Perennial Holdings unit bags Parry Avenue assisted-living project for S$71.9 million

PRE 20, a subsidiary of Perennial Holdings, has secured a S$71.9 million tender for a private assisted-living development in Parry Avenue. 

The development will expand the range of housing and care options and cater to seniors’ diverse lifestyles, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Tuesday (June 20).

The development will comprise a 200 assisted-living apartments, a nursing home with 100 beds, a wellness clubhouse and a geriatric care centre, said Perennial Holdings. 

Each unit, ranging from 366 square feet to 666 square feet, will have one or two bedrooms, a private lift and access to balconies.

MOH and URA said the winning bid submitted by Pre 20 was comprehensive and well-conceived in terms of its care model, programmes and services, as well as design features.

The concept proposal included services that enable residents to live, socialise and receive the support they need to continue living in the same community as their care needs change.

The authorities said: “In addition, it offers a variety of communal areas that are well-designed with green sanctuaries, sky terraces and activity-generating uses integrated with a future park to encourage social bonding and interaction.” 

A dementia-friendly zone within the development will allow residents living with dementia to move around safely. At the wellness clubhouse, seniors will have access to a strength-training programme. 

Perennial Holdings will also partner Wilmar International to provide its residents with meals that cater to their dietary needs.

Perennial Holdings said: “The development will cater to various types of residents, ranging from the healthy to those with mild dementia, as well as seniors requiring assisted daily living and nursing needs.”

Four bids were received for the Parry Avenue project in total, including one submitted by a consortium consisting of Evia Real Estate, Allium Healthcare, Yuan Ching Development and YK Realty (which is linked to logistics and real estate tycoon Tan Yeow Khoon). 

Another tender came from United Medicare Development, an operator of private nursing homes. Pre 20 had also put in a second tender with a different concept proposal. 

The bids were evaluated under the concept and price-revenue tender approach. This requires tenderers to submit their concept proposals and tender prices separately. Concept proposals were evaluated by a committee chaired by MOH, and shortlisted based on the suitability and innovation of the proposed model of care, as well as the quality of the proposed care programmes and services.

The site was then awarded to the shortlisted tender with the highest bid price. 

Located within Rosyth Estate and near Heartland Mall, the assisted-living development will also be next to a new neighbourhood park, which the awarded tenderer will develop. 

The site spans 12,912.1 square metres (sq m) with a maximum gross floor area (GFA) of 18,077 sq m. At least 20 per cent of its maximum permissible GFA must be allocated to health and medical use, including 100 mandatory nursing home beds, URA and MOH said in an earlier media release.

At least 60 per cent of the maximum GFA must also be used for assisted living, including units for such purposes and communal spaces.

Lam Chern Woon, head of research and consulting at Edmund Tie, said: “The award of the assisted-living site marks a giant step towards the next stage of maturity for the senior-living market in Singapore.”

“The needs of Singapore’s ageing population will continue to mount in coming years, and there is much scope for development in the nascent senior-living market.”

Lam noted that Pre 20 had also placed the second-highest bid, which was just 0.1 per cent lower than its winning bid. This reflected its earnest intent to gain the first-mover advantage to build a sizeable project in the private senior living market, he said.

Huttons Asia’s senior director of research Lee Sze Teck noted that all four proposals fulfilled the strict evaluation criteria of the committee chaired by MOH, showing that there were viable business proposals for private assisted living at different costs.

He said: “This will give the authorities and the market confidence, and the concept may be extended to more sites in the future for our ageing population.”

Previously, Pre 11, a subsidiary of Perennial Holdings, had partnered Orpea (a leading European player in global dependency care) to bid for a government site along Gibraltar Crescent designated for a dementia-care village. The duo placed the only bid, but their S$15 million offer was deemed too low.