wild places | wild happenings | wild news
make a difference for our wild places

home | links | search the site
  all articles latest | past | articles by topics | search wildnews
wild news on wildsingapore
  Today Online 7 Dec 06
$1.73m bid for farm with a food twist
Lee Ching Wern

Today Online 6 Dec 06
Farmland gets 12 bids
Top offer of $1.73 million for Lim Chu Kang lots in pilot tender
Jasmine Yin jasmine@mediacorp.com.sg

FROM growing sandalwood and breeding dogs to a retreat where city dwellers can soothe their frazzled nerves--these are just some of the ideas on how to put Lim Chu Kang's laid-back allure to good use.

Eleven companies and individuals put in 12 bids for the Singapore Land Authority's (SLA) pilot tender to develop three parcels of vacant land for agricultural and non-agricultural uses.

Among the 11 companies are a fish supplier, a marine life trading firm and a voluntary welfare organisation, Touch Community Services, the SLA said yesterday.

Spanning 78,329 sq m, the lots carry 20-year leases. Bids ranged from $100,798 to $1.73 million. The highest is from Papageno Gourmet Centre for the 51,000-sq-m plot at Neo Tiew Lane 2, the largest plot up for tender. Yoli Technologies put in the highest bid for the remaining two plots at Lim Chu Kang Lanes 3 and 6, at $476,336 and $398,000, respectively.

Mr Victor Ow, 52, who has businesses in oil and gas consultancy and real estate, told Today that he had put in a $151,000 bid to develop a retreat for students and executives. Twenty to 30 guests can feel closer to nature at the proposed retreat.

According to the SLA, there has been "good market interest from farmers and entrepreneurs in the innovative use of farmland".

Since the tender launch on Oct 10, the SLA has received over 30 enquiries and sold about 60 packets of the tender documents.

Alternative ideas for the tender are welcome, even if they are not on the original list of pre-approved uses, said an SLA spokesperson.

But "the value of the bid is primarily the criterion for the award", she said. Results of the tender will be announced in four to six weeks.


Today Online 7 Dec 06
$1.73m bid for farm with a food twist
Lee Ching Wern chingwern@mediacorp.com.sg

WITH three bungalow plots at Sentosa Cove and a chain of food centres across the island, they are not your typical farmers.

But as bids closed for parcels of farmland at laid-back Lim Chu Kang, they stood at the head of the queue--with the largest bid for the largest plot.

Wah Khiaw Developments, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Papageno Gourmet Centre, has offered $1.73 million to develop a five-hectare plot of land put up for tender by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA).

When the tender closed on Tuesday, five others were also in the race for the same parcel. But the other bids--ranging between $198,000 and $880,000--were dwarfed by Papageno's mega offer.

If this big money talks loud enough and it wins the bid, the developer will put a big chunk of the land to agricultural use and build a resort on the remaining portion, said its managing director Tan Seng Ong.

"About 70 per cent will be used for agriculture and 30 per cent for a resort. And, of course, there will be the food element," said Mr Tan, who declined to reveal further details.

For days, bidders had wondered who was behind the mysterious Papageno Gourmet Centre. "The figure--$1.73 million--is a big amount. Everyone was wondering who this company was, as no one had heard of it. I thought it might be a foreign company," said one of the bidders.

The group used to own the former Sentosa Food Centre. It also owns a chain of food centres all over the island, including China Square, and coffeeshops in Jurong, Bukit Batok and Bencoolen Street. It has recently acquired three plots of land at Sentosa Cove on which it will build bungalows.

Said Mr Tan: "In business, you've got to be willing to take the chance and move quickly when you spot an opportunity. Otherwise, when it takes off, everyone will want to come in. "At Sentosa Cove, too, we were among the first to go in with such a high bid."

The SLA had also invited bids for two smaller plots of land--each one measuring just over a hectare.

There were a total of six bids for these, but engineering company Yoli Technologies put up the highest bids for both plots. It plans to set up ornamental fish farms on both parcels of land.

Some bidders expect the company to back out of one bid if it gets both sites, but Yoli Technologies' Managing Director Alan Heng told Today: "If we get them, we will take them both."

The winner will be announced in four to six weeks, and the amount of the bid will be the major deciding factor.

"If the use is on the approved uses list, and the tenderer's bid is also the highest bid, we have a winning combination," said an SLA spokesperson.

The three parcels of land carry 20-year leases and can be used for agricultural or unconventional uses including nature education, resorts and retreats.

Environmentalists were waiting to see what use the bidders would put the land to. "That part of Singapore is rich with migratory birds during the winter season. We hope that the winning bidders are nature-friendly," said Mr Ben Lee, founder of environmental group Nature Trekker.

Meanwhile, property analysts said it was hard to judge whether the bids represented a fair price.

This segment of the market was untested, said Mr Nicholas Mak, Knight Frank's director of research. "That part of Singapore is very ulu--very remote. Right now, we're not sure about the land there unless these companies show that they can come up with something that can sustain public interest, which will be a challenge," said Mr Mak.
links
Kranji countryside attractions
Related articles on Singapore: recreation
about the site | email ria
  News articles are reproduced for non-profit educational purposes.
 

website©ria tan 2003 www.wildsingapore.com