The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has recently released two residential Government Land Sale (GLS) sites under the Reserved List of the 2H2024 GLS Programme on Dec 3. These sites, namely Holland Plain and River Valley Green (Parcel C), are now open for application and will be launched for tender if a developer indicates a minimum price that is approved by the government. In the event that more than one developer submits a minimum price which is close to the reserve price set by the government, the Reserved List site may also be considered for tender launch.
The Holland Plain GLS site has an area of approximately 169,175 square feet and a maximum gross floor area (GFA) of about 304,522 square feet. It has the potential to yield 280 residential units and is a 99-year leasehold site located next to the Holland Link GLS site which was launched for tender on Dec 3. The site is estimated to be able to accommodate around 230 residential units.
Mark Yip, CEO of Huttons Asia, believes that the chances of the Holland Plain site being triggered for sale are low, as developers are likely to wait and see the response to the Holland Link GLS site first before making a move. The tender for the Holland Plain site will only close in July 2025.
On the other hand, the River Valley Green (Parcel C) site is situated next to the Great World MRT Station on the Thomson-East Coast Line. This 99-year leasehold site covers an area of 123,964 square feet with a maximum GFA of 433,882 square feet. It has the potential to yield approximately 470 new housing units.
Yip predicts that the chances of this site being triggered for sale are also low, especially since there is an existing tender for the neighboring River Valley Green (Parcel B) plot that will close in February next year. The site can accommodate 580 units, including 220 long-stay serviced apartments.
Apart from that, there are also three other recently awarded GLS sites located near the River Valley Green (Parcel C) site. River Valley Green (Parcel A) was awarded to Winchamp Investment, a subsidiary of Wing Tai Holdings, in June after the developer submitted the top bid of $464 million, or $1,325 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr). The site will be developed into a residential development comprising of more than 400 units.
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In April, Zion Road (Parcel A) was awarded to a joint venture between City Developments and Mitsui Fudosan, as they submitted the sole bid of $1.107 billion ($1,202 psf ppr). The joint venture announced that they will be exploring a mixed-use project at the site, which will consist of approximately 740 residential units, a retail podium, and a block with 290 rental apartment units.
At the same time, Allgreen Properties won the bid for Zion Road (Parcel B) in August for $730.09 million ($1,304 psf ppr). The site has the potential to yield around 610 residential units.
Given the upcoming supply from these three sites, Yip believes that there is little incentive for developers to trigger the River Valley Green (Parcel C) site for sale.