Marina View white site closes with sole bid of $1.51b

This low turnout is due to the large quantum of the project, experts say.

According to various sources, the Government Land Sales tender for the Marina View closed with one bid amounting to around $1.15b.
 
This translates to $1,378.5 per square foot. The Marina View white site is envisioned as a residential and hotel development, which includes 905 private residential units, 540 hotel rooms, and 2000 square metres of commercial space. A retail component will also be present. 

Cushman & Wakefield’s Head of Research Wong Xian Yang believed that this poor performance was due to the large scope of the project. 

“In our view, developer participation was below expectations, potentially due to the large quantum of the project, coupled with uncertainties regarding the resumption of global travel and construction amidst the manpower crunch; or perhaps developers may think that there are better risk-adjusted returns in the traditional prime districts such as District 9, 10, 11. Another factor could be that many residential property developers may not be very familiar with hotel development and, thus, decided not to place a bid. We think the Marina View tender would probably garner a much better turnout if it was a mixed-use site without a hotel component.” 

Yang also stated that whilst the development would have more vibrancy in the CBD, the CBD private residential market would still remain a distant market. 

CBRE’s Head of Research Tricia Song, meanwhile, echoed the same sentiment.

“This is in stark contrast with the competitive bidding year-to-date in the five suburban or city fringe residential sites including Lentor Central, Tampines Street 62, Tengah Garden EC, Ang Mo Kio Ave 1, and Northumberland sites – which garnered seven to 15 bids each and bid prices above expectations. The lacklustre interest could be due to the large quantum of over S$1.5b land cost, near-term uncertainties over the CBD office and hotel sectors, and competition from projects that are unsold and potential new supply from redevelopments in the area.”