This 34-Year-Old Condo Failed Twice To Sell — Why Owners Are Trying Again At $883M

The owners of Elias Green, a 419-unit condominium in Pasir Ris, have launched a collective sale tender of the 99-year leasehold development. The guide price for the collective sale of Elias Green is reportedly $883 million.

Completed in 1992, the now 34-year-old development sits on a 516,871 sq ft residential site along Elias Road in District 18. About half of the condo is next to Tampines Expressway (TPE).

This is the condo’s third attempt at a collective sale after previous unsuccessful tries in 2018 and 2025. The latest collective sale of Elias Green is marketed by ERA Singapore, who was also the marketing agent during last year’s tender.

This is not the first time Elias Green has tried its luck on the collective sale market. Its first attempt in 2018, marketed by PropNex at a $780 million reserve price, did not garner any successful bids.

The second attempt came in March 2025 under ERA, this time at a higher guide price of $928 million, which translates to approximately $1,355 psf per plot ratio (ppr). This price tag accounted for a 10% bonus gross floor area (GFA) and an estimated $150.8 million land betterment charge.

That tender closed in April 2025 without any successful offers, before entering a private treaty period that also did not result in a sale.

What’s different about this latest attempt

What the latest collective sales committee has managed to secure that is different from the previous attempt, sets this endeavour apart.

With each consenting household contributing $500 toward application costs, the owners successfully applied to the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) for a plot ratio increase to 1.8, up from the previous 1.4. That enhancement has since been gazetted under the Master Plan 2025, permanently incorporating it into the statutory plan.

To put that in concrete terms: at the old plot ratio of 1.4, the 516,871 sq ft site would have yielded a maximum GFA of approximately 723,619 sq ft.

At 1.8, that ceiling rises to around 930,368 sq ft, an increase of about 207,000 sq ft of buildable area. For a developer, that additional GFA translates directly into more units to sell, which in turn affects how much they can justify paying for the land.

That said, a higher plot ratio alone does not automatically make a site more attractive. It also raises the bar for what a developer needs to sell to make the numbers work. More units mean a larger sales programme to execute, and in a sub-market like the Elias Road catchment, absorption is a real consideration. 

The question is whether demand in the area can support the volume of units that a 1.8 plot ratio development would produce, at the prices needed to justify the land cost.

What the gazetted status does remove, however, is planning uncertainty — a layer of uncertainty that would otherwise need to be priced into any developer’s bid, and strengthens the site’s redevelopment case in a way that the two previous attempts could not claim. 

A closer look at the MRT pedestrian link proposition

ERA has cited the potential for a future direct pedestrian link between the station and the site as a key selling point. That would be a meaningful upgrade if it materialises, but it is important to note that this linkway is not confirmed.

In the absence of this pedestrian access, the MRT proximity is more complicated than it appears. Between Elias Green and the Tampines North station sits the TPE, and there is no direct pedestrian crossing.

This effectively makes Pasir Ris MRT the more practical station for residents today — and that is far from a short walk, with most residents likely relying on a bus ride to get there. For any developer marketing a new launch on this site, that distinction matters, as being “opposite the MRT” is only compelling if a future linkway is eventually built.

The upcoming Elias MRT station on the CRL may be the more relevant connectivity story for this site, though that station is not expected to open until around 2032.

The expressway adjacent to the plot also raises a noise consideration. Units facing the TPE in any new development would likely require acoustic mitigation. Measures such as glazing, building orientation, and setbacks all feed into construction costs that a developer would need to account for. 

What nearby prices tell us

There are no direct comparables in the neighbourhood around Elias Green, given that the surrounding area is predominantly low-rise landed estates and older condominium stock.

The most relevant neighbouring private developments are Ris Grandeur, a freehold condo along the same Elias Road stretch, and the leasehold NV Residences and Livia along Pasir Ris Grove. Ris Grandeur, benefiting from freehold status, has transacted between $1,260 and $1,360 psf from March 2025 to March 2026.

NV Residences, a 99-year leasehold project completed in 2013, has seen transactions ranging from $1,140 to $1,532 psf in the same timeframe, with the higher end driven by smaller-format units. Livia, another 99-year leasehold development nearby that was completed in 2012, has similarly transacted in a comparable psf range over the same corresponding period.

These figures indicate what buyers in this sub-market are currently paying, and by extension, what a developer would need to price new units at to make the land acquisition economics work, especially when the land rate from the previous attempts already drew no takers.

The question remains

The recent change in the allowable plot intensification at Elias Green is the strongest proposition for a collective sale across all three attempts. But the market’s response to the second attempt at $928 million was clear — no bids, and no deal during the subsequent private treaty period.

Collective sale history in Singapore shows that third attempts do succeed, but typically when either the asking price has been adjusted to reflect the market, or when a material change in the site makes a compelling enough case for developers to revisit.

The gazetted plot ratio is a genuine step forward, but whether it is sufficient on its own without a movement on the price remains to be seen.