A tie-up between City Developments Ltd (CDL) and Hong Realty has placed the top bid of S$542.4 million, for a 99-year leasehold private housing site in Peck Hay Road, a short walk from Newton MRT interchange station.

The top bid works out to S$1,865.15 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), 2.5 per cent higher than the nearly S$1,820 psf ppr fetched for a nearby site in Bukit Timah Road next to the Newton MRT station, at a tender that closed in November last year.

Both sites are part of the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) plans for a new neighbourhood in Newton unveiled last year.

The latest GLS tender, for the 59,347 sq ft Peck Hay Road site, closed on Thursday (Jun 11), garnering just four bids, against the eight for the Bukit Timah Road plot.

The top bid at about S$1,865 psf ppr was 8.4 per cent higher than the second highest of about S$1,720 psf ppr from a tie-up between Sunway MCL and CSC Land Group (Singapore).

The third highest bid at S$1,582.69 psf ppr, came from a unit of China Overseas Land & Investment.

The lowest bid, from an Intrepid Investments and TID Residential tie-up, was about S$1,580 psf ppr.

Analysts polled by The Business Times earlier this week had expected the Peck Hay Road site to fetch three to eight bids. They had forecast the top bid at S$1,600 psf ppr to S$1,850 psf ppr.

The site can yield about 315 private homes, offering developers the “opportunity to enter the Core Central Region (CCR) market at a manageable scale”, said ERA Singapore chief executive officer Marcus Chu.

The site is near a string of schools, including Anglo-Chinese School (Junior), St Joseph’s Institution Junior, Singapore Chinese Girls’ School (Primary), River Valley Primary School, St Margaret’s School (Primary) and Farrer Park Primary School.

The Newton MRT interchange offers pr...