On December 3, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) launched tenders for two residential Government Land Sale (GLS) sites at Holland Link and Chuan Grove. These sites, both with 99-year leases, are part of the Confirmed List for the second half of the 2024 GLS Programme.
The Holland Link site, located along Holland Link off Bukit Timah Road in District 10, covers an area of 185,141 square feet with a maximum gross floor area of 257,225 square feet. It is estimated to potentially yield around 230 housing units, according to URA. This site is the first GLS plot to be launched in the upcoming Holland Plan precinct, one of URA’s three upcoming precincts alongside Bayshore and Kampong Bugis, notes Marcus Chu, CEO of ERA Singapore.
ERA’s Chu predicts that developers will bid on the Holland Link site to take advantage of being the first to introduce 230 units into the pipeline. He notes the site’s favorable location within a 2km radius of several schools, including Methodist Girls’ School, Henry Park Primary School, Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School, and National Junior College, which could be a plus for families with young children looking for priority admission into these schools.
The Holland Link GLS site also benefits from its close proximity to the Brizay Park Good Class Bungalow area, making it likely that future developments in the Holland Plain precinct will focus on low-density private residences, as predicted by Mark Yip, CEO of Huttons Asia. Yip expects the site to receive between one and two bids, with the top bid ranging from $1,200 to $1,300 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).
Similarly, Chu foresees a muted response to the site, with a potential of up to three bids. He notes that with a total of seven residential sites currently open for tender, saturation could occur in the bidding process.
Moving on to the Chuan Grove site, located along Chuan Grove off Lorong Chuan in District 19, it spans 170,409 square feet and has a maximum gross floor area of 511,232 square feet. This site has the potential to yield around 555 new housing units.
The site’s strategic location, within 400m of Lorong Chuan MRT Station on the Circle Line, makes it an attractive investment opportunity for developers. The station is one stop away from both Bishan MRT Station (interchange with the North-South Line) and Serangoon MRT Station (interchange with the North-East Line).
According to Chu, the future development on the Chuan Grove site is likely to attract HDB upgraders living in the vicinity. In the next four years, an estimated 3,815 four-room and larger Build-to-Order (BTO) units will fulfill their Mandatory Occupation Period (MOP) in Toa Payoh. Chu notes that residents of HDB flats in older estates may seek to upgrade their homes, given the increasing number of million-dollar flats in neighboring Serangoon, Bishan, and Toa Payoh. The median transaction prices for five-room flats in Bishan and Toa Payoh over the last 10 months were $792,000 and $828,000, respectively.
Chu also points out that developers may be encouraged by the strong sales performance of Chuan Park, which launched last month with 76% of its 916 units sold at an average price of $2,579 psf during its launch weekend. He predicts bids for the Chuan Grove site to range from $571 million to $600 million, translating to a land rate of at least $1,200 psf ppr. Huttons’ Yip, on the other hand, expects a total of three to five bids, with the top bid ranging from $1,150 to $1,250 psf ppr.
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The tenders for the Chuan Grove and Holland Link sites will close at noon on July 8, 2025, and July 29, 2025, respectively. This will give developers ample time to carefully consider and submit their best bids for these promising residential sites.