The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has put two 99-year leasehold private residential sites at Pine Grove up for sale. The total number of units that could be built there could be more than 1,000.
In the second half of 2021, both sites were put on a “reserve list” for government land sales (GLS). Such sites will only be put up for tender if a developer has set a price that the government can live with.
Parcel A has a maximum gross floor area of 47,323 sq m and can build 520 units. It covers 22,534.7 sq m. Parcel B, which is 25,039.2 sq m, has a maximum GFA of 52,582 sq m and can build 565 units. This is the second parcel.
Analysts say that land-hungry developers may be interested in the sites because they are a good size and in a popular residential area. Key things to look for are Henry Park Primary School, Holland Village, the one-north precinct, and the National University of Singapore (NUS).
There is a good chance that developers will try to get these two GLS sites off the reserve list because of the strong property market sentiment, developers’ growing appetite for land, and a shrinking supply of new homes in the suburbs.
“The two parcels will add more private housing to the Ulu Pandan estate. This will make it easier for people to live there. The most recent new project in the area, Ki Residences at Brookvale, opened in December 2020 and has already sold more than 75% of its units. This shows that there is still a lot of demand for new housing in the area “he said more.
People who work for Cushman & Wakefield say that there are limits on how many people can live on each site in order to keep traffic moving in the area.
“Because of their size, the sites could be triggered one at a time, but parcel A might get more attention because of its smaller land size and more regular shape.
“But if both are put up for sale at the same time, some developers might try to buy both at the same time in order to avoid future competition,” he said.
There should be between six and 10 bidders for each site, and the bids should be between $960 per square foot (psf ppr) and $1,300 psf ppr.
If the bids go through, they could set the price for the reserve price of Pine Grove, which tried to sell its properties in a group last year for $1.86 billion but didn’t sell, say analysts.
She said that Parcel A can be built up to an average of 980 sq ft per unit, while Parcel B can be built up to an average of 1,002 sq ft.
This is what she said: “These unit sizes are a little bigger than the implied 85 sq m or 915 sq ft as per URA guidelines for non-landed residential projects outside the central area in January 2019.”
“It’s also bigger than two parcels at Slim Barracks, which have a total of 400 units and a top bid of $1,210 to $1,246 per square foot. We think the bid will be less than that.
The selling price for one of the Pine Grove sites could be $1,900 to $2,000 per square foot and the land rate could be $1,000 to $1,100 per square foot.
According to Lee Sze Teck, a senior research director for Huttons Asia, there aren’t very many chances that the sites will be thrown off.
“There are better places on the list, like Jalan Tembusu and new en bloc sites that are coming soon. People will learn next month if there are more sites in the first half of 2022 that are part of the GLS program “he said more.
