EcoWorld tops Singapore GLS tender with S$208.1m bid for Bishan site
Malaysian developer Eco World Development Group has submitted the highest bid of S$208.1 million for a 99-year leasehold residential site at Lorong Puntong/Sin Ming Avenue in Singapore's Bishan area. The bid, at S$1,612 psf ppr, was 11.1% above the second-highest offer and exceeded analysts' forecas
PETALING JAYA (Sept 15): Eco World Development Group Bhd has submitted the highest bid of S$208.1 million (about RM667.65 million) for a residential government land sale (GLS) site in Singapore, marking the Malaysian developer's first reported participation in the programme.
Its offer for the 99-year leasehold site at Lorong Puntong/Sin Ming Avenue translates into S$1,612 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr), according to tender results reported by EdgeProp Singapore. If awarded, the site could mark Eco World's expansion from marketing overseas projects in Singapore into direct residential development in the city-state.
The tender, which closed on Tuesday (Sept 15), attracted seven bids. Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has not formally awarded the site and reserves the right to reject the highest or any tender.
Eco World's offer was 11.1% above the second-highest bid of S$187.33 million, or S$1,451 psf ppr, submitted by a joint venture between Hong Leong Holdings and TID. TID is a joint venture between Hong Leong Group and Japan's Mitsui Fudosan. Sunway MCL submitted the third-highest bid at S$185.38 million, or S$1,436 psf ppr, followed by EL Development with S$182.1 million, or S$1,410 psf ppr. JBE Capital bid S$173.29 million, or S$1,342 psf ppr, while a consortium comprising Santarli Realty, Heeton Holdings, Kay Lim Holdings and Sunray Group Holdings offered S$168.89 million, or S$1,308 psf ppr. Kheng Leong Co submitted the lowest bid of about S$162.15 million, or S$1,256 psf ppr.
The seven bids were within analysts' expectations of between four and eight offers, although Eco World's land rate exceeded their forecast range of S$1,350 to S$1,500 psf ppr, according to EdgeProp Singapore. Eco World has maintained a presence in Singapore for more than a decade. It opened its first international EcoWorld Gallery there in May 2015 to market the group's overseas projects.
The Lorong Puntong/Sin Ming Avenue site is in Singapore's Bishan planning area, within a five-minute walk of Bright Hill MRT station on the Thomson-East Coast Line. It measures 4,283.4 sq m and has a maximum gross floor area of 11,994 sq m. URA estimates that it could yield about 140 homes, although the eventual number may vary. The site was launched for tender on June 25 under Singapore's first-half 2026 GLS programme.
Newmark head of research Wong Shanting estimated that a future project on the site could be launched from S$3,000 psf, based on Eco World's top land bid, according to EdgeProp Singapore. The estimate does not represent a pricing commitment by Eco World. The last residential GLS site sold in the Bishan planning area was awarded in 2015 and subsequently developed into the 288-unit Thomson Impressions. New private housing supply in the vicinity has been limited. Artisan 8, a freehold boutique mixed-use development, was launched in 2025, while the previous launch in the wider Bishan area was the 1,206-unit Jadescape in 2018. More supply is expected from Thomson Reserve, a 1,268-unit leasehold development on the former Thomson View site at Bright Hill Drive. Jointly developed by UOL Group, Singapore Land Group and CapitaLand Development, it is slated for launch in the fourth quarter of 2026.
