ST : URA to call tender for Tanjong Pagar site

Nov 2, 2010

URA to call tender for Tanjong Pagar site

By Aaron Low

A HOTEL site in Tanjong Pagar, at the junction of Peck Seah Street and Gopeng Street, will be put up for sale by public tender in two weeks.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority said yesterday that an unnamed party has put in a bid of $94 million for the 0.23ha site, thereby triggering the tender process.

The 99-year leasehold site in the Central Business District is within walking distance of the Tanjong Pagar MRT station. It can yield a maximum gross floor area of about 208,992 sq ft and can be built up to 30 storeys.

A hotel on the site would do well mainly because there is a lack of quality four-star hotels in the CBD, said Mr Donald Han, managing director of real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield.

He expects bids to come in at between $650 and $750 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr). The trigger bid was $450 psf ppr.

The Tanjong Pagar site has been on the Government's reserve list since February 2008.

Under this list of development sites, a site will be put up for tender only after a developer commits to a bid that reaches a minimum level set by the Government.

Mr Han said that the business convention sector is recovering well and noted that the Amara Singapore Hotel, which is situated nearby, is also doing well.

URA said: 'The successful sale and ongoing development of several new office high-rise residential and hotel sites in the area will further enhance the vibrancy and activities of the Tanjong Pagar commercial district.'

Separately, Asimont@Barker has been launched for collective sale at a reserve price of $68 million.

The 20-year-old, freehold low-rise condominium is situated off Barker Road near Anglo-Chinese School (Barker). It was first put up for collective sale in February 2008, several months before the global financial crisis broke out.

The owners then had set a reserve price of $75 million but did not manage to attract a single bid.

The site has an area of about 43,138 sq ft and with its new reserve price of $68 million, this works out to be about $1,175 psf ppr.

The marketing agent for the collective sale is Realtorhub Real Estate.