Major developers vie for Sengkang Central site
Majority of the bidders are consortiums or big players in the property market
Fri, Jun 22, 2018
THE commercial and residential site at Sengkang Central drew interest from major developers that submitted seven bids at the tender closing on Thursday.
Most of them joined forces in joint ventures for the government land sale (GLS) site, which was launched for sale via the dual envelope system.
They include a joint bid from CapitaLand Singapore and City Developments Ltd (CDL), as well as from Wing Tai Holdings and Keppel Land. Perennial Singapore and Qingjian Realty also tabled a bid together.
Singapore Press Holdings tied up again with Japanese developer Kajima Development; Chinese developers MCC Land and Grantral Land, which is headquartered in Guangzhou and owns Grantral Mall in Singapore, jointly submitted a bid.
Far East Organization, which recently won the Holland Road site tender that was also launched under the Concept and Price revenue tender system, is again contesting for the Sengkang Central site. It submitted two separate tenders with different concept proposals.
The 37,284.8-sqm site was launched for sale last December by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). Zoned "commercial and residential", the 99-year leasehold site located next to the Buangkok MRT station is expected to generate some 700 units or a maximum gross floor area of 78,299 sqm.
Market watchers note that interest for this site is not as keen as that seen for the Holland Road site, which previously received 15 tender submissions. Capitaland, CDL, Perennial Singapore and Qingjian Realty were the unsuccessful parties from the previous tender that are now vying for the Sengkang Central site.
Under this Concept and Price revenue tender system, the concept proposals will be first evaluated by a Concept Evaluation Committee based on a set of criteria specified in the tender. Only tenders that meet the evaluation criteria will be considered for award.
At the second stage, the price envelopes of the proposals with acceptable concepts will be opened for consideration. The site will then be awarded to the tenderer with the highest bid price among those with acceptable concept proposals.
A 40 per cent weightage under the tender evaluation criteria is assigned to the quality of design, and 30 per cent to quality of public realm, or in other words, the provision of good connectivity and the attractiveness of public spaces. The balance 30 per cent weightage is allocated to track record.
ZACD executive director Nicholas Mak noted that given the size of the site and relatively complicated technical conditions related to this tender, the majority of the bidders are consortiums or big players in the property market.
Four out of the six groups of bidders in the tender are sponsors for Singapore-listed real estate investment trusts (Reits), he observed. "This is not surprising as it is increasingly difficult to acquire well-located shopping malls in Singapore at attractive prices. Hence, these developers would have to acquire land for retail malls."
This mixed residential-cum-commercial development is envisioned to be an integrated community hub to meet the needs of the residents in Buangkok, with amenities such as a hawker centre, community club, childcare centre, retail shops, as well as public rail and bus transport facilities sited in a one-stop location.
CBRE research head for Singapore and South-east Asia Desmond Sim noted that the tender conditions for the site at Sengkang Central is almost similar to that of the Holland Village site that was awarded in May and presents strong potential to be the landmark of the Sengkang/Buangkok vicinity.
"The six consortia who have thrown in the bids comprise experienced developers with proven track records. We expect the selection process to be challenging and very comprehensive," he said. "While there is already a large public housing estate surrounding this site, there is potential for further developments that may reinforce the significance of this commercial/transport node."
Reply With Quote
