8 bids submitted for first GLS site in Bayshore; Gordon and Celine Tang offer highest at S$658.9 million

SINGAPORE: Among the eight bids that were handed in for the tender for the first private housing Government Land Sale (GLS) site at Bayshore precinct, the top bid, S$658.9 million, was from Sing-Haiyi Garnet, which is backed by Gordon and Celine Tang.

The Bayshore Road precinct, right beside the Bayshore MRT Station, is 112,992 square feet and is expected to yield around 515 units. Like others around Singapore, it is a 99-year leasehold site. Bidding closed on Tuesday (Mar 18). Other parties that put in bids are Sing Holdings, Kwek Leng Beng’s City Developments, and a joint bid between the Japanese firm Sekisui House and Thailand’s Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi’s Frasers Property.

The S$658.9 million bid from SingHaiyi-Garnet, which is a joint venture between SingHaiyi Group and Haiyi Holdings, equates to a land rate of S$1,388 psf per plot ratio (ppr).

According to a report in EdgeProp, SingHaiyi-Garnet’s bid is above the second-highest bid of S$653.53 million placed by Sing Holdings (S$1,377 per square foot [psf] ppr) by only 0.82%. The third highest bid of S$620.8 million (S$1,308 psf ppr), had been placed by City Developments.

EdgeProp also quoted the CEO of OrangeTee & Tie as saying, “The highest bid prices submitted exceeded our initial expectations, which may indicate strong confidence in the potential of this site.”

Knight Frank, meanwhile, was quoted in a Forbes piece as saying that this was the first time a plot of land had drawn this much interest in the past few years.

“Perhaps developers were saving their gunpowder at previous tenders for the more attractive sites, such as Bayshore Road,” it quoted Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank in Singapore, as saying.

Mr Tay also said that the project could fetch a minimum price of  S$2,700 psf, although this depends on costs for design and construction. This means, however, that a one-bedroom unit measuring 500 square feet (46 square meters) could start at a cool S$1.35 million.

The CEO of Huttons Asia, Mark Yip, also remarked that the last time a private housing GLS received this many bids was in January 2022, when a plot at Jalan Tembusu, also received eight bids. The plot is now the site of Tembusu Grand.

In November, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released the tender process for residential sites in Singapore located at Media Circle and Bayshore Road. The three sites are part of the Confirmed List in the H2 2024 Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme. /TISG

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