First private residential sites in Turf City, former Keppel Golf Course among 7 new state land sites unveiled for sale 

SEVEN new sites are on offer under the government land sales (GLS) programme for residential housing in the first half of 2025, including the first private housing sites at the former Keppel Golf Course and Turf City. All are on the confirmed list.

Market watchers expect high demand for both sites as developers seek to gain a first-mover advantage in the Greater Southern Waterfront and Bukit Timah. 

Wong Xian Yang, Cushman & Wakefield’s research head for Singapore and South-east Asia, said: “Given both sites’ locations, developers would be looking to get a first mover advantage, though they would have to be mindful of potential competition down the road.”

The first private housing site to be built on the former Keppel Golf Course will be at Telok Blangah Road, and its estimated launch date is June 2025. It spans 1.36 hectares (ha), and up to 740 units with a gross plot ratio of 4.7 can be built.

The government previously said the former Keppel Golf Course site will yield about 9,000 new homes, including about 6,000 public housing units. 

Setting a benchmark

Nicholas Mak, chief research officer of Mogul.sg, said: “Although it is not the choicest site within the grounds of the former Keppel Club as it is located next to the busy West Coast Highway and flyover, the price of this site derived from the GLS tender will set the benchmark land value for other GLS sites and land for future HDB flats to be built on the former Keppel Club land.” 

The Dunearn Road site, which will be the first private residential site in Bukit Timah Turf City, will be able to house about 370 units. It is expected to be launched in April 2025.

Marcus Chu, ERA Singapore’s chief executive officer, said: “Future residents of this site will be served by the existing Sixth Avenue Downtown Line station and an upcoming Cross Island Line station. It is likely that the pricing and future development of the project will be that of a premium development, marketed for existing residents in the surrounding landed estates.” 

Another new site announced on Friday which market watchers expect will be highly contested is a mixed-use site at Hougang Central which will be integrated with a bus interchange. The site is expected to be launched in May 2025. 

Leonard Tay, Knight Frank Singapore’s head of research, said: “With 835 possible new private homes in this development, the mall will enjoy a consistent catchment of shopper traffic, while residents in this future project will benefit from immediate access to two MRT lines as well as shops and services at the mall. 

“As such, notwithstanding the size and the substantial land price, this site will likely be highly sought after by developers during the tender and homebuyers when the residential units are launched for sale.” 

A mixed-use site in Tampines Street 94 drew six bids in September, in the strongest turnout the GLS tender has seen this year. The top bid, placed by a Hoi Hup Realty-Sunway Developments joint venture came in at S$668.3 million or S$1,004 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr). 

Next year, developers will also be able to bid for a 1.45 ha Chuan Grove site which can be built into 505 residential apartments, a 1.05 ha Dorset Road site that can house up to 430 units, and a 1.39 ha Lakeside Drive site which is expected to offer 575 units and 1,000 sq m gross floor area of retail space.

Cushman’s Wong expects the Lakeside Drive site to be well received by developers, owing to its strong locational attributes and proximity to Jurong Lake District. 

He said: “Recent new launches in the area have seen encouraging performances though it varies across projects. J’Den, which is located a stone’s throw away from the Jurong East MRT interchange is more than 90 per cent sold, with a median transacted sale price of S$2,482 psf.”

Sole new EC site

A 1.9 ha site along Sembawang Road, the only new executive condominium (EC) site announced on Friday, is expected to be available for tender in May 2025.

The site will allow for an estimated 265 units. 

The Sembawang site is one of three EC sites on the H1 2025 confirmed list. The other two sites, located at Senja Close and Woodlands Drive 17, have been moved up from the H2 2024 reserve list. 

While the Sembawang plot is a good distance away from the nearest MRT station in Canberra, ERA’s Chu said he expects to see a fair degree of interest from developers for this site, given the tight EC supply in the area.

The Chuan Grove site could be of interest to developers looking to bundle it with the plot next to it, which is currently open for tender until Jul 8, 2025.

Tricia Song, CBRE’s head of research for South-east Asia, said: “Developers can amalgamate the two sites to build a mega project which is popular, evidenced from the success of the nearby Chuan Park launch which sold 76 per cent of its 916 units (over) its November launch weekend at an average price of S$2,579 psf.”