The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has made available for application a white site in Kampong Bugis and a hotel site in River Valley Road on the Government's reserve list.
The sites, under the reserve list of the second-half 2019 Government Land Sales (GLS) programme, were recently carried over to the first-half 2020 GLS programme.
The Kampong Bugis site, at the mouth of Kallang River, will be released for sale to a master developer to allow for a comprehensive master plan, a development in phases, and to implement district-wide car-lite initiatives and sustainable urban solutions.
The 8.2ha site can potentially yield a maximum of 4,000 housing units and 50,000 sq m of gross floor area (GFA) for complementary uses such as retail, serviced apartments, office and community use. The whole site has a maximum GFA of 390,000 sq m.
URA has also drawn up an option scheme - a flexible payment scheme and phased-development approach to allow the chosen developer to phase the site's development according to market demand with lower upfront costs and risks. The entire precinct is estimated to be completed over 11 to 13 years.
Meanwhile, the 1.02ha River Valley site, located above Fort Canning MRT station and situated between Fort Canning Park and Singapore River, has a maximum GFA of 28,666 sq m and can potentially yield 530 hotel rooms. It is also envisioned to be developed into a distinctive waterfront landmark.
To encourage exceptional concept proposals for the two sites, URA said it would introduce a top-up option - which is a modification to its usual concept and price revenue tender approach.
Under the existing concept and price revenue tender approach, tenderers are required to submit their concept proposals and tender prices separately. The first stage of evaluation will see the shortlist of compelling concept proposals, which will proceed to the next stage - which is based on price only. This means the shortlisted tenderer with the highest bid will secure the tender.
URA said the top-up option will be limited and offered "very selectively" to one or two proposals which are considered exceptionally outstanding among concept proposals which were shortlisted in the first stage.
"This is to strongly incentivise tenderers to draw up exceptional concept proposals, as they would have a greater chance of securing the tender while achieving the best possible development outcomes for these two sites," URA said in its statement.
In the event any of the outstanding concept proposals are not the highest bid, URA will offer the top-up option to the tenderer of the higher ranked outstanding proposal to change its bid price to match the highest one. If not taken up, the option will be offered to the next highest ranked concept proposal.
If no outstanding proposals have been identified, the tender will go to the highest bidder instead.
THE BUSINESS TIMES
