Hong Leong awarded Hillview Rise 99-year site

Processes, techniques in winning proposal should significantly boost productivity: URA

Developer Hong Leong Group lodged the top bid for the Hillview Rise residential site in a tender that stressed construction productivity using innovative methods.

The firm's $460 million offer was made by two of its units for the 99-year site.

Nine concept proposals were received from bidders under a dual-envelope system. Hong Leong Group's listed developer City Developments Limited (CDL) joined CapitaLand to submit two separate proposals.

Mr Loke Kee Yeu, general manager for projects at Hong Leong Holdings, said: "This award recognises our experience and readiness to adopt and use innovative technologies and methods to achieve high construction productivity and quality outcomes for our projects."

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said the proposal included the extensive adoption of pre-fabricated building techniques that will reduce the amount of actual work to be done at the site.

Other features of the proposal include QR code tracking for project scheduling, cloud-based logistics tracking during construction and designing on digital platforms so information can be shared with different parties throughout the project's life cycle.

The URA noted that the processes and techniques outlined in the winning proposal should significantly improve productivity.

The tender used the concept and price revenue approach. This involved short-listing firms that had "substantially satisfied" the evaluation criteria on construction productivity.

The shortlist comprised the proposals by the winning bidder, two by CapitaLand and CDL, and bids from CSC Land Group (Singapore), Qingjian Realty and a tie-up between Yanlord Land and Soilbuild Group.

The price envelopes for those on the shortlist were then opened and the top bid selected.

Dr Lee Nai Jia, senior director and head of research at Knight Frank Singapore, said the top bid was within expectations considering recent tenders.

"The land parcel is very attractive as it is close to retail amenities and is within walking distance of the MRT station. Better yet, it has the flavour of a very exclusive and private neighbourhood," he added.

"While an increase in supply is expected to come on-stream, it is still of limited availability as compared to other areas. Prospective buyers are likely to come from the owners of landed homes seeking to downsize, or young couples whose parents are living in the area."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 04, 2018, with the headline Hong Leong awarded Hillview Rise 99-year site. Subscribe