KUALA LUMPUR (July 20): A consortium comprising Sunway Bhd’s (KL:SUNWAY) 30%-owned joint ventures on Monday secured a parcel of land at Bayshore Drive in Singapore for residential and commercial development at S$2.13 billion (RM6.74 billion), after it emerged as the highest bidder for the property.
Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority awarded the 57,460.6 sq m site on a 99-year lease to Gemini Residential Pte Ltd and Gemini Trustee Pte Ltd (as the trustee-manager of Gemini Mall Trust), Sunway said in a Bursa Malaysia filing.
Sunway's indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries hold a 30% stake each in Gemini Residential and Gemini Trustee, while Gemini Mall Trust, which will own the retail mall component, is also 30%-owned by Sunway.
The entities will jointly develop the land for residential and commercial use, subject to regulatory approvals.
“The proposed project is expected to contribute positively to the earnings of the Sunway group from the financial year ending Dec 31, 2029 onwards,” Sunway said.
Gemini Residential is 37.5%-owned by Frasers Property Phoenix Pte Ltd, 30% by Sunway, 25% by Japanese homebuilder Sekisui House Ltd and 7.5% by LC Realty Pte Ltd.
Meanwhile, Gemini Trustee and Gemini Mall Trust are each 50%-owned by HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Singapore) Ltd, acting as a trustee of Frasers Centrepoint Trust, 30% by Sunway and 20% by Sekisui House.
The award confirms the consortium’s bid of S$1,323 per sq ft per plot ratio, which was 5.8% higher than the second-highest offer when the tender closed.
The site has a maximum gross floor area of about 149,398 sq m (1.6 million sq ft), and is directly connected to the Bedok South MRT Station on the Thomson-East Coast Line and a new bus interchange.
Plans for the site include up to 1,280 residential units and about 242,188 sq ft of commercial space, including a retail mall with an estimated net lettable area of between 160,000 and 180,000 sq ft.
Under Singapore’s current Urban Redevelopment Authority Master Plan, it is the only mixed-use site within the Bayshore precinct and is intended to serve as the area’s retail, transport and community hub.
Last month, another joint venture between Sunway MCL and CSC Land Group (Singapore) submitted the top bid of nearly S$750.6 million for the River Valley Green (Parcel C) government land sales site.
That bid, equivalent to S$1,730 per sq ft per plot ratio, topped four offers and set a new benchmark land rate for the River Valley and Zion precinct.
Sunway Property rebranded its Singapore operations as Sunway MCL following the group’s acquisition of MCL Land for S$738.7 million last year.
Shares of Sunway rose three sen or 0.57% to RM5.26 on Monday, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM35.8 billion. Year to date, the counter is down 4.36%.