Location plan for the Lentor Central site (Picture: URA)
SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - A residential Government Land Sale (GLS) site at Lentor Central has been launched for sale via tender, according to a media release by URA on April 12. The site is under the Confirmed List for the 1H2023 GLS Programme. URA also released a residential site at Lentor Gardens, which is available for application under the Reserve List. Both sites have a leasehold tenure of 99 years.
The Lentor Central site measures 14,703.2 sq m (158,263.9 sq ft). It can yield around 475 residential units, with a maximum gross floor area (GFA) of 41,169 sq m. The site forms part of the 4,090 residential units to be made available via the Confirmed List of the 1H2023 GLS programme, which represents a 17% increase from the 3,505 units made available in 2H2022.
Location plan for the Lentor Gardens site (Picture: URA)
On the other hand, the Lentor Gardens site has a 20,640.8 sq m site area. It can yield 500 residential units, with a maximum GFA of 42,346 sq m.
The Lentor Central site is the sixth in the Lentor Hills estate to be launched for tender. “If all six sites are sold, the Lentor precinct may see an estimated 2,943 units completed over the next four to five years,” says Lee Sze Teck, senior director of research at Huttons Asia.
The first GLS site in the Lentor Hills estate was awarded to GuocoLand for $784.1 million or $1,204 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr) in July 2021. The site was launched for sale as the mixed development Lentor Modern in September 2022 and was well-received, transacting 84% of its 605 units at launch.
The most recent land parcel tendered in the estate was in Lentor Gardens. The tender, which closed on April 4, received just one bid from a joint venture between GuocoLand and Hong Leong Group. Their bid for the site was $486.8 million ($985 psf ppr).
There are a number of existing and upcoming sites around the Lentor Central area: EdgeProp LandLens
Noting that the bid was significantly lower than the land rates of previous Lentor sites, Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex Realty, highlights that a reason for this may be the harmonisation of floor area definitions. Announced by URA in a circular last September, the revised definitions will take effect from June 1.
Under the new guidelines, all strata areas will have to be included as GFA, which is guided by the Master Plan plot ratio for the site. This could potentially eat into the total saleable area for the condo project, Wong observes.
Huttons’ Lee concurs. “The harmonisation of GFA rules is likely to reduce the saleable area by at least 5% and may have an impact on land price and selling price.” He adds that the large pipeline of almost 3,000 units may be also contributing to the downward trend in bids for Lentor sites.
PropNex’s Wong believes the latest Lentor Central GLS site could potentially attract one to two bidders, with the top bid coming in at $434.3 million to $456.4 million (or $980 to $1,030 psf ppr). For the Lentor Gardens site on the Reserve List, she views the likelihood of the site being triggered for sale by developers as “relatively low”, underpinned by the ample upcoming supply in Lentor as well as the cautious market sentiment and reduced risk appetite.
Meanwhile, Huttons’ Lee predicts Lentor Central will receive “between one and three” bidders, with a top bid between $950 to $1,050 psf ppr. He also sees the Lentor Gardens site as unlikely to be triggered for sale.
The tender for the Lentor Central site will close at 12 noon on Sept 12.
Check out the latest listings near Lentor Gardens, Lentor Central, Lentor Modern