Sinarmas Land and MCL Land submit highest bid of $1,223 psf ppr for Pine Grove Parcel B

– total reserve price is $1.32b

The tender for the government land sale (GLS) site at Pine Grove (Parcel B) closed on Nov 7 with three bids. The highest bid of $692.388 million came from a joint venture between Sinarmas Land and MCL Land. Sinarmas Land is a Singapore-listed real estate developer and a subsidiary of Indonesia’s largest conglomerate, Sinar Mas Group, controlled by the Widjaya family, one of Indonesia’s richest. MCL Land, a member of the Jardine Matheson Group under Hongkong Land Holdings, has developed residential projects in Singapore and Malaysia.

If the joint venture wins the site, it will mark Sinarmas Land’s first residential development in Singapore. Incidentally, MCL Land and Chinese developer CSC Land submitted the highest of six bids for the Clementi Avenue 1 site at the close of the tender on Nov 7. The bid price of $692.388 million translates to $1,223 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr), which is 23.8% higher than the second-highest bid of $988 psf ppr submitted by the joint venture between UOL Group and Singapore Land (SingLand) Group.

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However, the highest bid of $1,223 psf ppr is 7.2% lower than the $1,318 psf ppr submitted by UOL and SingLand for the neighbouring Parcel A. Parcel A drew five bids at the close of its tender last year, compared to three for Parcel B.

“The comparatively less enthusiastic response for this site tender is not unexpected, given that there is competing supply right next door at Pine Grove (Parcel A),” says Wong Siew Ying, PropNex head of research and content. UOL-SingLand launched Pinetree Hill in mid-July. To date, 152 units (29.23%) have been sold at an average price of $2,388 psf based on caveats lodged.

JLL head of residential research and consultancy, Chia Siew Chuin, reckons the lukewarm response could be due to market expectations that UOL and SingLand may have been keen to defend the pricing of their Pinetree Hill development and bid for the site. “That could also have discouraged other potential bidders from participating,” she observes.

Justin Quek, deputy CEO of OrangeTee & Tie, reasons that “there may be a sufficient time gap between the launch of Pinetree Hill and the future project at Parcel B to ensure enough demand to absorb the additional supply of new homes in the area”.

The 269,552 sq ft, 99-year leasehold site at Parcel B has a maximum gross floor area of 566,003 sq ft and can be developed into a new residential project with an estimated 565 units. PropNex’s Wong estimates the future average selling price of the new condo at Parcel B to be around $2,300 to $2,400 psf.

Despite the potential for collective sales in the area, such as the neighbouring Pine Grove privatised HUDC estate which was launched for collective sale in September with a guide price of $1.95 billion, developers may still prefer GLS sites, as seen from the multiple bids received for Parcel B, notes OrangeTee’s Quek.

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Preview crowd at Pinetree Hill, where 152 units have been sold to date at an average price of $2,388 psf (Photo: UOL Group)

The highest bid of $1,223 psf ppr submitted for Pine Grove Parcel B today is also the lowest of the three closing sites today, adds OrangeTee’s Quek. The other two sites were at Toa Payoh Lorong 1, where the highest bid was $1,360 psf ppr, and Clementi Avenue 1 with a top bid of $1,250 psf ppr.

Read also: UOL bags 12 awards and seals Top Developer Award

SRI head of research and data analytics, Mohan Sandrasegeran, says that uncompleted and unsold residential units in the Rest of Central Region (RCR) totalled 4,470 units in 3Q2023 – the lowest point since 4Q2021, when the unsold inventory hit 4,306 units. This is likely to have motivated some developers to secure residential sites in the RCR segment to bolster their land portfolios.

Check out the latest listings for Pinetree Hill properties.

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