Kingsford Group submits top bid of $920 psf ppr for Lentor Gardens GLS site

The tender for the 222,161 sq ft Lentor Gardens government land sales (GLS) site closed on April 3 with two bids. The top bid of $429.23 million $920 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) came from Chinese developer Kingsford Group.

The second bid of $422.22 million or $905 psf ppr is just 1.66% lower than Kingsford’s offer. It was submitted by a consortium comprising Hong Leong Holdings, TID (a joint venture between Hong Leong Holdings and Mitsui Fudosan), and CSC Land Group. Lentor Gardens is the seventh GLS parcel in the emerging Lentor Hills private residential estate. The site has the potential to yield about 500 residential units, comprising a mix of low-rise and mid-rise blocks of up to 16 storeys.

The top bid marks Kingsford Group’s first foray into the Lentor Hills estate. In a statement, the developer said it plans to build a new project with around 500 units if awarded the site. “The neighbourhood has been attracting an influx of homebuyers due to the nearby Lentor MRT Station on the Thomson-East Coast Line, as well as ongoing developments in housing, retail, and greenery in the surrounding area,” said a Kingsford Group spokesperson. Based on the top bid of $920 psf ppr, Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex, estimates the average selling price for the new project at Lentor Gardens to be above $2,150 psf.

One catalyst likely driving interest in the GLS site at Lentor Gardens is the strong launch performance at the 477-unit Lentor Central Residences, which saw a 93% sales rate on its launch weekend last month. "This robust take-up reinforced confidence that well-positioned, sensibly-priced projects in the area can still achieve good absorption despite earlier concerns of a supply overhang," says Mohan Sandrasegeran, SRI head of research and data analytics. Despite being the seventh parcel for sale in the Lentor precinct, only an estimated 135 units out of 2,954 units remained unsold as of April 3, according to Lee Sze Teck, senior director of data analytics at Huttons Asia.

The number of bids is similar to previous GLS tenders in Lentor, notes Lee, but in stark contrast to the level of interest from developers in the earlier Bayshore Road GLS tender. Lee attributes the tepid response to more plum sites like Chencharu Close, Hougang Central and Telok Blangah Road in the pipeline for launch. "Developers are keeping dry powder to participate in these tenders," he says.

One MRT station away at Springleaf is the Upper Thomson Road (Parcel B) residential site by a joint venture between GuocoLand and Hong Leong Holdings, which will see an additional 940 new residential units, bringing total new housing stock to 4,390 units within a 2km radius, says Marcus Chu, CEO of ERA Singapore. "This could further dilute demand from the shared pool of potential upgraders from Ang Mo Kio, Yio Chu Kang and Yishun.”

Although buyers’ sentiment and home sales have improved towards the end of 2024 and into 2025, PropNex's Gafoor notes that there are downside risks, "including the newly announced imposition of sweeping tariffs on all goods entering the US, which threaten to disrupt international trade and impact the global economy".