Holland Road site attracts 15 bids
Location map of the land parcel at Holland Road. Source: URA
UPDATED: The tender for a plum commercial and residential site at Holland Road in District 10 closed on Tuesday (20 Mar) after attracting strong interest from developers.
A total of 15 bids were submitted for the approximately 247,214 sq ft plot – the first sale site of the Holland Village Extension. It was launched for sale by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) via the dual-envelope concept and price tender system on 30 November 2017.
More: URA launches two sites at Mattar Road and Silat Avenue, could yield 1,375 homes
Several big-name developers put in more than one bid with different concept proposals, through joint ventures and consortiums. They include Far East Organization, Lendlease and GuocoLand.
Only the envelopes containing concept proposals were opened yesterday, and will be first evaluated by a Concept Evaluation Committee based on several criteria including design concept, quality of public realm and track record.
Acceptable concept proposals will then move onto the second stage, where URA will review the price envelopes. The site will then be awarded to the tenderer with the highest bid price.
Artist’s impression of the first sale site at Holland Village Extension.
The site has a maximum gross floor area of 642,766 sq ft, of which about 145,312 sq ft has been set aside as retail space. Offered on a 99-year lease, it could yield 570 housing units.
The land parcel is located close to Holland Village MRT station, Holland Village Market & Food Centre and schools.
“The future development is envisioned to build on and reinforce the continued success of Holland Village through enhancing the area’s buzz with more activity generating uses such as retail and dining options and providing more residences in the heart of Holland Village,” URA said in an earlier release.
Analysts were not surprised by the overwhelming response to the tender given the attractiveness of the site and the upturn in the property market.
“As expected, many major players submitted bids with a number of them as consortiums. The huge capital outlay with a land price possibly exceeding $1 billion and the necessary experience in developing and managing the non-residential component would have led to the tie-ups,” said Ong Teck Hui, national director, research & consultancy at JLL.
Desmond Sim, CBRE research head for Singapore and Southeast Asia, said: “The tender drew added interest because of the weightage placed on the concepts and designs proposed and the ability to integrate the existing businesses together with the new-build environment.
“As it is a mixed development, as well as a Government Land Sales site, the tender presents greater opportunities for a divestment of uses and a clearer acquisition process for developers compared to participating in a collective sale.”
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
