Property Herald: Whetting the Developers' Appetite - Three GLS Sites Launched for Sale

Introduction

The Singapore government launched three 99-year leasehold residential development land parcels for sale by tender today. The sites are located along Telok Blangah Road, Dorset Road and Upper Thomson Road.

Expected reaction from property developers

These tender of these three residential sites would whet the appetite of property developers, notwithstanding the current global geopolitical and trade tensions. There are a few reasons for the anticipated healthy interests from developers for these land parcels.

Firstly, it is mainly because the sites are attractively located. Each site is situated within a 5-minute walk to the nearest MRT station and retails amenities. With the rising prices of buying and owning a car in Singapore, many homebuyers and tenants prefer to live in locations that are near to a MRT station when considering the purchase and renting of homes.

Secondly, the new developments on each of these three sites will face little competition in the vicinity when they are expected to be launched sometime in 2027. The new residential developments could tap on the pent-up housing demand in their respective area. This would give the developers a stronger hand in setting the price of the new project launch.

For example, the most recent private residential launch near the Telok Blangah GLS site is 429-unit "The Reef at King's Dock" in January 2021. There would be a gap of more than six years between the launch of "The Reef at King's Dock" and the future project on the current GLS site.

Site details

The details of each of the GLS site and the median prices of comparable condominiums are shown in the table below.

Table 1: GLS site information, estimated land values and number of tender bids

GLS sites	Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A)	Dorset Road	Telok Blangah Road
Land area (sq ft)	262,874.9	111,933.8	147,346.0
Plot ratio	2.2	3.5	4.7
Gross floor area (sq ft)	578,333.6	391,773.7	692,527.8
Potential No. of housing units	595	425	745
Max building height above mean sea level (metre)	80 to 100	104	164
Median prices of comparable new condominiums ($psf)	$2,200 to $2,350	$2,600 to $2,750	$2,700 to $2,800