A 99-year leasehold site at Bendemeer Road / Whampoa East drew a higher-than-expected top bid of S$543 million from United Engineers (UE).
This works out to around S$774 psf on a gross floor area (GFA) of 65,163.7 sq m.
Li Hiaw Ho, Executive Director of CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) Research, expects “units in this new project to be launched at around S$1,350 — 1,400 psf.”
The tender for the site attracted a total of eight bids, with the second-highest bid coming from Sherwood Development Ltd at S$482.2 million. This was followed by a joint bid between Sunmaster Holdings Ltd and Intrepid Investments Ltd at S$475.2 million.
Other bidders include a tie-up bid from F.E. Lakeside Ltd, FCL Topaz Ltd and Best Desire Investments another joint bid between Hoi Hup Realty Ltd, Sunway Developments Ltd and Investment Focus Ltd and bids from Qingdao Construction (Singapore), as well as Allgreen Properties, which emerged lowest bidder at S$363.9 million.
Located at the junction of Bendemeer Road and Whampoa East, the land site was launched for sale on 22 February under the confirmed list of the 1H2011 Government Land Sales (GLS) programme. The site has a total area of 18,618 sq m and is proposed for condominium housing development that can yield up to 780 units.
A spokesman from UE said the company plans to develop a 700-unit inner-city waterfront condo comprising one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom units, as well as loft and penthouse units.
“The development on the site will command panoramic views of the city skyline, as well as overlook the entire Kallang River and Basin,” he said.
“The site has a land area of 200,402 sq ft and we believe (it) is one of the very few large private residential sites in the city or city fringe that is ideal for waterfront lifestyle condominium living. The shopping, financial and commercial districts of Orchard Road, Shenton Way and Marina South are a few minutes away by car, bus or MRT.”
Mr. Li also said, “We observe that recent state land tenders for 99-year condo sites have attracted fewer than 10 bids each.”
“This is probably because bidders are aware that 12 more residential sites on the confirmed list and more from the reserve list if they are triggered will be supplied by the government by June 2011,” he added.
The Housing Development Board (HDB) said it will still evaluate the tender result and announce the awarding of the site at a later date.