The Media Circle site in the One-North area (Image: Google)
Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority on Thursday released two residential sites under the Government Land Sales programme, including the first plot to be used entirely for long-stay rental apartments, as the city-state seeks to boost the supply of living spaces.
The Media Circle plot can potentially yield 520 apartments, the URA said in a release. The site within the One-North research and development hub in western Singapore’s Queenstown area requires that developers make the units available for lease as serviced residences with a minimum stay of three months.
The agency also launched a plot along Margaret Drive in Queenstown with a capacity to provide 460 private homes. The two sites form part of the 5,450 residential units to be made available via the GLS confirmed list for the first half of 2024.
“Of the two sites released for sale today, we expect the Margaret Drive plot should garner stronger interest, owing to its proximity to the Queenstown MRT station, and its location in a popular, well-established residential estate in the city fringe,” said Wong Siew Ying, head of research and content at PropNex.
Long-Stay Rentals
The URA in April awarded a tender for a combined rental residential and condo project on Zion Road in District 10 to a joint venture of City Developments Ltd and Mitsui Fudosan.
URA chief executive Lim Eng Hwee (Image: URA)
The duo had placed a below-expectations S$1.1 billion ($820 million) offer as the sole bidder for the luxury site, which was the city-state’s first to be designated for long-stay rental apartments. Less than a week after that tender award, an unnamed developer made a S$605 million offer for an adjacent site, triggering a separate tender.
For the Media Circle plot, which lies opposite the Grab Singapore headquarters on One-North Avenue and adjacent to production house Infinite Studios, PropNex anticipates one or two bids — likely from developers with hospitality experience. The agency predicts a top bid between S$222 million and S$261 million, or S$850-S$1,000 per square foot of gross floor area, for the right to develop the 60-year leasehold site.
“Apart from the ability to tap recurring income from leasing the units, developers also do not have to worry about marketing and selling any residential units or falling foul of the five-year ABSD deadline, as the entire development is for long-stay serviced apartments,” Wong said.
Queenstown Convenience
The Margaret Drive site lies between Queenstown Primary School and the SkyVille @ Dawson public housing project, within a 10-minute walk of Queenstown MRT station.
No new GLS residential sites have been sold in the area since 2017, according to PropNex, which expects two or three bids for the freshly launched plot with a top offer between S$474 million and S$517 million, translating to S$1,100-S$1,200 per square foot of GFA.
“We believe the future project on the site should be popular owing to its convenient location — it takes less than 20 minutes to commute from the Queenstown MRT station to Raffles Place via the East-West Line,” Wong said. The private homes could also appeal to HDB upgraders in the area, she added.
The tender for the Margaret Drive site will close at noon on 1 August, together with an executive condo site at Jalan Loyang Besar, while the tender for the Media Circle site will close at noon on 19 September, together with a commercial and residential site at Tampines Street 94.
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