Hougang Central mixed use site draws three bids in GLS tender

Knight Frank said indicative condominium prices could start from around $2,500 per square foot.

Several property consultancies said the Hougang Central mixed-use site drew measured but competitive interest, with three bids submitted for the Housing and Development Board’s first-half 2025 government land sale (GLS) tender.

Commenting on the outcome, Realion, the research and analytics arm of OrangeTee & Tie, said the site can potentially yield about 835 residential units together with roughly 40,000 square metres of commercial space. Realion said three bids were received, which it described as within expectations.

Justin Quek, chief executive officer of Realion, said the top bid was submitted by Horizon Residential Pte. Ltd. and Horizon Commercial Trustee Pte. Ltd., trustee of Horizon Commercial Trust, at $1,500,738,338, or about $1,179 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).

He noted that the bid was 2.1% higher than the second-highest offer, and compared it with the Chencharu Close mixed-use GLS site, which was awarded at about $980 psf ppr in September 2025.

Separately, Huttons Asia said the site also attracted three bidders. Mark Yip, chief executive officer of Huttons Asia, cited a top bid of $1,179 psf ppr from a consortium comprising UOL Group and CapitaLand.

He said bidder participation was constrained by the scale and complexity of the project, which exceeds one million square feet in gross floor area, involves a land cost of more than $1b, and includes the delivery of a fully integrated transport hub mixed-use development.

Yip described the project as the first development to be built directly above an MRT interchange serving both the North East Line and the Cross Island Line, and said it would become the first major shopping mall to serve Hougang.

Yip also said integrated transport hub developments tend to attract strong demand due to their convenience and relative scarcity.

He cited PARKTOWN Residence, which sold more than 87% of its units during its launch weekend in February 2025, and Pasir Ris 8, which he said recorded about 30% median price appreciation from its launch in 2021 to November 2025.

Knight Frank also highlighted the scale of the project. Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank, said the Hougang Central site represents a large integrated development with land cost alone of about $1.5b.

He said buyer interest in developments integrated with MRT and bus interchanges can generally be relied upon, provided Singapore is not in a recession.

On pricing implications, Tay noted that the top bid of about $1.50b, or $1,179 psf ppr, was 2.1% higher than the second bid and about 20.3% above the Chencharu Close site.

Based on this, he said indicative condominium prices could start from around $2,500 per square foot, with average prices possibly exceeding $2,600 per square foot.