The Berlayar Drive Government Land Sales (GLS) site has just established a new land-price benchmark for a pure residential site in Singapore’s Rest of Central Region.
On 7 August 2026, URA awarded the 99-year leasehold site to Intrepid Investments Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Hong Leong Holdings, and GuocoLand (Singapore) Pte Ltd for $576.779 million. The parcel has a site area of approximately 25,263 sqm and a maximum permissible Gross Floor Area (GFA) of 35,369 sqm.
That translates into approximately: $1,515 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr).
What makes this result particularly interesting is not simply the record land rate. It is that there was only one bidder.
The Hong Leong Holdings–GuocoLand joint venture effectively bid against itself — yet still paid considerably more for the land than Kingsford Huray Development paid for the neighbouring Telok Blangah Road GLS site only nine months earlier.
Why?
The answer may lie in something that a simple psf ppr comparison does not capture:
Berlayar Drive is a very different residential product.
Its unusually low 1.4 plot ratio, maximum five-storey height, waterfront and greenery setting, and relationship with the conserved Black & White bungalows around Bukit Chermin potentially position this site as one of the most distinctive low-rise condominium opportunities within the Greater Southern Waterfront.
First, the Numbers
The key development parameters stipulated by URA are:
| Berlayar Drive | Development Parameter |
|---|---|
| Site area | 25,263.1–25,263.2 sqm |
| Maximum GFA | 35,369 sqm |
| Minimum GFA | 31,832 sqm |
| Gross plot ratio | Approx. 1.4 |
| Maximum building height | 5 storeys |
| Estimated housing yield | Approx. 415–416 units |
| Tenure | 99 years |
| Winning land price | $576,778,554 |
| Land rate | Approx. $1,515 psf ppr |
URA’s technical conditions specifically restrict the development to a maximum GFA of 35,369 sqm and a maximum height of only five storeys.
URA estimated that, when launching the site, it could yield around 415 homes. GuocoLand subsequently said the parcel could yield up to 416 private residential units.
This works out to roughly 655 sq ft of land per proposed dwelling before accounting for common facilities and landscaping — an unusually generous land footprint for a new city-fringe condominium.
And that is the first clue to the site’s potential positioning.
Berlayar Drive Versus Telok Blangah Road: $1,515 Versus $1,326 PSF PPR
The most relevant comparison is not another RCR GLS site elsewhere in Singapore. It is the neighbouring Telok Blangah Road GLS site, which Kingsford Huray Development Pte Ltd won in November 2025.
URA awarded that site for $918.30 million or $1,326 psf ppr.
The Telok Blangah Road site has a site area of approximately 13,689 sqm and a maximum permissible GFA of 64,340 sqm.
Its effective plot ratio is approximately 4.7 compared with 1.4 at Berlayar Drive. That difference is enormous.
| Berlayar Drive | Telok Blangah Road | |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Hong Leong Holdings / GuocoLand | Kingsford Huray |
| Land price | $576.8m | $918.3m |
| PSF PPR | $1,515 | $1,326 |
| Approx. plot ratio | 1.4 | 4.7 |
| Estimated units | ~415–416 | ~745 |
| Development character | Low-rise | High-density |
| Berlayar land premium | +14.3% | — |
Berlayar Drive therefore transacted at approximately $189 psf ppr more than Telok Blangah Road, or a premium of approximately 14.3%.
That is a significant repricing of land within the same emerging precinct in less than a year.
The $1,515 psf ppr bid represented a 14.3% premium over Kingsford’s $1,326 psf ppr and established a new benchmark for pure residential RCR GLS land.
But there is another fascinating piece of history.
GuocoLand Had Already Bid for the Kingsford Site
The developers of Berlayar Drive were not newcomers trying to determine the precinct’s value. They had already participated in the Telok Blangah Road tender.
The three bids for that site were:
| Bidder | PSF PPR |
|---|---|
| Kingsford Huray Development | $1,326 |
| GuocoLand / Intrepid Investments | $1,271 |
| Frasers Property / Metro / Soilbuild | $1,246 |
In other words, the same GuocoLand/Hong Leong grouping that valued the first parcel at approximately $1,271 psf ppr subsequently paid $1,515 psf ppr for Berlayar Drive.
That is an increase of roughly 19.2% over their own earlier land valuation. This is arguably more revealing than comparing the Berlayar bid with Kingsford’s winning price.
It suggests the developer may see something materially different in the Berlayar Drive parcel itself.
The 1.4 Plot Ratio Could Be the Site’s Greatest Asset
At first glance, a low plot ratio may look like a disadvantage to a developer. There is less GFA to monetise relative to the amount of land purchased.
