Just 2 bids for River Valley GLS site; none for Upper Thomson plot

Wing Tai unit’s 464m top bid for River Valley site 12.5% below that of nearby site in 2020

- Grace Leong

Bidding interest remains muted with just two bids submitted at the lower end of market expectations for a state land plot in the prime River Valley residential district, while a pilot site for 100 long-stay serviced apartments and 540 private homes in Upper Thomson Road got the cold shoulder.

Wing Tai Holdings unit Winchamp Investment submitted a top bid of nearly $464 million or $1,325 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr) for River Valley Green Parcel A, which can yield 380 private homes. The second bid of $444.9 million came from Hong Leong Group unit Hong Realty.

Despite the River Valley Green site’s palatable size and proximity to Great World City MRT station, the top bid for it is 12.5 per cent below that for the nearby Irwell Bank Road site. The latter site, where the 540-unit Irwell Hill Residences now sits, drew seven bids and was awarded at $1,515 psf ppr in January 2020, when market conditions were rosier, CBRE noted.

Meanwhile, there were no bids for Upper Thomson Road Parcel A – one of two Government Land Sales (GLS) sites launched in December 2023 to pilot a new class of long-stay serviced apartments, which come with a three-month minimum stay period.

It is the first residential GLS land parcel in at least ­­­20 years not to garner any bids, noted Ms Tricia Song, CBRE’s research head for Singapore and South-east Asia.