Ravi Chandran
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday (27 April) closed tender for Northumberland Road site. The public tender for the Northumberland Road site was launched on 27 October 2020.
City Developments (CDL) and joint venture partner MCL Land, through their wholly-owned units Maximus Residential SG and Maximus Commercial SG, emerged the top bidder at $445.9 million. This is only 5.7 per cent higher than the second highest bid of $421.9 million.
LAND PARCEL AT NORTHUMBERLAND ROAD
ALLOWABLE DEVELOPMENT : RESIDENTIAL WITH COMMERCIAL AT 1ST STOREY
SITE AREA : 8,732.9 m²
MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE GFA : 36,679 m²
DATE OF LAUNCH : 27 OCTOBER 2020
DATE TENDER CLOSED : 27 APRIL 2021
LEASE PERIOD : 99 YEARS
In noting that the bid was to ensure that CDL maintains a healthy inventory level in Singapore, CDL group’s chief executive Sherman Kwek said: “We are elated to be the top bidder and honoured to have our first collaboration with MCL Land.”
MCL Land chief executive Tan Wee Hsien said: “We have full confidence in the long-term fundamentals of the Singapore residential market.”
The site of the Northumberland Road was on the Confirmed List of the second half 2020 (2H2020) Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme. This site can potentially yield about 405 residential units.
The tender for this site closed at 12 pm on 27 April 2021 after URA offered a longer tender period to provide developers with additional time in making their assessment in view of the current COVID-19 situation last year.
Property analysts said that among the Confirmed List sites on the 2H2020 GLS the Northumberland Road residential site is the most attractive given its proximity to the MRT station, its location in the city fringe and the relatively palatable size (405 units).
The Northumberland Road site is located at the junction of Racecourse Road and Gloucester Road, diagonally across from the Farrer Park MRT station and the Farrer Park Hospital. Located just outside Little India Historic District, the site is in proximity to the unique and diverse offerings of the Little India precinct, ranging from large retail developments such as City Square Mall and Mustafa Centre, to fine-grained shophouses that house many popular shops and dining options. The area is also home to several hotels such as the Parkroyal Hotel, as well as Connexion, an integrated medical centre and hotel development.
The site comes with a corner frontage to a main road, and can be built up to 405 units. It also has a retail cap of 1,500 sqm (approx. 16,145 sq ft) gross floor area (GFA) and a minimum 500 sqm (approx. 538 sq ft) GFA for a childcare centre.
Analysts expected the bid for the Northumberland Road site to draw in 5 – 7 bidders, with with a top bid of S$900-1,000 psf ppr, as developers can look to potentially launch at S$1,900-2,000 psf. They drew comparison to the Uptown@Farrer which is currently under construction and has sold 40 units (of a total 116 units) at an average price of S$1,845 per sq ft (psf) since its launch in September 2019. It was also a GLS site, sold in January 2017 for S$1,001 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr) drawing a robust 11 bids.
Mr Paul Ho, chief officer at iCompareLoan, said: “in a sense, the bids for the Government Land Sale site at Northumberland Road has beat the expectations of analysts.”
“It is understandable why so many developers bid for the place. One it is in a prime location and also, the volume of uncompleted unsold stock is getting very low,” he added.
Bounded by Gloucester and Race Course roads, the site is near the Farrer Park MRT station, City Square Mall, Mustafa Centre and Connexion, an integrated medical centre and hotel development.