But from a homeowner’s perspective, the interpretation can be completely different. Lower plot ratio means lower development intensity.
And Berlayar Drive’s 1.4 plot ratio appears, from the URA planning map of the immediate Berlayar precinct, to be exceptionally low compared with the surrounding residential parcels.
The neighbouring planned parcels shown around it carry substantially higher plot ratios such as 2.4, 3.5, 3.7, 4.3 and 4.7.
This site is therefore unlikely to resemble a conventional high-rise RCR condominium. URA has explicitly imposed a maximum height of five storeys.
That creates the possibility of something much more unusual: a low-rise, resort-style residential development close to the Greater Southern Waterfront.
Why Five Storeys Matter
The height restriction is not incidental.
URA’s planning vision for Berlayar Estate calls for buildings to step down towards the waterfront and green spaces, creating a terraced skyline inspired by Bukit Merah’s sloping terrain.
For this particular site, the technical conditions go further.
The proposed development must respond sensitively to surrounding green assets including Bukit Chermin and Berlayar Creek, while the elevations facing Bukit Chermin, Berlayar Drive and Berlayar Creek are specifically designated as main elevations requiring appropriate architectural treatment.
This suggests how URA expects the development to be experienced. It is not merely another condominium inserted onto former golf-course land.
Its architecture will form part of the visual transition between:
Bukit Chermin → greenery → Berlayar Creek → new housing → the Greater Southern Waterfront.
And Then There Is 22 Bukit Chermin Road
One of the most interesting aspects of the location is the site’s relationship with the historic Bukit Chermin area.
URA identifies 22 Bukit Chermin Road as a conserved bungalow within the Bukit Chermin Conservation Area.
Together with Nos. 20 and 24, it represents the distinctive Black & White / Tropical Mock Tudor architectural period of early-20th-century Singapore. URA describes these houses as featuring masonry bases, half-timbered construction, red-brick columns, black timber structural elements and white plaster infills.
For future residents facing this direction, the outlook could therefore be quite different from the typical condominium view of another residential tower.
Subject, of course, to the final approved site plan, landscaping, and building orientation, some units may look towards the low-rise conserved bungalows, mature greenery, and the Bukit Chermin landscape.
Other orientations could potentially benefit from the waterfront and Keppel Harbour setting.
This distinction matters because premium residential pricing is ultimately determined not merely by postal district or MRT distance, but by the scarcity of the individual product.
A five-storey condominium surrounded by greenery and heritage architecture near Singapore’s future southern waterfront is much harder to replicate than another 30-storey residential tower.
The Site Is Required to Be Exceptionally Green
The technical specifications reveal another important requirement. URA requires Landscape Replacement Areas equivalent to 40% of the site area, with at least 35% of the entire site area provided as on-ground greenery.
For a site of approximately 25,263 sqm, that implies roughly 10,105 sqm of Landscape Replacement Area and at least approximately 8,842 sqm of on-ground greenery.
Furthermore, URA does not allow landscape decks, and all car parking has to be placed within basement levels.
This is important.
Many mass-market condominiums place swimming pools and landscaping over large podium structures containing parking. Berlayar Drive cannot simply follow that formula.
The technical conditions require all car and motorcycle parking to be located in basement levels, while the estate itself is designated a Zone 4 car-lite area, with only 60% of the allowable parking provision under Zone 2 standards.
The result could be a development where considerably more of the ground plane feels like genuine landscape rather than a landscaped car-park podium.
That is potentially a major product differentiator.
But Low Density Also Makes the Development Expensive to Build
There is another side to this equation. A $1,515 psf ppr land cost does not mean a developer can simply add a standard construction margin and sell at $2,500 psf.
Several features of this site could increase development cost. All parking must be underground. There are extensive landscaping obligations. There are infrastructure and covered-linkway works.
The developer must initially use Bukit Chermin Road for construction access, before diverting construction access to the future Berlayar Drive once it is completed.
The successful tenderer must also undertake road improvement, demolition and reinstatement works associated with Bukit Chermin Road. Notably, the technical conditions specifically require coordination with the successful developer of the neighbouring Telok Blangah Road parcel over the interfacing demolition works.
And because this is only a five-storey development, construction costs are spread over a smaller amount of saleable floor area than in a high-density project.
The 1.4 plot ratio therefore works in two directions:
For buyers: scarcity, privacy and low density. For developers: higher land and construction cost per saleable square foot.
Both factors point towards a higher eventual selling price.
What Could Berlayar Drive’s Breakeven Price Be?
