Woodleigh Residential Site

CEL Unique Developments Bids $700.7 mil for Woodleigh Residential Site

Situated along Woodleigh Lane, adjacent to Bidadari New Town and right next to the Woodleigh MRT station, has indeed made Woodleigh Residential Site an attractive land parcel sought after by developers in the country. On the 30th of May 2017, the site was open to public tender by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) , which was closed on the 11th of July of the same year after drawing 15 bids.

CEL Unique Developments (CELU) emerges with a winning bid of S$700.7 million, equivalent to $1110.09 per square feet (psf), and now holds a 99-year lease on the choice plot of land. The award for the tender for the site is presented to CELU by the URA following the successful bid. 

The Woodleigh Residential Site sees a measurement of 210,402 sf in land area and a 631,206 sf in maximum gross floor area. The large plot of land and the requisite financial commitment did not seem to have deterred what Mr Nicholas Mak, head ZACD Group consultancy, deemed as ‘aggressive’ bids. Market observers have also been astounded by the robust bidding which circled this choice plot. Analysts have deduced that such stiff competition had been prompted by the amenities which are in close range with the residential site. 

With millions of dollars pooled into the bidding war among the developing industry, other top contenders who had participated in the bidding for this ‘plum’ site in Woodleigh Lane include Corson and Wingjoy Investment, Verywood Holdings and Logan Property (Singapore) Company, Blossom Residential Development, and Kingsford Huray Development, all of which had offered more than the $1000 per square feet per plot ratio (psf ppr). Margin-wise, the top four bids saw a close 3.6 percent margin, while the winning bid and its runner up was at a tight 0.8 percent margin.

The land bid, according to Dr. Lee Nai Jia from the Edmond & Tie Company consultancy, will likely bring selling prices of the development to a range between $1,720 psf to $1,800 psf, though such figures may be revised due to the vicinity and the possible competition from the site in Bidadari Estate, given that the proposed development for Woodleigh Residential Site is also of a mix-used one. 

Development plans for the site include using about 88264 sf for community and institutional purposes. According to the Ministry of National Development, this project will provide retail amenities for the future residents of the Bidadari HDB estate. The project will integrate 825 private homes as well as 161460 sf gross floor area (GFA) of commercial space, thereby making it a potential future community hub. 

Following the words of Desmond Sim, Head of CBRE Research, Singapore and Southeast Asia, the development of the Woodleigh site, which is the second site to be closed for development in the Bidadari precinct, would fare positively in the growth of the precinct as a future residential address.