Sim Lian, which offered the highest bid for a 99-year leasehold private housing plot located near Punggol MRT Station, plans to develop a 16-storey condominium on the 2.75 hectare site.
The site can be developed into a condo with around 810 units, and includes Matilda House, the only remaining historic bungalow in the area.
Sim Lian plans to restore the bungalow, which is gazetted as a conservation building, for use as a clubhouse in the planned condo.
Ong Teck Hui, executive director at Credo Real Estate, said the top bid of $406 psf ppr is significantly higher than the winning bids of $320 psf ppr to $345 psf ppr for 99-year private housing sites offered at previous state tenders.
“This is due to the Punggol site’s superior attributes, including proximity to an MRT station, and not necessarily indicative of higher bidding trends,” added Mr. Ong.
When the Punggol site was launched in late October, Mr. Ong had estimated top bids of about $400 psf ppr to $450 psf ppr. Thus, the $406 psf ppr top bid was at the lower end of the range.
“If it had not been for the August 30 property cooling measures coupled with the substantial Government Land Sales Programme for H12011 announced recently, the top bid at today’s tender would have been even higher,” he said.
Diana Kuik, executive director for Sim Lian Group, agreed. “Developers are becoming cautiously optimistic even for sites that are well located near MRT stations,” said Ms. Kuik.
Sim Lian’s proposed development will have around 800-odd units consisting of two to four-bedroom apartments, as well as penthouses. The group will still fine-tune its plans and is not ruling out having some one-bedder units.
“We expect to launch the project by Q4 2011,” said Ms. Kuik.