A consortium led by UOL Group—the real estate giant controlled by the family of the late banking tycoon Wee Cho Yaw—submitted the highest bid of S$524.3 million ($404 million) for a hotly-contested residential plot on the edge of Singapore’s central business district.
UOL, together with its unit Singapore Land and Kheng Leong Holdings—the Wee family’s privately held property developer—bid against eight other groups, including Malaysian billionaire Quek Leng Chan’s GuocoLand, for the 10,399 square meter site on Dorset Road. Recent robust residential sales at new projects drove the strong interest for this site, Leonard Tay, research head of real estate consultancy Knight Frank, said in an emailed statement.
The consortium plans to build 428 residential units across two 27-story towers should the government award the 99-year leasehold Dorset Road site to its consortium. “This site has strong locational attributes, with close proximity to Farrer Park MRT and within 1-kilometer radius to renowned schools,” Shirly Ng, chief investment and asset officer at UOL, by email.
The acquisition of the site will help UOL replenish its landbank as it steps up marketing of its residential projects amid robust demand. The company and its partners, including CapitaLand Development, will start selling this weekend the Skye at Holland, a 666-unit upscale condominium across two 40-story towers being developed at the expatriate enclave of Holland Village, near the Orchard Road shopping belt.
The launch of Skye at Holland comes as sales of residential projects in the three months ended September jumped about 29% to almost 6,600 from from the previous quarter. UOL’s Upperhouse at Orchard Boulevard was among the top sellers, with about half of the 301-unit residential skyscraper sold during the launch weekend.
“Singapore’s residential market remains resilient, supported by low unemployment and healthy household balance sheets,” Knight Frank’s Tay said. “With most residents remaining employed, and given that strong domestic savings provide households with financial flexibility, sustained demand for new product in well located neighbourhoods with amenities currently persist, in turn incentivising developers to continue acquiring land.”
Other developers are also tapping on the resilient demand. City Developments—controlled by billionaire Kwek Leng Beng and his family—and partner Mitsui Fudosan have started marketing this month Zyon Grand, a 706-unit residential development across two-62 story towers with direct access to the Havelock MRT station. GuocoLand has also recently kicked off sales at Faber Residence, a 399-unit project in the western Singapore town of Clementi.