ST : Bid for prime site exceeds expectations

Sep 2, 2010

Bid for prime site exceeds expectations

A PRIME site in Bedok New Town slated for a retail and residential development has drawn a bumper bid from two units of South-east Asia's biggest developer.

A 50:50 joint venture between CapitaLand Residential Singapore and CapitaMalls Asia lodged an offer of $788.89 million for the land, or nearly $841 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr).

Its offer was well above analyst tips and 21 per cent above the second-highest bid of $650.89 million from a joint venture between Singapore Press Holdings' Moon Holdings and United Engineers' UED Capital Venture.

Analysts had expected bids of $500 to $700 psf ppr. The 24,902 sq m site, which attracted nine bids, is next to an MRT station and will be integrated with a new bus interchange.

A CapitaLand spokesman said its development will comprise about 500 apartments above a shopping mall and would have direct access to the Bedok MRT station and the upcoming bus interchange.

Property experts noted that the site is rare and that there is a lack of retail mall space in the mature town of Bedok.

CBRE Research's executive director, Mr Li Hiaw Ho, said the site allows for a mall with a net lettable area of up to 250,000 sq ft.

Average retail rents for a suburban mall on this land could be $16 to $18 psf a month on a stabilised basis while condo units could possibly sell for above $1,000 psf, he said.

JOYCE TEO