Marina Bay Sands Hotel, casino and Merlion statue in Singapore.
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Controlled by Malaysian billionaire Quek Leng Chan, Guocolland has placed a top bid of S$627.8 million ($464 million) on a major residential condominium site near the Singapore River.
The 126,325 square feet (11,736 square meters) site located at the Great World City Commercial Complex can accommodate approximately 475 residential units, according to the city’s redevelopment agency. The 99 leasehold bid is often contested with URA receiving five offers, adding demand for luxury real estate.
While housing demand generally remains selective, RHB Capital Analyst Vijay Natarajan said, “There’s a sense that a sense of urgency creeps up to buyers, as they cut rate forecasts.”
Other bidders on the site include Hong Realty (managed by Quek’s Singapore billionaire cousin Kwek Leng Beng), Singapore-listed Sing Holdings, Tycoon Gordon Tang’s Sing Haiyi, and Chinese developers Kingford Group was included.
With access to the Singapore River promenade and close to the Great World City MRT Station, the property is popular among developers considering its proximity to the Raffles Place Central Business District and Orchard Road Shopping District.
In July, AllGreen Properties, part of the Quoc Group, which owns the Great World City Commercial Complex, sent SG$730 million to a plot of Zion Road, which can produce 610 residential units, but Wing Tai purchased another site in the area for S464 million. Previous month.
Last April, billionaire Kwek’s city development partnered with Japanese developer Mitsui Fudosan to purchase Zion Road’s 15,278 square metre site for around S$1.1 billion. The partner plans to build 740 residential units on a 64-storey residential block with a 69-storey residential block and a 35-storey tower with a retail podium and 290 serviced apartment rental units. There is, city development said.
“There’s a bit of an excess of supply in the area, but that’s probably the government’s intention: to keep the competition in place so prices don’t run wild,” Natarajan said.
Developers are replenishing land banks amid signs where housing demand in Singapore is bounced, and private home prices are 2.3% in the fourth quarter of 2024 after slipping 0.7% in the past three months It’s rising. Softer interest rates sparked a year-end purchase frenzy that promoted the best sales of developer units in November for over a decade.
