A consortium of developers led by Santarli Realty and Apex Asia Development have submitted the top bid for $504.52 million for a government land sale (GLS) site at Dairy Farm Walk.

The public tender for the 235,448 sq ft site closed on Jan 14, and the top bid translates to a land rate of about $1,020 psf per plot ratio (ppr).

The consortium also consists of local construction companies Soon Li Heng Civil Engineering, and Kay Lim Realty. Apex Asia Development is a Singapore-based real estate development company helmed by Li Jun, who was the executive chairman of Qingjian Realty (South Pacific) Group.

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The tender for the residential GLS site at Dairy Farm Walk attracted two bids in total. Two business units of Sim Lian Group, Sim Lian Land and Sim Lian Development, submitted the second bid of $410 million ($829 psf ppr).

The top bid of $504.52 million submitted by the Santarli-Apex Asia consortium is “bullish” and 23.1% higher than the bid price submitted by Sim Lian, says Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore.

It is the third GLS site launched by the government in this area after two successful GLS tenders in 2022 and 2018.

A 211,488 sq ft site along Dairy Farm Road was awarded to United Engineers when it secured the site with a winning bid of $368.8 million ($830 psf ppr) back in 2018. The site has been developed into the 460-unit Dairy Farm Residences, which is fully sold.

In March 2022, a 168,536 sq ft site also on Dairy Farm Walk was awarded to Sim Lian Group when it submitted the top bid of $347 million ($980 psf ppr), beating six other contesting bids. The site is being developed into the 386-unit project The Botany at Dairy Farm, which launched in March 2023. According to caveats, The Botany at Dairy Farm about 99% sold and commands an average selling price of $2,026 psf.

Marcus Chu, chief executive officer of ERA Singapore, notes that compared to the higher participation level developers had shown for the previous two GLS site in the area, “the two bids received for the (recent) Dairy Farm Walk site highlights the sharp fall in competition,” he says.

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“The muted number of bids suggests that developers may now be cautious and concerned that the area’s pent-up demand in Hillview and Dairy Farm might have already been absorbed by the earlier launches,” says Chu. Based on the bid price, he expects the new project could launch at an average selling price of $2,250 psf.