For the Yishun site, the Evia, Gamuda, and Ho Lee consortium submits the highest bid

For the Yishun site, the Evia, Gamuda, and Ho Lee consortium submits the highest bid of S$1.01 billion, or S$980 per square foot ppr

In a state tender, three bids are received for the 99-year leasehold commercial and residential property in Chencharu Close, close to Khatib MRT station.

September 11, 2025

CONDOsingapore.com

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In a state tender that ended on Thursday, September 11, three bids were received for a mixed-use commercial and residential property in Chencharu Close, close to the Khatib MRT station.

The highest bid was made by a consortium made up of the companies Evia Real Estate, Malaysian group Gamuda, and Ho Lee Group. It was just over S$1.01 billion, or roughly S$980 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).

This was about 20% more than the second-highest bid, which came from a joint venture between Frasers Property, Mitsubishi Estate, and Lum Chang Building Contractors and was S$845 million, or roughly S$818 per square foot per plot ratio.

Sim Lian Land and Sim Lian Development submitted the third bid, which was S$692.4 million, or S$670 per square foot per plot ratio.

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The property consultants were satisfied with the preliminary tender results that were made public. The highest bid was anticipated to be between S$800 and S$1,200 per square foot, and they had anticipated that the site would attract two to six bids.

It is anticipated that the 99-year leasehold plot will produce about 875 private residences. A hawker centre and a bus interchange will be connected to the development.

Up to 135,625 square feet (sq ft) of gross floor area (GFA) of commercial space that could be utilised for retail will also be included. Strata subdivision will not be permitted for the commercial component; it must be held as a single strata lot.

Pangs of hunger

According to Vincent Ong, managing partner at Evia Real Estate, the three individuals who submitted the highest bid for the Chencharu Close tender also worked on the Sengkang OLA executive condominium project. "Now that we have finished the OLA project last year, we are in dire need of land."

Evia, Gamuda, and Ho Lee are interested in this "rare site that can be developed into a residential and retail project integrated with a transport hub in a new housing area," he continued, referring to the Chencharu Close site. About 860 apartments and a shopping centre at street level and in basement 1 are part of the consortium's proposed plan for the Chencharu site, he continued. The site, which is 317,000 square feet and can be developed to a maximum GFA of 1.03 million square feet, is situated in Yishun town's emerging Chencharu residential area. Of this, at least 801,986 square feet, or roughly 78%, will be set aside for residential use.

The advantage of being the first

According to analysts, this is Chencharu's first government land sale (GLS) site with a private housing component, potentially giving the developer a first-mover advantage.

According to Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex, the Chencharu Close plot is close to several educational institutions, including Peiying Primary School, Chung Cheng High School (Yishun), Naval Base Primary and Secondary Schools, Orchid Park Secondary School, and Yishun Innova Junior College.

Lower Seletar Reservoir Park, Yishun Stadium and Sport Hall, and Khatib Polyclinic are also close by.

The most recent comparable commercial and residential site with similar scale and requirements (such as a bus interchange and a hawker centre) would be the one on Tampines Avenue 11, according to Tricia Song, head of research for South-east Asia at CBRE.

After receiving three bids, the site was given to a joint venture consisting of UOL, Singapore Land, and CapitaLand Development in 2023 for S$885 per square foot.

During its launch weekend in February 2025, Parktown Residence, the project's 1,193-unit residential component, saw a strong take-up of 1,041 units, or 87% of its units, at an average price of S$2,360 psf.

According to Leonard Tay, research head at Knight Frank Singapore, the average selling price of the homes in the upcoming project on the Chencharu Close site "may be above S$2,300 psf."

"There may be strong upgrading demand from the more than 8,000 Build-To-Order HDB flats in the north, which will have fulfilled the five-year minimum occupation period from 2023," stated Mark Yip, chief executive officer of Huttons Asia.

Since The Estuary was introduced in 2010, there haven't been any new condo developments close to the Chencharu Close location, according to PropNex's Wong. The Wisteria, which is a little further away, went up for sale in 2016.

"The top bid of $980 psf ppr, though below recent land bids in the Outside Central Region, is more reflective of more complex site-specific requirements, including the need to build a hawker centre and bus interchange, when compared to other attractive GLS sites, rather than a broader shift in developer sentiment," stated Marcus Chu, chief executive officer of ERA Singapore.

The Gem Residences private condominium complex in Toa Payoh was created by Evia and Gamuda.