A $1 billion bid for a piece of land at Queenstown made history as the first time a residential site under the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme scored such a high offer, almost $300 million more than the previous record.
China-based developers Logan Property and Nanshan Group put the bid of $1.003 billion in for the 21,109 square metre plot in Stirling Road. The site had been on the GLS reserve list since 2010 and consists of a 2 adjoining land plots. It was triggered for sale only last month after a bid of at least $685.25 million was put in for the site.
But the billion-dollar bid certainly takes things to a whole new level. The previous highest ever bid was $925.7 million from MCL Land and for a pure residential site, the record stood at $682.8 million for the site where Costa Del Sol condominium now stands. At 20.6 per cent higher than the winning bid for the nearby Queens Peak condominium, the latest $1billion bid may set a new record for the Queenstown area in terms of cost per square foot. With a maximum permissible gross floor area of 954,328 sq ft, the bid will translate to $1,050 psf per plot ratio.
The Stirling Road site is close to Buona Vista, and placed strategically between the Central Business District and Jurong East regional business hub which makes it the prime spot for rental properties. Despite the existence of many other private properties in the area, developers do not seem intimidated, possibly as most investors of units in the area would have sold them by the time this new development is ready and will in fact be looking for new investment opportunities. There could also be a rebound of foreign investment interest following Bandar Malaysia‘s recent collapse.
