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Published June 29, 2011

Commercial, residential plots up for tender

Robinson Rd site from URA, Punggol site from HDB

By NICHOLAS YEO


THE government has released two 99-year leasehold sites - a commercial site at Robinson Road/Cecil Street and a large residential site at Punggol Field Walk.

Both sites are for sale by public tender.

The Robinson Road commercial site, released by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), covers an area of 31,560 square feet and has a gross plot ratio (GPR) of 11.2.

This amounts to an allowable gross floor area (GFA) of 353,472 sq ft.

Prominently fronting Cecil Street and Robinson Road, the land parcel is located in the Central Business District (CBD) and is within walking distance of Tanjong Pagar MRT Station.

Together with the new developments in the Tanjong Pagar area, such as Guocoland's white site development on Choon Guan Street, the new office development aims to reinforce the precinct's presence within the larger CBD.

At least 80 per cent of the maximum permissible GFA is designated for office use to build up the critical mass of office space in the CBD area.

The remaining GFA can be developed for additional office or other permitted uses, under the commercial zoning. Residential use is not allowed.

The maximum building height is 35 storeys.

According to Tang Hsu Jing, an analyst at Knight Frank, 'the indicative pricing for the Robinson Road/ Cecil Street site is approximately $1,100-1,200 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr) and a total quantum of $390-410 million.'

'Possible bidders include UOL, CapitaLand, CDL, Frasers Centrepoint and Oxley Holdings,' said Shaun Poh, senior director at DTZ. 'CapitaLand, as it owns Capital Tower next door; and also Oxley Holdings, which purchased neighbouring plots 138 Robinson Road and 144 Robinson Road from CDL recently.'

In addition, 'it would be advantageous for UOL because UOB already owns 146 Robinson Road (Overseas Union Trust Building) and it would allow them to have a wider frontage along Robinson Road and make the entire plot more regular in shape', said Tang Wei Leng, executive director (investment services) at Colliers International.

Developers will also need to factor in construction costs for Grade A offices, which currently stand at some $325-425 psf ppr, 'depending on the iconism of the architecture, soil conditions, number of basements and proximity to the MRT station, as extra care needs to be taken', said Eugene Seah, joint managing director at Davis, Langdon & Seah Quantity Surveyors.

Even though the site is one of the last pieces of vacant land available for development in the area, real estate firm DTZ notes, at least 4.5 million sq ft of commercial space within the CBD is slated to be ready by 2015, and that does not include the Temasek and Khazanah tie-up projects in Marina South and the Ophir-Rochor area.

The tender will close at noon on Sept 20 and selection of the successful tenderer will be based on tendered land price only.

In the suburbs, the Housing and Development Board (HDB) has released a leasehold condominium housing plot at Punggol Field Walk with a site area of 154,397 sq ft.

With a GPR of 3.4, the maximum allowable GFA is 524,952 sq ft and it is estimated to yield approximately 550 dwelling units.

The residential site is situated near Sungei Serangoon and future residents will enjoy convenient access via the Coral Edge LRT Station, which is next to the site.

SLP International executive director (research and consultancy) Nicholas Mak expects the site to fetch a winning bid of about $194- 220 million ($370-420 psf ppr).

This is the second site for a condominium released in the Punggol area. The first site includes a conservation house and is nearer to Punggol MRT Station.

Last December, Sim Lian put in the top bid of $363 million ($406 psf ppr) for that site.

In the second half of this year, there will be two more condominium sites released - which are expected to yield another 1,150 dwelling units - under the confirmed list of the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme.

'As the supply of new condominium and executive condominium projects in the Punggol area is growing, this site may attract a modest level of interest from developers, possibly about four to seven bids,' Mr Mak said.

The tender will close at noon on Sept 1.