UOL, CapitaLand aim high with S$1.4 billion or S$1,537 psf ppr bid for New Upper Changi site

[SINGAPORE] A state land site for a massive 1,010-unit project in the Bedok area fetched a bullish top bid from UOL Group and CapitaLand Development (CLD), which topped four offers at S$1.4 billion or S$1,537 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr). 

UOL, Singapore Land and CLD’s joint venture bid, which blew past expectations, was a “wide” 13.8 per cent higher than the next-highest bid from City Developments Ltd (CDL) and Hong Realty, noted Tricia Song, CBRE research head for South-east Asia and Singapore. 

It was also 15.6 per cent over the S$1,330 psf ppr price that Allgreen Properties paid for a nearby Bedok Rise site tendered in November 2025.

The consortium’s top bid for the New Upper Changi plot marks a benchmark price for a pure residential parcel in the suburbs, added Huttons Asia CEO Mark Yip.

The last pure residential government land sales (GLS) site to fetch more than S$1 billion was a Dunearn Road plot sold in June 2022, where the 1,008-unit Grand Dunearn now stands.

Tuesday’s (Sep 1) second-highest bid from CDL and Hong Realty was followed by GuocoLand, Hong Leong Holdings and Mitsui Fudosan at S$1.24 billion or S$1,340 psf ppr.

Coming fourth was Sim Lian with a S$1.22 billion offer or S$1,310 psf ppr. 

In a joint statement issued after the tender outcome was released, UOL and CLD highlighted the site’s “exceptional” location within a mature residential neighbourhood, with reputable schools and East Coast Park nearby.

“Residential developments in the East are highly sought after and this project will appeal to a broad base of buyers, including HDB upgraders and residents from the surrounding landed housing estates,” they said.

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The developers added that the project would comprise two to four-bedroom formats, “keeping total price quantum realistic”.

Based on a land rate of S$1,537 psf ppr, Leonard Tay, Knight Frank research head, said that the project’s future selling price would likely be “meaningfully” higher than current eastern-region launch benchmarks – starting from S$3,000 psf and averaging at S$3,100 to S$3,200 psf. 

In comparison, Nicholas Mak, Mogul.sg chief research officer, noted that the median prices of units at nearby Bedok Residences was S$1,824 psf in the year thus far, almost 20 per cent behind Tuesday’s top bid.

CBRE data showed that median prices for comparable projects ranged from S$1,230 at East Meadows to S$2,863 psf at Vela Bay, in the year to date.

The mixed-use Sceneca Residence, located just one stop away from the New Upper Changi Road site, sold 60 per cent of its units at an average price of S$2,072 psf during its launch weekend in January 2023.

Its sub-sales recorded a median price of S$2,312 psf in the year so far, Song noted.

UOL and CLD have collaborated on several projects previously.

Most recently, they bagged a Hougang site for S$1.5 billion or S$1,179 psf ppr in December 2025, after acquiring Thomson View Condo for S$810 million at a collective sale. The developers also made waves with their launch of Parktown Residence, a Tampines mega project that sold almost 90 per cent of its 1,193 units during a February 2025 launch.

Their latest tie-up “represents a timely replenishment of the consortium’s residential pipeline, ahead of the launch of the 1,268-unit Thomson Reserve in mid-October, which we are seeing strong interests”, they said.

The 30,769 square metre (sq m) New Upper Changi parcel is bounded by New Upper Changi Road and Bedok South Road, and sits on a plot that includes the former Temasek Primary School and Temasek Secondary School.

Knight Frank’s Tay reckoned that the “conviction” behind the developers’ top bid could have been “reinforced by the depth of the surrounding residential catchment”. 

Some 274,360 residents live in Bedok, making it the second-largest planning area in Singapore, behind the nearby Tampines with a resident population of 290,000.

Nearly 2,300 Housing & Development Board flats in the area also reached their minimum occupation period from 2022 to 2026. 

With the median resale price of five-room and four-room HDB flats under 15 years old in 2025 standing at S$1.03 million and S$860,000, respectively, ERA CEO Marcus Chu previously said this could create a pool of public housing upgraders with substantial capital in Bedok. 

Justin Quek, Realion Group deputy group CEO, also predicts healthy demand from investors and landlords due to the site’s proximity to major employment hubs, such as Changi Airport and Changi Business Park.

“The rental potential of the future development here may also improve, as the nearby Tanah Merah MRT station becomes an interchange station with the Thomson-East Coast line in the future,” he said.

Meanwhile, market watchers noted that three other GLS sites have been sold in the Bedok planning area since 2025. These include a Bayshore Road site – now housing the 515-unit Vela Bay – that closed with eight bids in March 2025, and a top offer of S$1,388 psf ppr from SingHaiyi. 

More recently, in July, a Bayshore Drive mixed-use site was sold to a Frasers Property joint venture at S$1,323 psf ppr, while Kuok Group’s Allgreen bagged the Bedok Rise site at S$1,330 psf ppr in November 2025.

Altogether, these four sites will inject 3,185 new private homes between 2025 and 2028, which analysts said may take some time for the market to absorb. 

At S$1.4 billion for the land, the New Upper Changi Road project will require significant financial outlay. 

The parcel has a maximum gross floor area of 86,154 sq m and is one of the largest residential GLS sites launched in the suburbs in recent years. 

The successful bidder will also have to bear the cost of demolishing existing buildings on the site, and engaging an asbestos surveyor to conduct checks and sampling.