http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/...02173,00.html?
Published September 2, 2010
Bedok mixed-use site draws top bid of $788.9m
CapitaLand joint venture's bid is 21% more than second highest bid
By EMILYN YAP
THE tender of a residential-commercial site at Bedok Town Centre closed yesterday with nine bidders in the fray, most of which put up offers far exceeding expectations.
The strong demand for the 99-year leasehold plot surprised the market somewhat, given that the government had just introduced measures to cool the residential property sector. According to consultants, developers' enthusiasm could have stemmed from the site's retail potential and its proximity to Bedok MRT station.
A 50:50 joint venture between CapitaLand Residential Singapore and CapitaMalls Asia (CMA) submitted the top bid of $788.9 million or $841 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr).
This is 21 per cent more than the second highest bid of $650.9 million or $694 psf ppr, placed jointly by a unit of Singapore Press Holdings' Times Properties and a unit of United Engineers.
Frasers Centrepoint followed close behind with a bid of $650 million or $693 psf ppr. Other participants in the tender include Keppel Land, Choice Homes Investments and Sim Lian.
Market watchers had predicted bids of $500-$580 psf ppr when the site was released for sale in July.
According to a CapitaLand spokesperson, CapitaLand Residential Singapore and CMA will leverage on CapitaLand's 'proven expertise and synergies in the retail and residential sectors to develop the site into an integrated project'.
The project, with around 500 apartments above a shopping mall, will have direct access to Bedok MRT station and an upcoming bus interchange.
Colliers International director Tay Huey Ying had expected the recent cooling measures to dampen developers' interest a little. But the stiff competition in this tender shows that they are 'still hungry for well-located sites, sites with strong attributes.'
CBRE Research executive director Li Hiaw Ho added that Bedok has the biggest resident population of 294,500 individuals compared with other towns, according to the latest advance census release. This underscores huge potential for private condominiums and a mall in Bedok.
He estimated that a mall on the site can fetch an average retail rent of $16-$18 psf per month, while apartments may go for more than $1,000 psf.
As for the high top bid, Cushman & Wakefield managing director Donald Han felt that CapitaLand can afford to be aggressive. Not only does the group have experience developing residences and managing malls, it also has a vehicle to sell the mall to in future, he said. Besides, the developer has 'a lot of gunpowder'.
Mr Han added that the latest tender results cannot fully reflect the impact of the government's cooling measures - the market should wait to see what results the tender of a pure residential site are like before drawing conclusions.
Meanwhile, the collective sales market continues to gather steam. Colliers said yesterday that it brokered the sale of Melrose Court en bloc for $44 million. Including a development charge of $277,235, the land price works out to $665 psf ppr.
Another agency Urban Front Real Estate is putting the freehold Maison Royale up for tender for at least $48 million. Owners of the project at Surrey Road had tried to sell their estate for at least $50 million in 2008.