Santarli, Apex Make $368M Top Bid for Western Singapore Residential Site

The Urban Redevelopment Authority on Tuesday announced tender results for two western Singapore residential sites, with a consortium led by Santarli Realty and Apex Asia Development entering the top bid of S$504.5 million ($368.1 million) for the plot at Dairy Farm Walk in Bukit Panjang.

Joining the pair of private builders in the bid were Soon Li Heng Civil Engineering and Kay Lim Realty, according to a URA statement. The only other tenderer for the 99-year leasehold site was a partnership of Sim Lian Group affiliates with a distant runner-up bid of S$410 million.

Situated at the intersection with Petir Road, the Dairy Farm Walk site can supply 540 homes and lies five minutes by foot from Sim Lian’s under-development The Botany at Dairy Farm project. Sim Lian won the latter site in March 2022 for S$347 million (then $255 million), or S$980 per square foot of accommodation, at a tender that drew seven bids.

Santarli-Apex’s bid of S$1,020 ($744) per square foot is a bullish bet that beat expectations, said Knight Frank Singapore research head Leonard Tay.

“Perhaps with 98 percent of the units at The Botany at Dairy Farm sold as of November 2024, the consortium that submitted the top bid was keen to continue supplying new product to the Dairy Farm area with its apparent popularity,” Tay said.

Broad Appeal

The Dairy Farm Walk site, yielding 494,623 square feet (45,952 square metres) of gross floor area, could have a break-even cost ranging from S$1,900 to S$2,000 per square foot depending on technical, material and design factors, with launch prices starting from S$2,100, according to Knight Frank.

“With a possible average price of above S$2,200 per square foot when launched, this might appeal to HDB upgraders in the west of Singapore, employees working in the commercial and industrial zones in the west, as well as local homebuyers looking to downgrade from landed housing in the nearby Chestnut and Cashew landed estate,” Tay said.

Established in 1983, Santarli Construction Pte Ltd started out as a general contractor before progressing into larger construction and development projects including the Sant Ritz condo project on Pheng Geck Avenue in Singapore.

Apex Asia was founded in 2023 by former Qingjian Realty executive chairman and mainland native Li Jun. In April of last year, Apex acquired the Sin Ming Centre in District 20 for S$49 million. It plans to launch the 50 Playfair Road industrial project this quarter, according to its website, after acquiring the former Noel Building for S$81 million in November 2023, per brokerage Edmund Tie.

Huttons Asia CEO Mark Yip noted that while the level of participation for Dairy Farm Walk was down from previous tenders for the locale, the bid price was the highest ever for a parcel in Dairy Farm, signalling confidence in an area that has seen improvements in connectivity and amenities.

“As of 14 January 2025, only one unit remained unsold in the Dairy Farm precinct while less than 180 units are available in District 23,” Yip said. “There may not be any unsold units by the time the project on this plot is launched in 2026.”

Tengah Garden’s Tight Tender

The other site tender, for Tengah Garden Avenue, saw a top bid of S$675 million ($492.6 million) by a consortium of Hong Leong Group units Intrepid Investments and GuocoLand in league with CSC Land Group, a division of state-backed Chinese engineering giant CSCEC.

Following closely behind were bids by Chinese-owned local builder Kingsford ($670.1 million) and Sim Lian affiliates ($668 million).

The Tengah Garden Avenue site can supply 860 homes and is zoned for residential with commercial space of 32,292 square feet at the first storey, providing a maximum GFA of 822,018 square feet.

The top bid of S$821 ($599) per square foot of accommodation would likely translate to an average selling price of S$2,000 per square foot, according to Knight Frank.

“Although this is untested territory in a newly developing housing estate with developers putting in fairly conservative bids taking into account the ancillary retail component, the project will pique the interest of first-time homebuyers and upgraders such as young families,” Tay said.

A decision on tender awards will be made after the bids have been evaluated, the URA said.