2 New Residential GLS Sites Have Been Released In East Coast And Serangoon North — One Could Have Just 85 Homes

Two new government land sale (GLS) sites have just been released by the government.

The largest plot, which spans 87,036 sq ft, is located along Serangoon North View; meanwhile, the second plot comprises two adjacent sites of 26,706 sq ft and 32,527 sq ft along East Coast Road.

However, the East Coast Road site is the only one on the Confirmed List, and has been put up for tender. On the other hand, the site at Serangoon North View is on the Reserve List.

A site on the Reserve List is only available for application and is put up for public tender only when an interested developer submits an acceptable minimum bid price to the government.

East Coast Road GLS site

The East Coast Road GLS site is located close to the junction of East Coast Road and Siglap Road, and next to a three-storey landed estate off East Coast Drive.

The site stands to benefit from many appealing locational attributes, but this mostly stems from its proximity to several primary schools. Primary schools within 1km of the site include Ngee Ann Primary School, Opera Estate Primary School, and St. Stephen's School. Other schools in the vicinity are Bedok Green Primary School, CHIJ (Katong) Primary, and Tao Nan School.

This is also the first residential GLS site in Siglap that the government has released in a decade, says Wong Siew Ying, Head of Research and Content at PropNex Realty. The last residential GLS site, over at Siglap Road, has since been developed into the 841-unit Seaside Residences, which launched for sale in 2017.

Seaside Residences sold at least 70% of its units and achieved an average selling price of $1,700 psf during its opening sales weekend nearly a decade ago. Based on resale data, the average price today is about $2,368 psf.

If the East Coast Road GLS site is fully developed, the new condominium could house up to 85 units.

The relatively low unit count stems from the fact that this site is subject to a minimum average unit size of 100 sqm (or about 1,076 sq ft). The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) says that this is imposed due to the potential traffic issue that may arise if the development were any larger.

The characteristics of the site may be another factor that limits the total number of units that could be developed. The entire plot is split into two sites that are separated by an existing open drain.

In addition, the tender documents also open the door for the successful developer to build long-stay serviced apartments (under the SA2 scheme) on one of the sites. This means that a successful developer could have the option of developing one single development across the entire plot, or as two separate developments on each site - one being a typical residential project, and the other as an SA2 apartment project.

Wong expects that the successful developer may offer larger, family-oriented homes that will directly appeal to right-sizers from the various landed housing estates in this area.

Taking a step back, the last GLS site awarded in the Bedok Planning Area - where the new site is situated - was a site at New Upper Changi Road, which was ultimately awarded to a consortium comprising CapitaLand Development, UOL Group, and Singapore Land this month. The developers submitted the winning land bid of $1.43 billion ($1,537 psf per plot ratio).

Justin Quek, Deputy CEO of Realion (OrangeTee & ETC) Group, notes that while a number of GLS sites have been released for sale or awarded in the Bedok planning area since 2025, new supply of homes along East Coast Road has been relatively limited.

He points out that the latest new private residential project in the vicinity of Siglap is the 41-unit 77 @ East Coast, a boutique development on Upper East Coast Road that hit the market in 2020.

However, the relatively small size of the GLS plot could turn away some developers, since a smaller project may lack the economies of scale compared with larger developments, says Quek.

On the other hand, Wong of PropNex thinks that the small development size will likely result in a relatively smaller capital outlay that would be manageable for many developers, and could widen the field of bidders.

She estimates that the top bid could come in at around $1,550 psf ppr to $1,650 psf ppr, while Realion expects a lower range of between $1,450 psf ppr to $1,550 psf ppr.

Serangoon North View GLS site

Turning to the Serangoon North View site on the Reserve List. We can't say for certain if any developer will trigger the tender for this site.

Nevertheless, the site is in an interesting location. Although it is not currently close to an MRT station, the future Serangoon North MRT station on the Cross-Island Line is about 700m away and is due to be completed in 2030.

"Perhaps the biggest draw of the plot is its proximity to numerous schools," says Wong. The plot is 1km away from the popular Rosyth School and Zhonghua Primary School, with several more schools in the area including Nanyang Junior College, the International French School, and the Australian International School.

This site is next to The Garden Residences, a 613-unit development along Serangoon North Avenue 1 that was completed in 2021. The project was jointly developed by Keppel Land and Wing Tai Asia, who launched the project in 2018.

Keppel and Wing Tai were awarded the site after putting in the top bid of $965 psf ppr in August 2017.

"That said, we do not expect developers to trigger this plot for sale at this point, considering the upcoming private housing supply nearby. Two awarded GLS sites in Chuan Grove – which can yield more than 1,000 new units in total – are still yet to be launched for sale," says Wong.

She adds that a third GLS site in Chuan Grove, which could yield up to 935 new private homes, is on the Reserve List and will be available for application next month.