GuocoLand emerges as dominant player at upcoming Lentor Hills estate
A 99-year leasehold GLS site at Lentor Gardens drew just one bid from GuocoLand and Intrepid Investments (a subsidiary of Hong Leong Group) today. At a rate of $985 psf per plot ratio, the joint venture partners bid $486.8 million.
“For the future development,” said a GuocoLand spokesperson, “we are envisioning a new high-end residential development with around 533 units along with 600 sqm of childcare facilities. The development will complement our other two upcoming developments – Lentor Modern and Lentor Hills Residences – in our plans to transform the Lentor Hills estate to be widely known as a premium residential area.”
According to Mark Yip, CEO of Huttons Asia, the land rate of $958 psf ppr is the lowest for a land parcel in the Lentor precinct, making it the first residential GLS tender to receive only one bid since the Silat Avenue GLS site in 2018. That site was won by a consortium led by UOL Group for $1.035 billion and launched as the 1,074-unit Avenue South Residences in September 2019 before being fully sold.
The last two residential GLS sites to be sold in Lentor were at Lentor Central and Lentor Hill (Parcel B). The former was awarded to a consortium comprising China Communications Construction, Soilbuild Group Holdings and United Engineers with a bid of $481.03 million ($1,108 psf ppr). TID (a joint venture between Hong Leong Group and Mitsui Fudosan) was the top bidder for the latter at $276.36 million ($1,130 psf ppr), with an expected output of 265 units.
A GLS site at Lentor Hills Road (Parcel A) was sold for $586.6 million ($1,060 psf ppr) in January 2022. This led to the upcoming 598-unit Lentor Hills Residences, a joint venture between Hong Leong Holdings, GuocoLand and TID, which is expected to be launched soon.
The launch of 605-unit Lentor Modern integrated development by GuocoLand last September saw a successful 84% of the units sold on launch weekend. The price per square foot was $2,104 on average. GuocoLand purchased this GLS site for $784.1 million ($1,204 psf ppr) in July 2021.
Seen through the perspective of Mark Yip, the bids for land sites around Lentor have been decreasing due to multiple factors, such as the risk of being slapped with Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty should all units be unable to be sold within five years, among other considerations.
Two other GLS sites located at Lentor are now available for sale under the 1H2023 GLS Programme, the first being a 475-unit yield at Lentor Central expected to be launched this month, with the second 500-unit residential site at Lentor Gardens on the Reserved List. This could potentially bring some 3,500 new units in the area possibly served by 11,000 new residents.
Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore, affirms that the Lentor Gardens site, and its close proximity to features like the Lentor MRT station, Thomson Nature Park, Yio Chu Kang Stadium and Sports Complex and CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School, should draw the attention of homebuyers.
Steven Tan, CEO of OrangeTee & Tie, believes that the units at the site could be priced around $1,950 to $2,050 psf.
All in all, the Lentor area presents many appealing opportunities with the potential to generate a high quality residential development.