Strong bids for plum GLS sites slated to kick-start urban renewal

The most popular state tender this year is Bedok Rise, a greenfield site next to Tanah Merah MRT station that can yield 380 condo units.SINGAPORE - A number of plum state land plots in neighbourhoods slated for major urban renewal were among the more hotly contested sites in recent months.Fuelling developers’ interest are new home sales reaching four-year highs in October 2025, lower borrowing costs, low unsold housing inventory and Singapore’s better-than-expected economic showing in 2025.According to Cushman & Wakefield, Government Land Sales (GLS) sites received an average of five bids per site in 2025, compared with about two bids per site in 2024.Five state land tenders that closed in 2025 attracted between eight and 10 bids each. All were near transport nodes, and in estates earmarked for transformation under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Master Plan 2025.The most popular state tender in 2025 is Bedok Rise, a greenfield site next to Tanah Merah MRT station that can yield 380 condo units.It attracted 10 bids on Nov 27, with the top bid of $464.8 million, or $1,330 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) from the Kuok Group’s Allgreen Properties.Interest in the area is riding on the upcoming Changi Airport Terminal 5, with its first phase scheduled for completion in the mid-2030s, and proximity to business hubs in Paya Lebar, Tampines and Changi.On Nov 12, another site next to Newton MRT station drew an unusually high bid of $566.29 million, or nearly $1,820 psf ppr, from Taiwan’s Huang Hsiang Construction Corp.Huang Hsiang was up against seven other developers, and its bid was the highest land rate for a residential-only state tender since 2018, when a Cuscaden Road GLS parcel was awarded.The 99-year leasehold Newton site, which can yield about 340 private homes, is the first GLS plot along Bukit Timah Road to kick-start the transformation of the area into a mixed-use urban village.Turf City – a new, centrally located housing area in the 2025 master plan – saw developers jostling for first-mover advantage over its maiden plot along Dunearn Road.In June, nine bids came in for the plot, which can yield 380 homes. The top bid of $491.5 million, or $1,410 psf ppr, was submitted by a consortium led by Frasers Property, Sekisui House and CSC Land.Two other plots also bear close watching.One of them is another Turf City site along Dunearn Road that can yield 330 homes, launched for sale on Dec 8.The second, an integrated mixed-use development in the new Bayshore precinct, is expected to draw strong bids. The Bayshore Drive site, which can be built into 1,280 new homes, will be launched in March 2026.Ms Tricia Song, CBRE head of research Singapore and South-east Asia, noted that lower interest rates have catalysed recent rounds of aggressive bidding.“The positive momentum can be maintained as long as new launches do well,” she added.But Ms Song noted that developers’ appetites for land are uneven.“If the first site to be offered in a new neighbourhood is further away from the MRT or centre of development, developers may have to consider the opportunity costs,” she said. “For instance, is there better future land supply around the same location, or other locations in the GLS programme?”In recent months, developers have been more cautious when bidding for larger sites they consider to be risky investments, even though some of these are the first to be offered in a new precinct and confer a first-mover advantage.One example is a plot of land in Telok Blangah, the first site offered from the former Keppel Club area to transform the Greater Southern Waterfront.Only three bids were received for the site, which can yield 745 private homes. The tender was awarded on Nov 20 to the Kingsford Group for $918.3 million or $1,326 psf ppr, with analysts attributing the lukewarm interest to the development risks and significant financial commitment required.Another 6.5ha master developer site in Jurong Lake District (JLD), slated to be Singapore’s largest mixed-use business district outside the city centre, was recently split into three more palatable parcels to try to entice more interest.This came after a tender for the mega site was not awarded in September 2024 because a bid of about $2.5 billion, or $640 psf ppr, was deemed too low.On Dec 2, the authorities instead unveiled revised plans for the JLD, starting with the release of a white site in Town Hall Link on the 2026 first-half reserve list.Reserve list plots are released for sale only if a developer offers a minimum price deemed acceptable to the Government, and there is sufficient market interest.In comparison, confirmed list sites are launched for sale on a pre-determined date, typically through a tender process.Bids for two other sites – one in Marina Gardens Crescent and another in Media Circle – were also rejected in 2024 for being too low, with analysts noting that the Government has been trimming the confirmed list while expanding the reserve list since the first half of 2025.Even though private residential prices have risen alongside stronger sales volumes, the Government has also continued to scale back on private residential land supply for a second consecutive half-year.This comes as developers are expected to be selective in their bidding due to ongoing economic uncertainty and development risks posed by large sites.Perhaps the authorities are also pulling back on supply to ensure the housing market remains sustainable and private home price growth is kept in check.This is especially pertinent as more interest rate cuts could be on the horizon. The three-month compounded Singapore Overnight Rate Average, or Sora, may drop further, but this is likely to be modest given current macroeconomic conditions. This rate, which banks use to price home loan packages, was at 1.19 per cent as at Dec 16.In the light of slowing local wage and job growth, and a growing number of companies across various sectors cutting their local headcount to cope with high costs, competition and global trade uncertainty, some temperance by developers may be necessary, as it is hard to predict if home buyer demand will hold in the year ahead.Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproductionDiscover how to enjoy other premium articles here