Tan Quee Lan site underwhelms with two bids, one-north Gateway site secures nine bids

THREE Government Land Sale (GLS) tenders closed on Thursday, with a 99-year leasehold site at Tan Quee Lan Street securing only two bids while the site at one-north Gateway brought in nine bids. The third 99-year leasehold land parcel at Bernam Street in the Tanjong Pagar area drew four bids.

The top bid for the Tan Quee Lan St site of S$800.19 million (S$1,535 per square foot per plot ratio) came from GuocoLand, Hong Leong Group and Hong Leong Investment Holdings. The second bid of S$768 million (S$1,473 psf ppr) was from Maximus Residential Sg and Maximus Commercial Sg (a tie up between City Developments Limited and MCL Land).

At S$440.9 million (S$1,463 psf ppr), the highest bid for the Bernam St site came from Hao Yuan-linked HY Realty. MCL Land's Vesta Sg Residences and Vesta Sg Comm put in the second highest bid of S$405.08 million (S$1,344 psf ppr) and Boo Han Holdings' Laguna Garden and Far East Commercial Trustee slipped in the third highest bid of S$373.33 million (S$1,239 psf ppr). Meanwhile, the leading bid for the one-north Gateway site of S$155.74 million (S$1,001 psf ppr) came from TID Residential, while Kheng Leong's Peak Vista submitted the second highest bid of S$153.55 million (S$987 psf ppr) and Laguna Garden had the third highest bid of S$151.78 million (S$976 psf ppr).

Tricia Song, head of research (Singapore) for Colliers International, said: "We believe the lukewarm response to the Tan Quee Lan Street and Bernam Street sites potentially reflects developers' concerns over the macroeconomic headwinds and weaker economic outlook ahead."

"Comparing the tender results of the three sites, it appears that the smaller the capital requirement, the higher the number of bidders," said Nicholas Mak, head of research and consultancy for ERA Realty. "In addition, developers are also drawn to locations where there is very little competition."