Two GLS sites at one-north's Slim Barracks Rise draw 10 bids each

Two residential-cum-commercial sites at Slim Barracks Rise in Buona Vista attracted 10 bids each, said the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) after the tenders closed on Tuesday.

Both are 99-year leasehold sites.

Land parcel A, which spans 7,957 sq m or 85,648.4 sq ft, fetched a top bid of $320.1 million or about $1,245.70 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), exceeding the forecasts of most property consultants.

The top bid came from EL Development.

It was 1.27 per cent higher than the second-highest bid of $316.1 million or about $1,230.20 psf ppr by Ms Gao Xiuhua, one of the owners of Kingsford Development.

In 2017, the property developer bought the Normanton Park site en bloc for $830.1 million.

Meanwhile, the 5,936.6 sq m or 63,901 sq ft land parcel B fetched a top bid of $162.4 million or $1,210.10 psf ppr from Ms Gao.

The two sites were under the confirmed list of the first-half 2021 Government Land Sales (GLS) programme.

According to the URA, the properties are part of JTC Corporation's continued efforts to inject more residential spaces in the one-north estate.

At their launch on June 15, analysts predicted that the land parcels would attract a high number of bids due to their relatively small sizes compared with other GLS sites.

The pair also outperformed a residential site in Slim Barracks Rise launched by GLS in 2019, which drew nine bids and a top bid of $1,001 psf ppr, according to Mr Ong Teck Hui, senior director of research and consultancy at JLL.

The site was later developed into one-north Eden, whose units command a median transacted price of about $2,000 psf, noted ERA's head of research and consultancy Nicholas Mak in June.

The large number of bids and optimistic bid prices for both sites indicate bullish sentiments for residential developments in the one-north precinct, said Mr Lam Chern Woon, head of research and consulting at Edmund Tie.

Ms Tricia Song, head of research for South-east Asia at CBRE, said the Slim Barracks Rise projects could sell for above $2,100 psf when launched.

THE BUSINESS TIMES