Tender closing of Tampines Street 94 and Media Circle GLS sites

There was very obviously more interest in the mixed commercial and residential site at Tampines Street 94 than the long stay serviced apartment (SA2) parcel at Media Circle in one-north, as more developers were more willing to participate in known models for development than in a property type/concept that has yet to convincingly prove itself in Singapore.

Tampines Street 94

The top bid of $1,004 per-square-foot per-plot-ratio (psf ppr) at the mixed commercial and residential site at Tampines Street 94 is above expectations. Even among developers, the difference in land pricing was stark. While the top bid was a mere 1.9% above the second bid, there was a more significant gap of 19.3% and more for the third and subsequent bids which ranged between $814 psf ppr and $841 psf ppr.

This mixed commercial and residential site at Tampines Street 94 is smaller than the one at Tampines Avenue 11 that was awarded to a consortium of UOL-SingLand and CapitaLand for $1.21 billion ($885 psf ppr) in July 2023. The more manageable ticket size of $668.3 million for the plot is around half that of Tampines Avenue 11, and perhaps that contributed to the greater interest from more developers. Six bidders at Tampines Street 94 versus three bids at Tampines Avenue 11.

As such, the possible selling price for the residential units here when ready to launch could start from S$1,900 psf and average at around S$2,000 psf. Potential homebuyers would be enticed by the site’s connectivity to public transport, particularly Tampines West MRT Station, and relative proximity to Temasek Polytechnic and the park and recreational areas at Bedok Reservoir. A new condominium project here can cater to and should be able to attract the sizeable pool of upgraders from the mature HDB towns of Tampines, Bedok and Pasir Ris.

Media Circle

The prospect of a Long Stay Serviced Apartment (SA2) development in one-north appeared to not have been a very attractive proposition for developers, with only one bid at the Media Circle site. Nevertheless, as one-north is an employment centre at a very sizeable business park in a fairly central location with both commercial and high-end industrial activities, this parcel was attractive enough to have a developer participating.

The sole bid of $120.1 million represented a land rate of $461 psf ppr accounting for the parcel’s shorter 60-year tenure versus the norm of 99 years for most residential GLS sites. A fairly recent GLS site with a similar tenure of 60 years was at Parry Avenue, which was designated for senior living and awarded in June 2023 for $370 psf ppr.

Thus, it remains to be seen whether the site will be awarded to this sole bidder, or whether the bid will be deemed too low. Perhaps the authorities should consider that the developer had priced in not only the land tenure of 60 years, but also the risk of the unknown where long stay serviced apartments have yet to prove viable in Singapore, regardless of the site being situated in an employment zone.