Top bid for Dairy Farm condo site is 5.7% lower than that for nearby plot sold a year ago
The S$427 million or S$962 psf ppr offer is from a consortium comprising ABR, LWH, Macly Capital and Roxy Pacific
[SINGAPORE] An Urban Redevelopment Authority tender for a 99-year leasehold private housing site in Dairy Farm Walk that closed on Thursday (Jan 22) has drawn five bids.
A consortium comprising ABR Holdings, LWH Holdings, Macly Capital and Roxy Pacific placed the top bid of S$427 million, which works out to about S$962 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).
This is about 5.7 per cent lower than the S$1,020 psf ppr fetched for a nearby site sold in January 2025.
That site is now being developed into a 540-unit condominium project, Narra Residences, by a consortium comprising Santarli Construction, Apex Asia, Soon Li Heng group and Kay Lim Realty. Sales bookings are scheduled to begin on Jan 31.
The top bid in the latest tender is also 1.8 per cent lower than the S$980 psf ppr that Sim Lian Land and Sim Lian Development paid for another nearby plot in a state tender that closed in March 2022.
That plot is now being developed into The Botany at Dairy Farm. The 386-unit project, launched in 2023, had only one unit left unsold as of December 2025.
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The five bids received in the latest state land tender falls within the one to six bids expected by analysts polled by The Business Times. The S$962 psf ppr top bid is on the lower end of the S$900 to S$1,150 psf ppr forecast by the analysts.
Thursday’s tender closing was for a nearly 317,000 sq ft site that can yield about 480 private homes. The land parcel is surrounded by green areas such as the Chestnut Close Park, Dairy Farm Nature Park and Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. To the north of the plot is the Chestnut landed housing estate.
The property is within a 1 km radius of Bukit Panjang Primary School and CHIJ Our Lady Queen of Peace.
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One drawback of the site is that the nearest MRT station, Hillview station on the Downtown Line. is about 700 m away. Some property consultants estimate this to be a walk of about 15 minutes on a route that is mostly unsheltered.
The second-highest bid for the site came from a joint venture between GuocoLand and Intrepid Investments, which offered about S$959 psf ppr for the site; this was 0.4 per cent lower than the top bid.
This was followed by a S$926 psf ppr bid by the consortium developing Narra Residences, then Kingsford’s S$850 psf ppr bid.
The lowest bid, from Sim Lian Land and Sim Lian Development, was at about S$840 psf ppr.
The highest bid was 14.6 per cent above the lowest bid. Tricia Song, head of research for Singapore and South-east Asia at CBRE, said this gap “shows some consensus on the site, which has the appeal of privacy and proximity to nature, but is relatively far from the MRT (station) and with limited surrounding amenities”.
Giving his take, Huttons Asia chief executive officer Mark Yip said: “Developers appeared to be confident about the demand in this private residential locale and the outside central region.
“However, the (future project on) this site, when it is launched for sale in 2027, may potentially face competition from Narra Residences. Hence, the tender bid is measured so as to create a competitive product.”
He added: “There are some challenges in developing the site as it is sloping towards the landed enclave and it is near Mindef (premises).”
Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex, said the 1.4 plot ratio (ratio of maximum gross floor area to site area) for the site is lower than the 2.1 plot ratio for four private housing sites sold in the Dairy Farm area in state tenders since 2012.
“A lower plot ratio limits how much floor space can be built on a piece of land; it also means that the development will be spread across multiple low-rise blocks, which would then entail more lifts and common facilities to be built.”
“Furthermore, the site has a sloping terrain. The combination of these factors may result in relatively higher construction costs, which could have led to more conservative bids from developers,” Wong added.
On a brighter note, Justin Quek, deputy group CEO of Realion (OrangeTee & ETC) Group said: “The healthy response to the tender was not surprising.”
Among other factors, he pointed to the site’s proximity to amenities such as HillV2 and The Rail Mall. Dairy Farm Residences, a nearby development, also has some retail shops on the first floor.
ERA Singapore CEO Marcus Chu said: “The site is well-positioned to serve family buyers, with several established primary schools within a 1 km radius. In addition, it is close to greenery, making it especially attractive to buyers who value a nature-centric lifestyle.”
The URA has specified building height controls for the site, comprising two zones. A maximum of four storeys is stipulated along the common boundary facing a canal and the landed housing to the north of the site. The rest of the site can be built up to six storeys. This might have contributed to the more modest bids for the land parcel.
On the flip side, Huttons’ Yip said: “The developer can create a very different product from the other projects in the area.”
Knight Frank Singapore head of research Leonard Tay said: “With a possible average price of around S$2,100 psf when launched, the proposed project on the site might appeal to HDB upgraders in the west of Singapore and those working in the commercial and industrial zones in the west.”
It may also interest local homebuyers looking to downgrade from landed housing in the nearby Chestnut and Cashew landed estate, he added.
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