URA launches tender for housing site at Irwell Bank Road

99-year leasehold site can yield about 445 units with maximum building height of 36 storeys

Fri, Nov 01, 2019

NG REN JYE


THE Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has launched a residential site at Irwell Bank Road for sale by public tender, it said on Thursday.

The site spans an area of 12,789 square metres (sq m) with a gross floor area of 35,809 sq m.

The 99-year leasehold site can yield about 445 residential units, with a maximum building height of 36 storeys.

It is located within a well-established residential area surrounded by existing condominum developments such as The Cosmopolitan and OUE Twin Peaks.

It is near River Valley Primary School, ISS International School and Dimensions International College, Great World City and the Orchard Road shopping and entertainment belt. It is also within walking distance of the future Great World City MRT Station.

According to the SRX real estate portal, the last transacted sale at nearby freehold condo The Cosmopolitan was at S$2,341 per square foot (psf) in June.

The Irwell Bank Road site was launched under the confirmed list of the government land sales (GLS) programme for the second half of 2019.

The tender for the site closes at noon on Jan 9, 2020, the same deadline as a Jalan Bunga Rampai residential GLS site launched in August.

Tricia Song, head of research for Singapore, Colliers International, said the top bid for the Irwell Bank site could be in the S$650 million to S$680 million range.

That works out to S$1,700-1,770 psf per plot ratio (ppr). This is similar to the S$1,732.55 psf ppr for the Jiak Kim Street site (Riviere), which was awarded to Frasers Centrepoint in December 2017.

She said the Irwell Bank site is the most appealing of the GLS slate for the second half of 2019, and will "attract developers who are keen to add a rare, sizeable residential site in the prime District 9 to their development pipeline".

"However, given the relatively large quantum required, we expect the tender for the site to be cautious, attracting four to six bids, in line with the average five bids for residential sites costing over S$300 million since the cooling measures were implemented in July 2018."

She said developers will likely take a cue from the performance of the 455-unit Riviere, about 600 metres away. It has sold 45 units at a median price of S$2,850 psf since its May 2019 launch.

Martin Modern, another GLS site in District 9, has sold 353 units or 78 per cent of its total 450 units since its launch in July 2017.

Prices at Martin Modern have risen from S$2,152 psf at launch to over S$2,600 psf currently, said Ms Song.