ST : $110m bid committed, so Hougang site up for tender

Apr 8, 2010

$110m bid committed, so Hougang site up for tender

A SITE in Hougang Avenue 2 has been triggered for tender after an unnamed developer committed to a minimum bid of $109.9 million.

The 3.02ha plot is slated for development into apartment blocks of up to five storeys in height, or landed homes of up to three storeys, and is located adjacent to Hougang HDB town.

Surrounded by mostly landed homes, it has a 99-year lease and a maximum gross floor area of 455,152 sq ft.

CBRE Research executive director Li Hiaw Ho said the site is likely to fetch a land price of $140 million to $160 million, or between $310 and $350 per sq ft (psf) per plot ratio (ppr), if a low-rise condominium of around 400 units is built.

For about the same land price, around 200 cluster houses could be considered for a strata landed housing project, he added.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak said the site could attract six to 11 bids, with the top two or three bids likely coming in at between $180 million and $200 million, or $395 to $440 psf ppr.

Recent launches in the vicinity include the 81-unit Residences Botanique and the 33-unit Wembley Residences, which over the past six months have fetched average prices of around $990 psf and $850 psf respectively.

The terrace and semi-detached houses in the neighbourhood's new freehold cluster projects - including Jansen 8 (10 units), Water Villas (15 units) and Verdana Villas (36 units) - were sold at between $1.8 million and $3 million, according to CBRE.

A residential site in Sengkang West Avenue was sold via the reserve list in February.

And two more sites - in Upper Changi Road North/Flora Drive and Tampines Road - as well as one executive condominium site at the junction of Sengkang East Avenue and Buangkok Drive have been triggered.