In light of current patterns of competitive bidding for government land sites, the Siglap Shopping Centre has been reintroduced for collective sale, according to real estate consultant OrangeTee Advisory (Aug 4).
The reference price for the 39,635 sq ft land piece remains at $120 million, which translates to $1,235 per sq ft per plot ratio, as it was when it was first put up for sale in late October last year (psf ppr). This is after a 7% boost residential gross floor area for private outdoor spaces is taken into account.
Bids made in the last tender cycle did not match the specified reserve price, according to an OrangeTee Advisory spokesperson who talked to The Business Times.
However, there was little information accessible at the time on how many offers were received and from whom, as well as the range of values that were proposed.
Nonetheless, the consultancy thinks that the government’s management of the continuing Covid-19 epidemic, as well as Singapore’s high vaccination rate, has increased developer and buyer confidence in real estate purchases, as demonstrated by strong house sales at recent property launches.
Recent deals involving government property sites at Lentor Central, which sold for $1,204 psf ppr last month, and Northumberland Road, which sold for $1,129 psf ppr in April, were both 99-year leased land lots, according to the consultant.
The purchase price of $930 psf ppr for a site in Tanah Merah Kechil Link new condo last September, was 30% higher for the Lentor Central land parcel.
“Given how much bid prices for similarly designated leasehold government property sites have increased, the reserve price for this freehold plot in prestigious District 15 is suddenly looking reasonably reasonable,” said Edmund Lee, executive director of OrangeTee Advisory.
The three-story development, which was completed in the 1980s, includes eight residential units and eight ground-floor commercial units, as well as an adjacent plot of state land of about 5,005 sq ft that could be combined with the site to form a larger plot of about 44,640 sq ft, but subject to approval from the relevant authorities.
On Thursday, the tender for the East Coast Road site will open and conclude at 3 p.m. on September 1.
