Seven bids for Little India site; YK Land tops at $35.3 mil

Various other proposals originated from RPC One (a unit of OKP Holdings) at $646 psf ppr, Mezzo Properties at $446 psf ppr, and Haus @ Central at $447 psf ppr. The bottom two proposals came from Westwood Hostel ($327 psf ppr) and Bogen Venture ($289 psf ppr).

The effective tenderer is going to be required to restore the structures, which can be adapted for residential or long-stay serviced apartment usage in accordance with URA’s conservation standards. The site can accommodate 18 strata landed houses or 36 long-stay serviced flats, based on URA’s estimates.

Upperhouse UOL Group Limited and Singapore Land Group (Singland)

YK Land’s bid for the site was 48.1% greater than the second-highest bid, that originated from construction company Conint and SEEDoE Ventures, a branch of real estate developer Kimen Group. The partners submitted a bid of $28.83 million or $650 psf ppr.

Together, they occupy a 99-year leasehold site covering about 36,673 sq ft that is zoned for housing usage. The Jalan Besar MRT Terminal is a brief stroll away.

URA had released the tender for the site on March 5. It comprises 18 two-storey conserved terraced residences which remain on parallel rows along Veersamy Road and Chitty Road. Originally built in 1927 as community quarters for public servant, the homes are connected by a back lane.

The tender for a set of 18 conserved terraced homes in Little India finalized on July 28, attracting seven offers. The leading proposal emerged from YK Land, which sent an offer of $35.29 million, or $962 psf per plot proportion (psf ppr), according to a URA release.

The fairly broad spread amongst the two proposals recommends that programmers may have adopted varying assumptions regarding the site’s redevelopment capacity and eventual output, claims Mohan Sandrasegeran, head of study and information analytics at Singapore Realtors Inc

. He adds: “Given the versatility to create either Serviced Apartments II or, with prior written authorization, strata landed houses, bidders were most likely to have actually arrived at different land evaluations based on their recommended development strategy, reconstruction expenses and target audience.”