The exact development breakeven cannot be known without the developer’s construction tender, financing structure, saleable-area efficiency, architectural scheme and marketing assumptions.
But we can build a reasonable framework.
Start with the confirmed land cost:
Land $1,515 psf ppr
Then account for:
- construction costs;
- basement excavation and parking;
- professional and consultancy fees;
- financing costs;
- landscaping;
- infrastructure and road obligations;
- sales and marketing expenses;
- development contingencies;
- non-saleable common areas; and
- developer profit.
Given the site’s low-rise configuration and extensive landscaping requirements, we would not assume this will be an inexpensive project to construct.
A reasonable analytical range could place the all-in development breakeven somewhere around the mid-$2,000s psf of saleable area, depending heavily on final design efficiency and construction costs.
From there, an adequate development margin would push the required average selling price materially higher.
This is broadly consistent with market analysts following the tender.
CBRE estimated that the future Berlayar Drive project could launch at approximately $2,800–$2,900 psf average, while other market estimates have suggested prices starting around $2,900 psf and potentially averaging around $3,100 psf.
Our Expected Selling Price: Approximately $2,900–$3,200 PSF
Our base-case expectation would therefore be:
Average launch pricing: approximately $2,900–$3,100 psf
with the broader project potentially spanning approximately:
$2,700–$3,300+ psf
depending on stack, floor, orientation, unit size and view.
For particularly desirable units enjoying the best waterfront, greenery or Bukit Chermin outlooks, we would not be surprised to eventually see transactions above $3,200 psf, especially if the developer creates a genuinely premium architectural product.
Our indicative scenario analysis would be:
| Scenario | Potential Average PSF |
|---|---|
| Conservative | $2,750–$2,900 |
| Base case | $2,900–$3,100 |
| Premium execution / strong market | $3,100–$3,300+ |
| Exceptional view-facing units | Potentially above $3,300 |
Do take note that these are analytical estimates, not developer guidance.
How Does This Compare With Kingsford’s Telok Blangah Road Project?
This is where things become particularly interesting. Kingsford paid only $1,326 psf ppr for Telok Blangah Road versus Berlayar Drive’s $1,515 psf ppr.
That gives Kingsford approximately $189 psf ppr of land-cost advantage.
Market estimates following Kingsford’s tender suggested its future project could achieve average selling prices of approximately $2,700–$2,800 psf, with some analysts expecting prices above $2,800 psf.
But the two projects should not necessarily be priced identically.
Telok Blangah Road’s advantages
It is closer to Telok Blangah MRT.
It has a lower land cost.
Its much higher plot ratio should allow development costs and facilities to be distributed across approximately 745 units.
It could therefore be highly competitive on price.
Berlayar Drive’s advantages
It is dramatically lower density.
It has a maximum five-storey height.
It has significantly more land per dwelling.
It interfaces directly with green corridors and the Bukit Chermin landscape.
It has potential waterfront-oriented views.
It sits closer to the conserved bungalow environment.
And its design requirements appear intended to create a development that responds specifically to the surrounding natural landscape. The result could be two very different propositions within essentially the same neighbourhood.
Kingsford may become the higher-density, MRT-oriented project. Berlayar Drive may become the lower-density, lifestyle-oriented project.
The $1,515 PSF PPR Bid May Therefore Be More Rational Than It First Appears
The fact that only one developer submitted a bid initially makes $1,515 psf ppr look aggressive. But there is another interpretation.
Hong Leong Holdings and GuocoLand may have concluded that this parcel is sufficiently differentiated that it should not be valued purely against conventional RCR land benchmarks.
They had already studied this precinct carefully. They previously bid $1,271 psf ppr for Kingsford’s Telok Blangah Road parcel and lost.
Nine months later, they returned.
And instead of bidding around $1,300–$1,400 psf ppr, they paid $1,515 psf ppr for the lower-density parcel. Their willingness to increase their land valuation by around 19% from their earlier bid deserves attention.
It suggests they may be underwriting a substantially more premium end product.
The Greater Southern Waterfront Factor
There is also the longer-term location story.
URA describes Berlayar Estate as part of the Greater Southern Waterfront, planned as a major mixed-use neighbourhood along Singapore’s southern coast.
The broader Berlayar Estate is eventually expected to contain approximately 10,000 homes, including around 7,000 public and 3,000 private homes.
Residents will have access to Telok Blangah and Labrador Park MRT stations, while HarbourFront and VivoCity are only one MRT stop away. The estate is being designed around walking, cycling, green corridors and waterfront connectivity.
Importantly, this means today’s surroundings should not be judged solely on what exists in 2026.
