http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/...86340,00.html?
Published February 16, 2011
Punggol site draws top bid of $1.02b
Offer made by Frasers Centrepoint, Far East and Japan's Sekisui House
By UMA SHANKARI
FRASERS Centrepoint, Far East Organization and Japan's Sekisui House, which collectively put in the highest bid for a mixed use site in Punggol, plan to build a waterfront development with around 680 homes and a 365,000 square foot retail mall if the site is awarded to them.
The consortium trumped six other bidders with its bullish $1.02 billion offer for the commercial and residential site at Punggol Town Centre at the close of the state tender yesterday.
The bid works out to $753 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) - much higher than the $400-$450 analysts estimated the 99-year leasehold site could fetch when it was launched in November.
The consortium's offer was some 20 per cent higher than the second highest bid of $849.8 million, or $627 psf ppr, offered by a consortium led by Qingdao Construction.
The bid demonstrates the three developers' confidence in the Singapore property market, said Frasers Centrepoint chief executive Lim Ee Seng.
'This large and unique waterway site offers us the opportunity to develop an iconic housing and retail space, to be managed by Frasers Centrepoint, in the north-eastern part of Singapore,' he added.
Analysts noted that the top bid was bullish. Observed Credo Real Estate executive director Ong Teck Hui: 'It's an optimistic bid leveraging on longer-term prospects in a growing new town.'
But the site has many unique selling points, the analysts noted. It is located next to Punggol MRT station and will be the first mixed development to be built by private developers in the estate.
The upcoming mall is also likely to be developed into the first shopping centre in Punggol, which means that the winning developers will have a first-mover advantage, noted Nicholas Mak, head of research at SLP International.
In addition, Punggol has an expanding young middle class population. Some of the HDB flats are more than five years old. This means that there will be healthy demand from upgraders for private homes in the housing estate, Mr Mak added.
The pricing for residential and retail rents at the upcoming project can be expected to be 'optimistic', given the site's prime location next to the MRT station and its proximity to a bus interchange, schools and other amenities, said Mr Ong.