The tender for a Government Land Sale (GLS) property at Lakeside Drive concluded with a total of 6 bidder. City Developments Limited (CDL) made the highest bid—$608 million, or $1,132 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr).
With a price of 10.4% higher than the second-highest proposal of $550.56 million ($1,025 psf ppr), from a joint venture between Frasers Property and Mitsubishi Estate Asia, CDL With a price of little over $529 million ($985 psf ppr), 4.1% less than the bid by Frasers Property and Mitsubishi Estate Asia, the next highest bidder was a CapitaLand Development-Sing Holdings joint venture.
The remaining bids were from Wee Hur Holdings ($503.9 million or $938 psf ppr), then a joint venture between Hong Leong Holdings and TID ($495.18 million or $922 psf pr), and last Sim Lian Group ($488.2 million or $909 psf pr).
Comprising 145,314 square feet, the Lakeside Drive property is designated for residential with commercial at first level use. With a gross plot ratio of 3.6 the land can produce 10,764 square feet of commercial space and 575 homes. On the East-West Line, it is next to the Lakeside MRT Station.
According to a statement, CDL intends to build a 575-unit project consisting of five 16-story residential buildings along with a ground-floor retail podium should it be given the site. The construction would provide unhindered views of Jurong Lake Gardens.
Sherman Kwek, CDL’s group CEO, notes that the location, which is close to Jurong Lake District, stands out for its great connectivity and proximity to a broad variety of facilities, schools and green areas. “This site will be a strategic addition to our development pipeline; the last GLS site in the vicinity was awarded almost ten years ago.”
The bids for the Lakside Drive site reflect a return from the poor responses by developers to GLS projects that have started since the US imposed retaliatory tariffs on April 2. On tender closure on April 29, the Media Circle (Parcel B) property in the one-north region attracted zero offers. Prior to that, only two bids for a GLS site in Lentor Gardens ended on April 3.
Still, Tricia Song, director of research for Singapore and Southeast Asia at CBRE, notes that the number of offers is low compared to the Bayshore Road GLS site that concluded with eight bids in March 2025 before the tariffs were disclosed. “Among slowing new home sales and economic headwinds from tariff uncertainty, developers continued to show increased caution,” she says.
Marcus Chu, CEO of ERA Singapore, notes that the difference between the lowest and highest offers, at 24.5%, might potentially represent diverse market attitudes among bidders who participate.
Still, Leonard Tay, director of research at Knight Frank Singapore, believes the reaction to the Lakeside Drive location shows developers’ eagerness to seek properties with appealing qualities. “Although developers remain careful of development costs…the attractiveness of the Lakeside Drive site surmounted some of these concerns,” he says.
Apart from being close to the Lakeside MRT Station, the site’s closeness to schools, Jurong Lake Gardens, and the Jurong Lake District added to its attractiveness, notes Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex.
Wong also notes that since 2016, when the 710-unit Lake Grande opened, there have not been any condo launches in the neighbourhood. She says, “We expect there could be possible pent-up demand for private homes in this area, including from HDB upgraders who are currently living in the Jurong area.”
Should the site go to CDL, Wong notes that the $1,132psf ppr land fee for the Lakeside Drive site would be among the highest for a residential GLS plot in the Outside Central Region (OCR) in recent years. Only the $1,388 psf pr acquired for the Bayshore Road site in March and the $1,250 psf pr transacted for the GLS plot at Clementi Avenue 1 (currently the location of the 501-unit Elta) superscedes it. Higher than Media Circle (Parcel A) in the Rest of Central Region granted in March for $1,037 psf ppr is the highest offer for the Lakeside Drive plot.
Based on the best offer, Wong projects that the Lakeside Drive site’s average selling price for future construction might be around $2,400 psf.
Chu from ERA Singapore thinks the forthcoming project would establish a new benchmark price for the Lakeside region, topping the 440-unit Sora, which opens in 2023 and the 306-unit The LakeGarden Residences. He adds, the developments have attained median values of $2,134 psf and $2,216 psf.
Chu points out that the new building would provide much-needed fresh supply for the Jurong West market, where only 327 apartments remain across The LakeGarden Residences and Sora. On the other hand, it is expected that roughly 2,890 HDB apartments in Jurong West would reach their minimum occupancy term in the next five years, hence increasing demand for private homes in the surrounding region.
