reporter2
17-12-15, 18:09
http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/singland-uol-venture-is-top-bidder-for-clementi-housing-site
SingLand-UOL venture is top bidder for Clementi housing site
Analysts say tender's prefab construction clause may have limited the number and value of bids
By Kalpana Rashiwala
[email protected]
@KalpanaBT
Dec 10, 2015
A 99-YEAR leasehold private housing site along Clementi Avenue 1 has fetched six bids at a state tender that closed on Dec 9.
The highest bid was from a joint venture between Singapore Land unit Singland Homes and UOL Venture Investments; its bid of S$302.1 million works out to S$615.04 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).
This was 9.4 per cent more than the second highest bid from Oxley-Lian Beng Venture at S$276.20 million, or S$562.31 psf ppr.
Wee Hur Development placed the lowest bid of S$362.75 psf ppr.
Michael Ng, group general manager at Singapore Land and United Industrial Corporation, said that if the company is awarded the site, it will be a timely acquisition for SingLand as it does not have any unlaunched Singapore housing projects currently. "And our stock of unsold units in projects that we have already launched is depleting."
He reckoned the Clementi site would have drawn more bids and higher prices as well if not for the stipulation of prefabricated prefinished volumetric construction (PPVC) - a modular, productivity-enhancing construction system - for the site's tender by the authorities.
This is the fourth site to be sold under the Ministry of National Development's Government Land Sales Programme with PPVC stipulated as a requirement. "Some developers who are not familiar with PPVC may have shied away from this tender," said Mr Ng. Moreover, PPVC, being newly implemented here, is likely to raise a project's construction cost.
As a comparison, two state tender closings last month for private housing sites without the PPVC stipulation - along Alexandra View and Lorong Lew Lian - attracted 10 and 11 bids respectively. The top bid for each site was also in the S$300-plus million range, suggesting a comparable scale of investment as the latest Clementi plot.
Mr Ng suggested that had the Clementi site not included a mandatory PPVC requirement, the top bid could have gone past S$700 psf ppr, as it did for the Lorong Lew Lian site, which is near Serangoon MRT Station. The winning bid for that land parcel - from a City Developments, Hong Leong Holdings and TID tie-up - was nearly S$710 psf ppr.
In August, a tender for a 99-year leasehold private housing site in West Coast Vale about two kilometres from the Clementi site - which also had mandatory PPVC requirement - drew just six bids. The top bid, from EL Development, was S$551.15 psf ppr.
SLP International executive director Nicholas Mak said the 11.6 per cent premium in the top bid for the Clementi site over that for the West Coast Vale plot reflects the former's superior location. It is closer to Clementi MRT Station, the Clementi Mall and other amenities, as well as reputed schools.
Market watchers estimate the SingLand-UOL joint-venture will break even at around S$1,100 psf for its Clementi project. Said Mr Ng: "We aim to sell the project at about S$1,300 psf on average, which would be quite attractive to potential buyers, given the proximity to good schools such as NUS High School of Mathematics and Science and Nan Hua High School. The project could also draw some rental demand from lecturers and foreign students."
The plan would be to launch the project before the end of 2016.
UOL's deputy group CEO Liam Wee Sin said: "The development will likely comprise two 40-storey towers with about 500 units, capitalising on the extensive views to the south."
He also pointed to the limited supply of private homes in the vicinity. The site's proximity to Science Park, the National University Hospital, National University of Singapore and other prestigious schools will also draw interest from investors. There is a scarcity of sites with such attributes."
Summing up the latest tender result, Desmond Sim, head of Singapore and S-E Asia at CBRE Research, said: "It is encouraging to see that the Singapore residential market is still a key business focus for developers. The bidders are taking a long-term view of the Singapore residential market."
SingLand-UOL venture is top bidder for Clementi housing site
Analysts say tender's prefab construction clause may have limited the number and value of bids
By Kalpana Rashiwala
[email protected]
@KalpanaBT
Dec 10, 2015
A 99-YEAR leasehold private housing site along Clementi Avenue 1 has fetched six bids at a state tender that closed on Dec 9.
The highest bid was from a joint venture between Singapore Land unit Singland Homes and UOL Venture Investments; its bid of S$302.1 million works out to S$615.04 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).
This was 9.4 per cent more than the second highest bid from Oxley-Lian Beng Venture at S$276.20 million, or S$562.31 psf ppr.
Wee Hur Development placed the lowest bid of S$362.75 psf ppr.
Michael Ng, group general manager at Singapore Land and United Industrial Corporation, said that if the company is awarded the site, it will be a timely acquisition for SingLand as it does not have any unlaunched Singapore housing projects currently. "And our stock of unsold units in projects that we have already launched is depleting."
He reckoned the Clementi site would have drawn more bids and higher prices as well if not for the stipulation of prefabricated prefinished volumetric construction (PPVC) - a modular, productivity-enhancing construction system - for the site's tender by the authorities.
This is the fourth site to be sold under the Ministry of National Development's Government Land Sales Programme with PPVC stipulated as a requirement. "Some developers who are not familiar with PPVC may have shied away from this tender," said Mr Ng. Moreover, PPVC, being newly implemented here, is likely to raise a project's construction cost.
As a comparison, two state tender closings last month for private housing sites without the PPVC stipulation - along Alexandra View and Lorong Lew Lian - attracted 10 and 11 bids respectively. The top bid for each site was also in the S$300-plus million range, suggesting a comparable scale of investment as the latest Clementi plot.
Mr Ng suggested that had the Clementi site not included a mandatory PPVC requirement, the top bid could have gone past S$700 psf ppr, as it did for the Lorong Lew Lian site, which is near Serangoon MRT Station. The winning bid for that land parcel - from a City Developments, Hong Leong Holdings and TID tie-up - was nearly S$710 psf ppr.
In August, a tender for a 99-year leasehold private housing site in West Coast Vale about two kilometres from the Clementi site - which also had mandatory PPVC requirement - drew just six bids. The top bid, from EL Development, was S$551.15 psf ppr.
SLP International executive director Nicholas Mak said the 11.6 per cent premium in the top bid for the Clementi site over that for the West Coast Vale plot reflects the former's superior location. It is closer to Clementi MRT Station, the Clementi Mall and other amenities, as well as reputed schools.
Market watchers estimate the SingLand-UOL joint-venture will break even at around S$1,100 psf for its Clementi project. Said Mr Ng: "We aim to sell the project at about S$1,300 psf on average, which would be quite attractive to potential buyers, given the proximity to good schools such as NUS High School of Mathematics and Science and Nan Hua High School. The project could also draw some rental demand from lecturers and foreign students."
The plan would be to launch the project before the end of 2016.
UOL's deputy group CEO Liam Wee Sin said: "The development will likely comprise two 40-storey towers with about 500 units, capitalising on the extensive views to the south."
He also pointed to the limited supply of private homes in the vicinity. The site's proximity to Science Park, the National University Hospital, National University of Singapore and other prestigious schools will also draw interest from investors. There is a scarcity of sites with such attributes."
Summing up the latest tender result, Desmond Sim, head of Singapore and S-E Asia at CBRE Research, said: "It is encouraging to see that the Singapore residential market is still a key business focus for developers. The bidders are taking a long-term view of the Singapore residential market."