Aerial view of the land parcel at Middle Road. Source: URA
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) launched two confirmed list sites and another two reserve list plots for sale last Friday (30 Nov) under the second half 2018 Government Land Sales (GLS) programme.
Overall, these four sites can yield a total of about 1,915 homes. But the most attractive sites are the 80,327.83 sq ft confirmed list site at Middle Road and the 124,117.57 sq ft reserve list plot along Tan Quee Lan Street, property experts told the Business Times.
With a maximum gross floor area (GFA) of 337,384 sq ft, the first site is zoned residential with commercial at the ground floor that can generate about 375 homes. While the second site carries the same zoning, it has a larger GFA of 521,296 sq ft and can yield some 580 apartments.
“(Both sites are) sandwiched between the Bugis planning area, which is bustling with retail amenities and tourist attractions, and the City Hall-Suntec City locality which is one of the business district precincts,” said ZACD Group’s executive director Nicholas Mak.
Colliers International’s Singapore research head Tricia Song pointed out that the Tan Quee Lan Street site could receive a higher top bid of $780 million ($1,500 psf ppr) as it’s just the above Bugis MRT interchange.
She added that the nearby DUO Residences has already sold 655 of its 660 units since it was launched in 2013 at an average selling price of $2,036 psf.
As for Mak, he reckons the site will draw bids ranging from $1,350 to $1,550 psf ppr, while the nearby Middle Road plot could receive slightly lower offers of $1,300 to $1,500 psf ppr.
Both land parcels are expected to be strongly contested by developers as these are located within Singapore’s Central Region. Hence, they are exempt from the higher average unit size of 85 sq m (approx. 915 sq ft) or 100 sq m (approx. 1,076 sq ft).
Meanwhile, analysts expect softer demand for the remaining confirmed list plot – a 174,646.6 sq ft site at Sims Drive with a GFA of 523,944 sq ft.
“Given the fact that this subject site at Sims Drive is further from the MRT station and near the PIE expressway which means it would be affected by traffic noise, this site would be priced less competitively,” Mak noted.
As for the a 168,597.28 sq ft reserve list site at Dairy Farm Walk with a GFA of 354,057 sq ft, experts think that it’s unlikely to be triggered for sale in the near future.
The tender exercise for the two confirmed list sites will close on 28 March 2019, while the reserve list plots will only be released for sale if a developer commits to submit a bid price that is acceptable to the government.
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Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
