Map showing the location of the white site. Source: URA
The tender for a 1.1ha white site at Central Boulevard in Marina Bay closed on Tuesday (8 November) after attracting seven bids, said the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
This is more than the two to three bids received for the adjacent Asia Square Tower 1 and 2 sites when the tenders closed in 2007, and is also slightly less than the nine received for the nearby Marina Bay Financial Centre site in 2005, noted Tay Huey Ying, Research Head at JLL Singapore.
The top bid of $2.6 billion was submitted by Wealthy Link, a unit of Malaysian developer IOI Properties Group, which works out to about $1,689 psf per plot ratio. This was followed by an offer of $2.2 billion from Mapletree Investments. The lowest bid of $1.9 billion came from a consortium comprising OUE Limited, Guangzhou R&F Properties and Tang City Properties.
“The highest bidder has a 16 percent winning margin against the second highest bidder, which reflects their confidence in Singapore’s office market,” said Desmond Sim, Head of CBRE Research in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
Moray Armstrong, Managing Director of Advisory and Transaction at CBRE, said: “This is the highest bid recorded for a white site in the Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme, beating the last record set by the sale of the white site on which Asia Square Tower 1 sits, at $1,409 psf set almost 10 years ago.”
Launched for sale on 30 August, the 99-year leasehold site located opposite Lau Pa Sat food centre has a maximum gross floor area (GFA) of 141,294 sq m. It was originally on the GLS reserve list, but the URA had accepted a successful application for the site to be put up for sale.
“Based on the highest bid price submitted, the developer is likely to be looking at a full office development, and the breakeven for the development would be in the range of $3,000 to $3,100 psf,” said Tay.
However, Sim believes the winning bidder may also incorporate residential units into the new development to help improve their cash flows.
A decision on the award of the tender will be made after the bids have been evaluated, said the URA.
Aerial view of the white site at Central Boulevard. Source: URA
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
