Margaret Drive Site Gets Top Bid Of S$238.4m From MCL Land

Margaret Drive land parcel triggered for sale because a developer has committed to a minimum bid of $185.76 million. Tender closed on 6 Dec 2016 with aggressive bidding from 14 bidders. MCL Land offered the top bid at S$238.39 million or S$997.85 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) based on the maximum Gross Floor Area (GFA) of 22,195 sq m. It can yield 275 residential new condo launch units.

This Margaret Drive site land cost is S$126.71 psf ppr higher than the Queens Peak land parcel of S$871.14 psf ppr which was awarded to MCC Land’s subsidiary HY Realty (Dundee) Pte Ltd in June 2015. In fact, MCL Land’s bid price at S$997.85 psf ppr is also higher than the new condo launch developments in the Redhill area namely The Crest (S$960.28 psf ppr in Sep 2012), Alex Residences (S$970 psf ppr in Dec 2012) and Principal Garden (S$820.64 psf ppr in Apr 2014).

The high number of bidders for the Margaret Drive site shows that developers are hungry for land and need to replenish their land bank. The high bid submitted by the bidders also suggests that confidence level amongst the developers are high. Yet another reason for the good showing is due to the fact that as the Margaret Drive plot is smaller at 4,809.8 square metre or 51,772.69 square feet compared to Queens Peak site at 113,194 square feet, it will require a lower amount of capital investment.

It is suggested that the new condo Singapore could be priced above S$1700 psf and be launched some time from late 2017 to early 2018.