East Coast Road, Serangoon North View private housing sites launched for sale

SINGAPORE –The Urban Redevelopment Authority on Sept 29 released two residential sites for sale – one in East Coast Road and another along Serangoon North View. 

The parcel in East Coast Road, which is on the confirmed list, can house 85 new private units. The Serangoon North View plot can yield 235 homes and is being released on the reserve list.

Confirmed-list sites are launched on schedule regardless of demand, while those on the reserve list are tendered only when developers make an offer acceptable to the Government.

Located not far from Siglap MRT station, the East Coast Road site comprises two plots separated by an open drain. It is bounded by two other roads – East Coast Terrace and Siglap Road – and spans a total site area of just 5,503 square metres, with a maximum gross floor area (GFA) of 8,805 sq m.

This makes the 99-year leasehold site one of the smallest private housing parcels under the government land sales (GLS) programme in several years, noted Wong Siew Ying, PropNex head of research and content. It is also the first residential GLS plot in the Siglap area in a decade.

With the site’s small size, analysts expect demand to be selective but healthy, especially from small and medium-sized developers.

Units must average at least 100 sq m in size “as the site sits within an area identified as having traffic issues”, added Wong.

The successful tenderer may also develop long-stay serviced apartments on one of the two plots. Alternatively, developers can build a single project over both parcels, or two separate projects on each plot.

Over in Serangoon, the reserve-list site spans 8,085.9 sq m with a maximum GFA of 20,214 sq m. It sits beside the 613-unit The Garden Residences, which a Keppel Land-Wing Tai joint venture acquired for $965 per square foot per plot ratio in August 2017.

Market watchers do not expect the site to be triggered for sale, as there is ample supply nearby.

This includes two recently awarded GLS sites in Chuan Grove, which can yield more than 1,000 units. There is another Chuan Grove GLS plot on the reserve list, which will be made available in October. It could yield an estimated 935 units. THE BUSINESS TIMES