Lentor Central GLS site receives highest bid of $1,108 psf ppr

SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - The tender for two residential government land sale (GLS) sites in Lentor — Lentor Central and Lentor Hills (Parcel B) — and an executive condominium site at Bukit Batok West Avenue 5 closed today.

Read also: GuocoLand to set new benchmark with launch of Lentor Modern, ‘the only integrated development’ in Lentor area

The Lentor Central site drew just three bids. The top bid of $481.03 million was submitted by a consortium comprising China Communications Construction Co, Soilbuild Group Holdings and United Engineers, a unit of Yanlord Land. This translates to a land rate of $1,108 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr).

The second-highest bid was submitted by CapitaLand Development, which was 3.7% below the top bid at $1,069 psf ppr.

Lee Sze Teck, senior director (research) at Huttons Asia, notes that both the Lentor Central and Lentor Hills (Parcel B) site drew “muted participation”, at three bids and two bids respectively. “This is probably because some developers are cautious of an area where the government can offer up to 11 sites for development,” he remarks.

Two sites have already been launched and sold in the Lentor area — Lentor Hills Road (Parcel A) was awarded to a consortium made up of Hong Leong Holdings, GuocoLand and TID (a joint venture between Hong Leong and Mitsui Fudosan) in January, while another site was awarded to GuocoLand in July 2021, which is where Lentor Modern is being developed as an integrated development. Incidentally, the 605-unit Lentor Modern is scheduled for launch on Sept 16, at an indicative average price of $2,200 to $2,300 psf.

Despite the smaller number of bids, Nicholas Mak, ERA’s head of research & consultancy, notes that the top bids for both the Lentor Central and Lentor Hills (Parcel B) sites are above the $1,060 psf ppr paid for Lentor Hills Road (Parcel A). “This illustrates that the developers expect condominium prices to continue to increase in the near future,” he remarks.

The 99-year leasehold Lentor Central site, which spans 144,713 sq ft, can yield about 470 residential units. Based on the land rate, the future selling price for the development could range between $2,000 and $2,100 psf, says Christine Sun, senior vice-president of research & analytics at OrangeTee & Tie.