THE Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday launched the sale tender of a site slated for a combined residential and commercial development at the junction of Choa Chu Kang Road and Woodlands Road.
The 1.56ha integrated site, which has an existing commercial block, will be co-located with the Ten Mile Junction LRT station on the third storey of the podium block, the URA said.
It will also be near the future Bukit Panjang MRT station, part of the future Downtown Line 2 and due for completion by 2015.
The successful bidder will have clearance to build a block of approximately 14 storeys, comprising flats or serviced apartments. The existing two-storey commercial block has a maximum gross floor area of 11,259 sq m and is currently let out to Sheng Siong Supermarket. Its tenancy expires in November and it has no renewal option.
The plot is the first residential parcel on the confirmed list of sale sites to be unveiled for the first half of the year.
In September last year, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan announced the Government’s intention to reinstate the confirmed list following its suspension in October 2008 to calm the market.
Sites on the confirmed list are released for tender according to scheduled dates, without the need for developers to indicate prior interest.
CBRE Research expects bids to range from $135 million to $150 million – reflecting $60 million to $65 million for the residential component, and $75 million to $85 million for the commercial podium.
Ngee Ann Polytechnic lecturer Nicholas Mak believes the plot will attract interest, with between five and eight parties bidding. He said the LRT station and the commercial component could help drive bids to between $140 million and $147 million, or $373 per sq ft (psf) to $391 psf of potential gross floor area.
DTZ head of South-east Asia research Chua Chor Hoon, however, expects to see fewer than five bids because developers will have to build over the existing podium rather than over a vacant piece of land.
The site was first made available for sale under the reserve list back in 2002, but developers showed no interest and it was not freed for sale.
It was next put up for sale under the confirmed list in late December 2007 at a time when the market started to weaken.
Only two bids were submitted by the time the tender closed in April 2008, and both were opportunistic with the higher bid at $61 million and the lower bid at just $45.68 million.
The higher bid worked out to $162.40 psf of potential gross floor area. The Government rejected it on the grounds that the price was not high enough.
Property experts had expected to see bids of at least $200 psf to $250 psf at that time.
CBRE Research executive director Li Hiaw Ho believes the project is likely to attract HDB upgraders and those who work in Bukit Panjang, Choa Chu Kang and Woodlands.
If the site is awarded, the potential selling price for newly developed residential units will be around $650 psf to $700 psf, he said.
Source: Straits Times, 6 Jan 2010
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