Dairy Farm Walk site draws five bids, with top offer below earlier land prices
Dairy Farm Walk site draws five bids, with top offer below earlier land prices
Winning S$427 million bid translates to S$962 psf ppr, 5.7 per cent below the price achieved for a neighbouring site a year earlier
Jan 22, 2026
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A residential site at Dairy Farm Walk attracted five bids at the close of an Urban Redevelopment Authority tender on Jan 22, with the highest offer coming in below the prices paid for two nearby plots in earlier government land sales.
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A consortium comprising ABR Holdings, LWH Holdings, Macly Capital and Roxy-Pacific Holdings submitted the top bid of S$427 million, equivalent to about S$962 per square foot per plot ratio.
The price was 5.7 per cent below the S$1,020 psf ppr paid in January 2025 for a neighbouring site that is being developed into the 540-unit Narra Residences.
It was also 1.8 per cent below the S$980 psf ppr paid by Sim Lian Land and Sim Lian Development for another nearby plot in March 2022. That site is now The Botany at Dairy Farm, a 386-unit condominium launched in 2023 which had just one unit remaining unsold as at December 2025.
The latest Dairy Farm Walk parcel spans nearly 317,000 sq ft and can accommodate about 480 private homes.
The five bids received were within analysts’ expectations of between one and six offers, while the winning land rate was towards the lower end of forecasts ranging from S$900 to S$1,150 psf ppr.
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Close contest between top bidders
Competition at the top of the tender was relatively tight.
A joint venture between GuocoLand and Intrepid Investments placed the second-highest bid at about S$959 psf ppr, only 0.4 per cent below the winning offer.
The consortium behind Narra Residences followed with a bid of S$926 psf ppr, while Kingsford offered about S$850 psf ppr.
Sim Lian submitted the lowest bid at around S$840 psf ppr.
The difference between the highest and lowest bids was about 14.6 per cent.
CBRE Singapore and South-east Asia head of research Tricia Song said the relatively contained spread suggested that developers had broadly similar views of the site.
Its appeal lies in its privacy and proximity to greenery, although these advantages are tempered by its distance from the MRT network and the relatively limited range of amenities immediately surrounding it.
Nature setting but longer walk to MRT
The site is surrounded by substantial greenery, including Dairy Farm Nature Park, Chestnut Close Park and the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. The Chestnut landed housing estate lies to its north.
It is also within 1 km of Bukit Panjang Primary School and CHIJ Our Lady Queen of Peace, giving the future project potential appeal among families with school-going children.
Retail amenities in the wider neighbourhood include HillV2 and The Rail Mall, while Dairy Farm Residences provides additional shops nearby.
However, Hillview MRT station on the Downtown Line is about 700 metres away. Property consultants estimate that the journey could take around 15 minutes on foot, with much of the route lacking shelter.
ERA Singapore chief executive Marcus Chu said the combination of established schools and access to greenery could make the future development particularly attractive to families seeking a more nature-oriented living environment.
Development constraints weigh on bids
Several characteristics of the site may help explain why developers were relatively cautious with their bids.
The parcel has a plot ratio of 1.4, lower than the 2.1 plot ratio of four private residential sites sold in the Dairy Farm area through government tenders since 2012.
PropNex head of research and content Wong Siew Ying noted that the lower plot ratio limits the amount of floor space that can be developed.
It is also likely to result in a project consisting of several low-rise blocks rather than a smaller number of taller buildings. This may require more lifts and common facilities relative to the amount of saleable space.
The site also slopes towards the adjoining landed estate, potentially adding to construction complexity and costs.
URA has additionally imposed building height restrictions across the land parcel.
Buildings along the boundary facing the canal and landed homes to the north may rise to no more than four storeys, while buildings elsewhere on the site can reach six storeys.
Huttons Asia chief executive Mark Yip also pointed to the site's sloping terrain and proximity to Ministry of Defence premises as development considerations.
These constraints may have encouraged developers to maintain more conservative land bids.
Competition from Narra Residences
The timing of the future project's launch may also have influenced bidding.
Narra Residences, being built on the nearby site acquired for S$1,020 psf ppr in 2025, is scheduled to begin sales bookings on Jan 31, 2026.
The development comprises 540 units and is being undertaken by a consortium of Santarli, Apex Asia, Soon Li Heng group and Kay Lim Realty.
The project on the latest Dairy Farm Walk site is likely to reach the market in 2027 and could still face competition from unsold units at Narra Residences.
Yip said this may have encouraged bidders to adopt a measured approach to the land price so that the eventual development can be competitively positioned.
On the other hand, the site's lower-density planning parameters and height controls could give its developer an opportunity to create a product that differs from other condominiums in the area.
Potential launch price of about S$2,100 psf
Knight Frank Singapore head of research Leonard Tay estimated that the future project could achieve an average selling price of around S$2,100 psf when launched.
At that level, the condominium could appeal to HDB owners in western Singapore looking to upgrade to private housing, as well as people employed in the commercial and industrial areas in the west.
Another potential source of demand could come from older landed homeowners in the nearby Chestnut and Cashew estates who want to move into a condominium while remaining in the neighbourhood.
The tender results ultimately point to continued developer confidence in the Dairy Farm private housing market, but at a more measured land price than seen in recent years.
While the site's greenery, privacy and family-oriented environment are clear strengths, its lower plot ratio, height restrictions, sloping terrain and relatively long walk to the MRT increase development risks.
The narrow gap between the top two bids nevertheless suggests that developers still see value in the location, particularly if the future project can distinguish itself as a lower-density residential offering close to nature.
