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The sole bid for a Tampines condominium site overlooking Bedok Reservoir has been shot down for being too low.

Boon Keng Development’s optimistic offer of $84.6 million, or $118 per sq ft (psf), for the site was just not enough, said the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday.

Consultants were not surprised that the bid was rejected.

They had previously said that anything from $150 to $230 psf would have been more reasonable as apartments on the 3.2ha site could sell for up to $700 psf.

According to Knight Frank’s director of research and consultancy, Mr Nicholas Mak: ‘If the Government had accepted it, it would be taken as a signal that it is lowering its reserve price for all other sites.

‘Or (a signal) the Government is of the opinion that the land price has fallen to the same level as that during the 1998 recession.

‘Even then, the last piece of government land sold in 1997 before site tenders were suspended because of the recession was $171 psf for a piece of land at Hougang Street 11.

‘So it was too optimistic to expect the government to award this bid.’

The tender for the 99-year residential site at the junction of Tampines Avenue 1 and 10 was launched on June 17 and closed on Aug 12.

Source : Straits Times - 27 Aug 2008

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has released detailed sales conditions for a reserve site at Short Street for hotel development.

The site, located within the Bras Basah and Bugis district, is one of two new hotel sites scheduled for release for application under the reserve list of the Government Land Sales programme for the second half this year.

Developers interested in purchasing the site can now apply to the URA for it to be put up for tender.

Under the reserve list system, a site on the list would only be put up for tender if a developer’s indicated minimum bid price in his application is acceptable to the government.

The land area of the site is about 0.12 hectare and can generate a maximum permissible gross floor area of 4,077 square metres.

This makes it ideal for boutique hotel development, URA said.

It has a maximum building height of 12 storeys and will be for lease for 99 years.

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 26 Aug 2008

It will build 1,200 DBSS flats at Lor1A Toa Payoh

The Housing and Development Board yesterday awarded a Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) site at Lorong 1A Toa Payoh to a Hoi Hup Realty-led consortium that emerged as the top bidder when the tender for the site closed on Tuesday.

The winning bid of about $198.82 million works out to about $160 per sq ft per plot ratio - the highest of three bids for the 103-year leasehold plot.

The consortium also includes Sunway Developments and Hoi Hup JV Development, whose shareholders include Straits Construction and Hoi Hup Realty.

A Hoi Hup spokeswoman said yesterday the group plans to build about 1,200 HDB flats on the site, of which about a third will be three and four-room flats and the rest five-room flats. ‘We’re looking at launching the project in early second-quarter 2009,’ she said.

The average selling price is expected to be around $500 psf and will depend on whether Hoi Hup succeeds in securing exemption of bay windows and planter boxes from gross floor area calculations.

This will hinge on whether Hoi Hup can submit its formal application for the project to the Urban Redevelopment Authority in time to secure provisional permission before Oct 7.

After that date, bay windows and planter boxes will no longer be exempt from GFA calculations.

‘We’re looking at building a total of five blocks, of which two will be 46 storeys high and with a sky terrace on one of the upper levels (above the 20th floor). The remaining blocks will be 40 storeys high,’ the spokeswoman said.

‘We have to complete the entire project within four years.’

A Hoi Hup-Sunway consortium is also developing another DBSS flat project, called City View @ Boon Keng. This was launched earlier this year at an average price of $520 psf.

More than 80 per cent of the 714 units have been sold so far.

Source : Business Times - 23 Aug 2008

The Housing and Development Board has awarded the tender for a public housing site under Design, Build and Sell Scheme (DBSS) to Ho Hup Realty Pte Ltd, Sunway Developments Pte Ltd and Hoi Hup JV Development Pte Ltd.

Their successful joint bid was S$198,822,000 for the site at Lorong 1A Toa Payoh.

The plot has an area of 27,479.9 square metres and an allowable gross floor area of 115,415.58 square metres.

The site, the sixth to be offered under this scheme to build condominium-like public housing, has a lease term of 103 years.

The next tender for a 1.67-hectare site at Bedok Reservoir Crescent is expected to be launched in the second half of this year. - CNA/vm

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 22 Aug 2008

Only four of eight in-fill sites launched for residential use were eventually sold

The wait-and-see attitude that buyers have adopted in the cooling property market was evident at a Singapore Land Authority (SLA) auction yesterday.

Some 200 individuals and small developers packed a room at M Hotel, but there were only a handful of bidders. Only four of eight in-fill sites launched for residential use were eventually sold, for a total of $13.81 million.

In-fill sites are pockets of state land in established landed housing estates that have been left untouched by nearby development or were once used for public purposes. All eight sites came with fresh 99-year leases.

‘The response today was very cautious,’ said auctioneer and executive director (auctions) at Knight Frank, Mary Sai. SLA conducted a similar auction for six sites last November but sold all the plots then.

Those at yesterday’s auction told BT that opening prices were higher than expected. ‘I think a lot of people were surprised - that’s why there was not much bidding,’ said retiree Anthony Tan Ho Peng.

Mr Tan won the bidding for a 4,720 sq ft three-storey bungalow plot in Glasgow Road for $710,000 or $150.40 per sq ft. Bidding started at $680,000, whereas Mr Tan had expected an opening price of $550,000.

According to SLA, the Chief Valuer decides reserve prices for sites, which cannot be awarded if bids are too low.

The timing of the auction - coinciding with the Hungry Ghost Festival or the seventh month of the lunar calendar - could have affected interest. But Ms Sai reckons this was not the main reason. ‘Market sentiment is still weak,’ she said. And high construction costs could be another concern.

While the auction did not generate heated competition throughout, one parcel received considerable attention. A 15,461 sq ft good class bungalow plot in Ridout Road attracted 34 bids, which drove the opening price of $7.31 million up steadily.

BreadTalk chairman George Quek eventually won the site for $8.96 million or $579.50 psf - the highest psf price of the four sites sold. Mr Quek told reporters that the land will be for his own use.

A three-storey bungalow parcel in Namly Avenue went for $2.63 million or $338.40 psf to Martha Lim. The 31-year-old CEO of Lim Seng Kok Contractor may also keep the 7,771 sq ft site for her own use.

A plot in Tanah Merah Kechil Road was sold for $1.51 million or $346.60 psf.

As for the unsold sites, SLA will work with the Chief Valuer to re-assess their prices. ‘If we lower the reserve price, we could release (the site) subsequently,’ said SLA’s deputy director of land sales, Teo Jing Kok. Alternatively, ‘if the feedback is that maybe the site is not popular and there are other in-fill sites, then we will release other sites’.

According to Mr Teo, SLA could hold one or two land auctions a year if market conditions remain steady.

Source : Business Times - 22 Aug 2008