Woodlands site tender bid tops at $247 million

Hao Yuan Investment Pte Ltd won against a small field of five bidders, with an expected sell price of up to $750 psf.

The sell price is based on an estimate from Colliers International, which pegged the break-even cost for developing the Executive Condominium site at Woodlands Avenue 5 and Woodlands Drive 16 at around $620-$670 psf.

There is a risk though in selling units at that price range, given the performance of comparable sites in the area: "While there have been not many transactions at the neighbouring EC – La Casa, there was however a transaction registered about $740 per sq ft at the end of last year."

The tender closing for the EC site drew a moderate response with five bids, according to official data released.

"Even though this site did not attract that many bids, the top two bids still reflect optimism from developers. The highest bid at $247 million was submitted by Hao Yuan Investment Pte Ltd, a China-linked company. This reflects a land price of $317.65 per sq ft per plot ratio and is 3.5% above the second bid," said Colliers International.

"This is the second Government Land Sales (GLS) tender that Hao Yuan Investment Pte Ltd has participated in, the first being the land site acquisition of The Nautical @ Jalan Sendudok in May 2011," it added.