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24-10-12, 18:51
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/premium/singapore/buzz-expected-tender-redhill-plot-20121024

Published October 24, 2012

Buzz expected at tender for Redhill plot

Unnamed successful applicant agrees to bid at least $222.898m for the residential site

By Kalpana Rashiwala


THE buzz in the Redhill MRT Station vicinity continues on the Government Land Sale circuit. A 99-year-leasehold private housing site dubbed Alexandra View (Parcel B) has been triggered for release from the government's reserve list. The successful applicant, which has not been named by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), has agreed to bid at least $222.898 million at tender. This works out to $650 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).

The site can be developed into a maximum 455 units under URA guidelines announced early last month to cap the number of homes in new private housing projects Outside the Central Area based on an average unit size of 70 sq metres (753.47 sq ft) gross floor area.

Jones Lang LaSalle's national director, research and consultancy, Ong Teck Hui expects Parcel B can be developed into a condo of around 42 storeys.

"If current buoyant sentiment for attractive sites continues, we should see keen bidding for this city-fringe land parcel," he added.

Of the four property consultants polled by BT yesterday, three predicted the top bid could come in at $820-$960 psf ppr. The fourth estimated that the top offer could possibly surpass $1,000 psf ppr, citing the $960 psf ppr fetched at last month's state tender for a site in Prince Charles Crescent, a stone's throw away from the Chatsworth Park Good Class Bungalow Area (GCBA).

While some analysts consider that a more coveted location, ERA Realty Network's key executive officer, Eugene Lim, suggests it is the latest plot which is superior, since it is much closer to Redhill Station. "I'm expecting 8-10 bidders and the top bid may well exceed $1,000 psf ppr," he added.

The Prince Charles Crescent site drew eight bids.

Three of the four analysts whom BT polled expect up to 10 bids for Alexandra View's Parcel B, though Savills Singapore research head Alan Cheong reckons there could be 15 bids or perhaps even more.

He cited the relatively smaller maximum gross floor area of about 342,900 sq ft allowed for this land parcel, compared with nearly 537,700 sq ft for the one in Prince Charles Crescent. Hence absolute land bid quantums would be lower, opening up the playing field to a wider pool of developers, he added.

Competition is expected to keep land bids for Parcel B at elevated levels because developers with projects in the area that have yet to be launched may want to defend their prices, argues Mr Cheong. Three 99-year condo sites in the area have been sold at state tenders in the past year. Next to Alexandra View Parcel B, a City Developments consortium is expected to launch Echelon, a 43-storey condo with 508 units, later this year or early next year. It paid $754 psf ppr for the site last December.

On the Prince Charles Crescent plot that was recently awarded to a Wing Tai, Metro and UE E&C consortium, the plan is to create a "signature condo . . . in response to the demands of a highly discerning mid-high segment of the market", according to Wing Tai.

A short distance away, Singapore Land is planning to roll out in December or January a low-rise condo with about 109 units on a plot that it clinched at a state tender in February. The project will boast a Jervois Road address and will be next to the Chatsworth Park GCBA.

SLP International executive director Nicholas Mak expects Alexandra View Parcel B to draw some major developers who have built or are currently developing projects in the vicinity.

Meanwhile, Parcel A nearby remains available on the reserve list.