No bids received for private housing site in one-north at URA tender
Lacklustre sales this month for nearby project, US tariffs conundrum and site’s location are among factors cited by analysts
[SINGAPORE] For the second time in about a year, no bids were received for a site at an Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) tender.
Analysts cited site-specific factors, as well as the cautious mood building up in Singapore’s economy following the US tariff announcements, for the no-show at the tender on Tuesday (Apr 29) for a 99-year leasehold private residential site in the Mediapolis area of the one-north precinct.
Media Circle (Parcel B), zoned residential with commercial at first storey, can yield about 500 private homes. The commercial component is capped at 4,306 square feet gross floor area.
This is the first government land sales (GLS) site tender closing since the US announced import tariff hikes, noted Tricia Song, CBRE’s head of research for Singapore and South-east Asia.
Analysts polled by The Business Times had predicted zero to four bids for the site, with the highest bid projected to be in the S$925 to S$1,150 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) range. The plot is not near an MRT station nor amenities such as schools, large retail malls, hawker centres and coffee shops that would appeal to local owner-occupier buyers of private homes, said Song.
“There is also a lack of HDB upgraders in the locality,” she pointed out.
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Developers were likely also discouraged by the lacklustre launch performance this month at the nearby Bloomsbury Residences project, with 90 units, or 25 per cent of the total 358 units, sold at an average price of S$2,474 psf. “(This contrasts) with an average sell-through rate of 58 per cent for major launches since September 2024 when interest rate cuts first started,” Song noted.
Bloomsbury Residences is being developed by a consortium led by Qingjian Realty and Forsea Residence (a unit of China Communications Construction Company). The tie-up paid about S$1,191 psf ppr for the site at a state tender in early 2024 which drew three bids.
Supply in area
Besides the unsold units at Bloomsbury Residences, a further source of supply in the locale will be an estimated 325 private housing units expected from the development of Media Circle (Parcel A), awarded in March to another Qingjian-Forsea-led partnership, which bid S$1,036.64 psf ppr for the site. That tender also drew three bids.
Further supply could be on the way in the Media Circle area.
A long-stay serviced apartment site that was not awarded last year is now on the reserve list of the current first-half 2025 GLS programme. The site may be triggered for sale or it could feature in future GLS programmes, with or without the long-stay serviced apartment requirements, potentially adding even more homes in this location, said OrangeTee & Tie chief executive officer Justin Quek.
Many property consultants also attributed the absence of bids for Media Circle (Parcel B) to developers’ strategy of keeping some powder dry to bid for more choice sites on the confirmed list of the H1 2025 GLS programme.
“These include plots in new housing precincts in Bukit Timah Turf City and the former Keppel Golf Course site – in Dunearn Road and Telok Blangah Road, respectively – plots in Chuan Grove, Lakeside Drive, and a mixed-use site in Hougang Central, all of which are close to an MRT station,” said Wong Siew Ying, PropNex head of research and content.
Mogul.sg chief research officer Nicholas Mak noted that developers will be more selective and cautious with land acquisition. “They are recalibrating their strategy in light of expected slower Singapore economic growth and greater uncertainty on the back of trade tensions sparked by higher tariffs imposed by the US.”
The last time there were no takers for a site at a URA tender was in June 2024, for Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A), which included a mandatory long-stay serviced apartment component.
The plot is now on the confirmed list of the H1 2025 GLS programme; however, serviced apartment or long-stay serviced apartment use is not mandated, but can be allowed subject to approval from technical agencies.
(The long-stay serviced apartment concept, unveiled in November 2023, entails a three-month minimum stay requirement vis-a-vis seven days for regular serviced apartments.)
The one-north research hub and business centre, master-planned by JTC, focuses on knowledge-intensive activities in growth sectors such as the biomedical, info-communications and media industries.
The URA has envisaged Media Circle (Parcel B) as a way to inject vibrancy into the estate and bring homes closer to the workplaces and education institutions within one-north.
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