MCL Land JVs top bids for Clementi, Pine Grove plots at URA tender

SEPARATE joint ventures (JVs) involving MCL Land emerged as the highest bidders for two of the three 99-year leasehold private housing sites on offer at a state land tender that closed on Tuesday (Nov 7).

The two sites are at Clementi Avenue 1 and Pine Grove (Parcel B).

For the third site at Lorong 1 Toa Payoh, a consortium comprising City Developments Ltd (CDL), Frasers Property and Sekisui House was the highest bidder. It offered S$968 million or S$1,360 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr). The plot drew two other bids, one from a unit of CapitaLand Development and the other from a consortium that included GuocoLand.

The Toa Payoh site can yield an estimated 775 private housing units.

For Pine Grove (Parcel B), MCL Land teamed up with Sinar Mas Land to place the top bid of nearly S$692.4 million. This reflects S$1,223.30 psf ppr. The second-highest bid, from a JV between UOL Group and Singapore Land, came in at S$988.50 psf ppr. The third and lowest bid, from a Wing Tai unit, was nearly S$834 psf ppr.

A housing unit cap of 565 units has been set for the Pine Grove plot to manage traffic in the area.

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The Clementi Avenue 1 site drew six bids.

The highest, from a JV between MCL Land and CSC Land Group (Singapore), was nearly S$633.45 million, or S$1,250 psf ppr. The second-highest bid for this parcel, from the tie-up betweeen CDL, Frasers Property and Sekisui, was S$1,201.55 psf ppr.

The lowest bid, at S$885.40 psf ppr, was from a tie-up between Hoi Hup Realty and Sunway Developments.

To manage traffic in the area, a 501-housing unit cap has been set for the site.

The tender bids were broadly in line with the expectations of property consultants polled by The Business Times on Monday. However, the S$1,360 psf ppr top bid for the Toa Payoh site, which was about 18 per cent more than the next highest bid, exceeded the top end of consultants’ expectations.

For Pine Grove Parcel B, the top bid was about 23.8 per cent more than the next highest bid.

However, the S$1,223 psf ppr that the MCL Land-Sinar Mas Land tie-up offered is about 7 per cent below the price paid by UOL Group and Singapore Land for the next-door Parcel A at a June 2022 tender closing. That plot is now being developed into Pinetree Hill.

The winning margin for the bid by the CSC Land-MCL Land JV for the Clementi plot was smaller, at 4 per cent.

Knight Frank Singapore research head Leonard Tay said that the Clementi plot garnered the most bids at the latest state land tender, perhaps because it is the smallest in terms of gross floor area, and had the smallest land cost outlay of the three plots.

He noted that while the latest state land tender saw a lower participation rate than some of the tenders of 2022, “developers were willing to place bullish bids in order to secure the top position”.

“It remains clear that developers continue to believe in the Singapore private residential story, where household affluence continues to drive the housing aspirations of Singaporeans, in spite of the uncertain economic outlook,” Tay added.

Giving her take on Tuesday’s state land tender, Tricia Song, CBRE’s head of research for Singapore and South-east Asia, said: “The bid prices signal largely cautious optimism for the private residential market, with largely stable end-selling prices, while selected undersupplied markets like Toa Payoh could still see some upside in the future.”

Upward price momentum

Mogul.sg chief research officer Nicholas Mak estimated the future launch prices of the residential projects that would be developed on each of the land parcels could start from S$2,300 psf for the project at Pine Grove (Parcel B), to as high as $2,550 psf for the project in Lorong 1 Toa Payoh.

These three projects could be launched for sale in late 2024 to the first half of 2025, he said. “Based on the land prices in the Government Land Sales tenders that closed on Tuesday, the prices of the future mass-market condominium projects in the primary market could be about 10 per cent to 15 per cent higher than those launched in 2023.”

Robert Garman, chief executive officer of MCL Land, noted: “We are very pleased to (have emerged as the highest bidder) for the Clementi and Pine Grove sites alongside our joint venture partners. In carrying out our due diligence throughout the bidding process, we identified significant value in both sites – value that we look forward to realising as we continue to develop projects that appeal to the Singapore community.”

CDL group CEO Sherman Kwek said that the last state land tender for a private housing site in Toa Payoh was in 2015.

“Considering the limited new home supply in the vicinity, our development will offer homeowners an attractive opportunity to reside in a mature town with excellent connectivity and plentiful amenities.”

Soon Su Lin, CEO of Frasers Property Singapore, said: “Together with our reputable partners, we look forward to this rare opportunity of delivering an iconic residential development in the highly established and popular estate of Toa Payoh.”