Little India conservation cluster bags 7 bids, topped by YK Land’s S$35.3 million offer at S$962 psf

[SINGAPORE] YK Land has topped seven bids for a cluster of 18 conserved pre-war buildings in Little India, with its S$35.3 million bid at S$962 per square foot (psf) of site area.

The site, in Chitty Road and Veerasamy Road, was offered by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) in a government land sales (GLS) tender.

It is unusual in that it requires the buyer to restore the standing structures rather than redevelop a cleared site. The buildings are to be adapted for residential or long-stay serviced apartment use (SA2).

The URA has noted that the site can yield 36 SA2 units, or 18 strata landed houses.

The tender closed on Tuesday (Jul 28) with provisional results that were in line with market expectations. Analysts polled by The Business Times on Monday had forecast three to 10 bids for the site.

The second-highest offer, of S$23.8 million, or about S$650 psf, came from Conint and SEEDoE Ventures. 

The other bids were as follows: RPC One with S$23.7 million or S$646 psf, Mezzo Properties with S$16.4 million or S$447 psf, Haus @ Central with S$15.6 million or S$424 psf, Westwood Hostel with S$12 million or S$327 psf, and Bogen Venture with S$10.6 million or S$289 psf.

The site is on a 99-year lease and zoned for residential use. Works must follow conservation guidelines, and the buyer takes on the restoration and structural strengthening.

The 18 two-storey terrace houses were built in 1927 and sit on a 3,407 square metre, or about 0.34 hectare, site in the historic district.

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Originally erected as municipal quarters for government employees, they are arranged in two parallel rows connected by a central back lane. Jalan Besar and Rochor MRT stations are within walking distance.

The maximum building height is capped at the existing two storeys, and the gross floor area will be set by the existing building envelope after restoration. Structural investigation reports would be provided to tenderers to help them gauge the works required, URA said.

One permitted use taps a relatively new housing class. SA2 is a pilot format that the URA introduced in December 2023 for stays of at least three months. They sit between hotels and conventional leases, and cannot be strata-subdivided.

The tender is part of a wider government effort to repurpose vacant or ageing state properties for housing, and to shape Little India into a mixed-use precinct.

The last SA2 tender decision was in October 2024, when URA declined to award the Media Circle site after deeming the sole bid from a Frasers Property-led consortium too low. The 60-year leasehold site was the first GLS parcel designated solely for SA2.