Hong Leong Led Consortium Submits Top Bid 821 Psf Ppr Tengah Gardens Avenue Gls Site
The tender for the Government Land Sale (GLS) site at Tengah Gardens Avenue closed on January 14 with three bids. A consortium led by Hong Leong, which includes GuocoLand Singapore and CSC Land Group, submitted the top bid of $675 million, or $821 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).
The site, which is zoned “Residential with Commercial at 1st storey”, has a 99-year leasehold and spans approximately 273,906 square feet. It has a maximum gross floor area (GFA) of 821,720 square feet, and URA estimates that it could potentially yield up to 860 residential units.
If awarded, the Hong Leong-led consortium plans to build an 860-unit condominium, taking advantage of the enhanced connectivity from the upcoming Jurong Region Line (JRL) nearby. This will contribute to the growing development of the new Tengah estate, according to Loke Kee Yeu, general manager (Projects) at Hong Leong Holdings Limited.
The Tengah Gardens Avenue site is conveniently located near the upcoming Hong Kah MRT Station on the JRL, which will be one stop from the upcoming Tengah Town Centre and offer a direct route to the second Central Business District (CBD) at Jurong Lake District.
The top bid of $821 psf ppr for the Tengah Gardens Avenue site is only 0.73% higher than the second-place bid of $815 psf ppr, submitted by Chinese developer Kingsford Group. Local developer Sim Lian Group placed the third and final bid of $812 psf ppr.
Despite the recent increase in homebuyer activity, developers remain cautious, according to Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore. Another GLS site at Dairy Farm Walk, which closed on January 14, only received two bids. “Developers may have decided to focus on existing sites that are currently being prepared for launch in 2025,” explains Tay. He also notes that the tight bid price spread between the three bids (less than 1%) suggests that developers are taking a conservative approach.
Mark Yip, CEO of Huttons Asia, believes that developers are being mindful of keeping their land bids reasonable to maintain an attractive selling price for buyers. He expects more property developers to submit joint bids for GLS sites this year in order to diversify risk. This could be one reason why the number of bids for GLS tenders has remained around three.
Another factor contributing to the low number of bids could be the current availability of GLS sites, according to Marcus Chu, CEO of ERA. “With seven sites still open for tender and six more to be launched in the first half of 2025, developers are taking a measured approach and weighing their options amid moderated interest rates,” he explains.
Justin Quek, CEO of OrangeTee & Tie, believes that interest in the site may have been tempered by the availability of another nearby GLS site. Developers may be considering bidding on the GLS site along Lakeside Drive and Lakeside MRT, scheduled to launch for tender in April 2025.
If awarded, the Tengah Gardens Avenue site will be home to the first private residential site (excluding Executive Condominiums) in the Tengah HDB township. The first EC, Copen Grand, was successfully launched for sale in 2022. The 639-unit project was sold out within a month of its launch by joint developers City Developments Ltd (CDL) and MCL Land, who secured the EC site with a winning bid of $400.32 million, or $603 psf ppr, in May 2021.
The opportunity to launch the first private condominium in the new Tengah estate may have attracted the Hong Leong-led consortium, according to ERA’s Chu. “Having previously made successful bids for sites in Lentor, Upper Thomson and Bugis, they see this as an opportunity to do the same in Tengah.”
As the first private condominium, the development could attract a wider range of buyers than Executive Condominiums, which are subject to HDB eligibility criteria and restrictions such as a five-year minimum occupation period (MOP) and a monthly household income ceiling of $16,000, says Mohan Sandrasegeran, head of research & data analytics at SRI.
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The Tengah Gardens Avenue site is also situated within 2km of the future Anglo-Chinese School (Primary), notes Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex. As the school is set to become a co-ed school in 2030, the site’s proximity could be very attractive to families with school-aged children, he adds.
If the site is awarded at the top bid of $821 psf ppr, PropNex estimates that the average selling price of the new private condominium could be around $2,000 psf.