The buyer of a Berlayar Drive condominium expected to complete around the early 2030s is effectively buying into the future state of the Greater Southern Waterfront, rather than today’s former Keppel Club landscape.
One Important Risk: Future Supply
There is nevertheless an important counterargument. Scarcity within the individual project does not mean scarcity of housing supply across the precinct.
The Government is progressively releasing additional land within Berlayar. A further Berlayar Close site has already been announced under the 2H2026 GLS Programme, with an estimated yield of approximately 695 units.
Future residential parcels could therefore create substantial competition.
That is important because a buyer should distinguish between:
scarcity of the Berlayar Drive product
and
scarcity of Greater Southern Waterfront housing generally.
The former looks strong. The latter will gradually diminish as more GLS sites are released.
What Would I Watch When the Project Is Eventually Launched?
The most important issue will not simply be the headline “from $X million” price.
We would watch the price dispersion between stacks.
If the final architecture capitalises properly on the site’s unusual attributes, there could be significant differences between:
- waterfront-facing units;
- Bukit Chermin/greenery-facing units;
- internal-facing units;
- Berlayar Drive-facing units; and
- units affected by future surrounding developments.
The best-facing units could command a disproportionately large premium. In a five-storey development, floor premium is also likely to behave differently from a conventional 30- or 40-storey condominium.
Here, orientation and outlook may matter more than absolute floor number.
Our Assessment
Berlayar Drive’s $1,515 psf ppr land price looks expensive when viewed purely against Kingsford’s $1,326 psf ppr Telok Blangah Road acquisition. But the 14.3% premium starts to make more sense once you examine the physical development parameters.
This is not simply a smaller version of Kingsford’s site. It is a fundamentally different piece of land.
A 1.4 plot ratio.
A maximum of five storeys.
Approximately 415–416 homes across more than 25,000 sqm of land.
At least 35% on-ground greenery.
No landscape-deck car park.
Basement parking.
A setting between the new Berlayar Estate, Berlayar Creek, Bukit Chermin and Singapore’s southern waterfront.
And immediately nearby is a collection of historically significant conserved Black & White bungalows, including 22 Bukit Chermin Road.
If Hong Leong Holdings and GuocoLand execute the architecture well, Berlayar Drive could emerge not as another mass-market RCR condominium, but as a relatively rare low-rise, waterfront, greenery-oriented residential development within the Greater Southern Waterfront.
That distinction is important.
Our estimated future pricing
Kingsford Telok Blangah Road: approximately $2,700–$2,900 psf average
Berlayar Drive: approximately $2,900–$3,100 psf average
Premium Berlayar Drive stacks: potentially $3,200–$3,300+ psf, depending on views, architecture and market conditions at launch.
At an average of around $3,000 psf, Berlayar Drive would represent almost a doubling of its $1,515 psf ppr land rate — but that comparison should not be mistaken for developer profit. Construction, basement works, landscaping, financing, professional fees, marketing, common areas and other development costs sit between those two numbers.
The more important conclusion is this:
Hong Leong Holdings and GuocoLand did not merely establish a new RCR land-price record. They may have paid a premium for one of the lowest-density private residential opportunities in the future Greater Southern Waterfront.
Whether buyers eventually agree with that valuation will depend on one thing above all else:
how successfully the developer turns that low density into a product that feels genuinely scarce.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for general information, research and commentary purposes only. Any views, calculations, comparisons, price estimates, projected selling prices and future market scenarios are based on publicly available information, planning parameters and assumptions available at the time of writing. They are estimates only and should not be interpreted as guarantees of future prices, investment returns or development outcomes.
Final project specifications, unit mix, views, layouts, facilities, launch dates and selling prices are subject to the developer’s plans and approvals from the relevant authorities and may differ materially from the assumptions discussed in this article. References to potential views, including towards Bukit Chermin, greenery, the waterfront or surrounding developments, are indicative and will depend on the final approved development layout and future changes to the surrounding area.
Nothing in this article constitutes financial, investment, legal or property advice, or an offer, recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell any property. Readers should conduct their own due diligence and, where appropriate, seek independent professional advice before making any property purchase or investment decision. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, no representation or warranty is made as to the completeness, accuracy or continued relevance of the information presented.
Article contributed by Jerry Wong.
Jerry Wong is a realtor at Propnex Realty, bringing a rich background in interior and lighting design to his work. He loves exploring diverse spaces and observing the transformative power of real estate. Beyond his professional role, Jerry finds his greatest fulfillment in connecting people with the right properties, gaining immense satisfaction from helping clients achieve their dreams.
