid for the subject site was the highest among all the submitted bids for the GLS sites since 2009, excluding the land parcels sold at Sentosa Cove. Many developers who are interested in this site are aware of the potential fierce competition in this tender. In order to have a fair chance to win in this tender, the bid must be bullish.”

Among comparable residential GLS tenders, Hoi Hup paid S$1,157 psf for the site of its 493-unit Sophia Hills development at Mount Sophia, while Keppel Land paid S$1,163 psf for the site of its 500-unit Highline Residences project at Kim Tian Road/Tiong Bahru Road, with both deals done in 2013, SLP International and URA data showed.

The River Valley land parcel, at the junction of River Valley Close and Martin Place, is located within a well-established residential area with condominiums such as Martin Place Residences, Rivergate and Martin 38, said URA. Just minutes away from the future Great World MRT station, it is also well-served by major arterial roads and the Central Expressway for accessibility to other parts of Singapore.

Mr Mak estimated breakeven prices for the residential space in the new condominium to be developed on this site to range from S$1,850 psf to S$1,910 psf.

“The developer would have to launch the new condominium at about S$2,100 psf. It is possible that the top bidder expected the Government to relax some of the cooling measures by the time this project is ready for launch,” he said.

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