Punggol Central site receives seven bids

The tender for a land parcel located at Punggol Central / Punggol Walk closed yesterday, drawing a total of seven bids.

The 29,999.3 sq m site, which was launched for sale on 30 November 2010, is proposed for a mixed commercial and residential development with a potential yield of 685 units. The site has a lease term of 99 years and a maximum gross floor area (GFA) of 125,997 sq m.

The highest bid came from a joint bid between Emerald Star and FC Retail Trustee at S$1.02 billion, followed by a joint bid between Punggol Retail Development and Qingdao Construction (Singapore), which offered S$849.7 million.

A joint bid between Keppel Land Realty and K-Commercial Management offered the third highest bid at S$786 million.

Other bidders include Jewel Residential (1) and Jewel Trustee, Earth Holdings and UED Capital Venture, Fica Nominees and First Capital Holdings and Mezzo Development, which offered the lowest bid of S$250 million.

Analysts said that the highest bid was bullish. “It's an optimistic bid leveraging on longer-term prospects in a growing new town,” said Ong Teck Hui, Executive Director at Credo Real Estate.

The site has several unique selling points, said analysts. Situated next to Punggol MRT Station, it will become the first mixed development to be built by private property developers in the estate.