Dorset Road – Government Land Sale (GLS) Site Analysis

The tender for the private residential Government Land Sale (GLS) site at Dorset Road closed on 10 October 2025. In total, the site drew interest from nine bidders, with the top bid of S$524.3 million (or $1,338 psf ppr) submitted by United Venture Development Pte Ltd.

 Table 1: Bidders for Dorset Road GLS site

 Table 2: GLS site details

Locational Attributes

Figure 1: Map of Dorset Road

Neighbourhood amenities

Nestled along Dorset Road in a condominium enclave, this Dorset Road site is just a 6-minute walk away from Farrer Park MRT station. This ensures ready access to key interchange stops on the North-East Line (NEL), allowing for easy transfers to the Downtown Line, North-South Line and Circle Line via Little India interchange station (one stop away) and Dhoby Ghaut interchange station (two stops away) respectively.

Major Roads serving the site includes Serangoon Road, Balestier Road and the Central Expressway (CTE). Commuters will be connected to Northern, Southern, and North-Eastern regions of Singapore through these roads.

In terms of shopping, dining and entertainment options, future residents will have a wide variety of options from several shophouses providing F&B choices along with other services in the immediate area within walking distance. City Square Mall is a 10-minute walk from the site and provides some degree of retail convenience for to-be residents as well. Additionally, the site’s proximity to Little India means that residents can have access to a wide variety of retail and dining options at destinations, such as Tekka Market, Tekka Centre and Mustafa Centre.

As for educational opportunities, primary schools that fall within a 1km radius of the site include Farrer Park Primary School, Hong Wen School, and St. Joseph’s Institution Junior. Other schools include Angle-Chinese School (ACS) Junior, ACS Primary, Bendemeer Primary School, and St. Margaret’s School.

Figure 2: Schools within the vicinity of the site

Farrer Park

Heading south-west on Dorset Road, future residents may find added convenience at future developments located at the soon-to-be redeveloped brownfield site at Farrer Park. Located just 500m away from the Dorset Road site (seven-minute walk), this approximately 10-hectare site will feature comprehensive sports and recreational facilities as well as a potential yield of 1,600 new HDB flats.

The upcoming housing projects at the brownfield site will be seamlessly integrated with new and redeveloped sports and recreational facilities.  This will strengthen the unique identity of Farrer Park as a social and sporting node. These facilities will be open to everyone, from existing and future residents of the area to visitors

Potential Demand

Given that this site lies in the city fringe within an established estate with several amenities nearby, demand could come from condo dwellers in the OCR looking to star near to the city centre. Looking at Uptown @ Farrer, a relatively new condo in D08, it is observed that 49 out of the 115 buyers of this project are private home dwellers.

Chart 1: Purchase Address Indicator for Uptown @ Farrer 

Additionally, some demand could potentially come from HDB upgraders. With reference to the purchase address indicator of Uptown @ Farrer, 40.9% of buyers were HDB owners. As there are an increasing number of million-dollar flats, especially within the Central Region, people selling their million-dollar flats may intend to upgrade to a private condo which is still in proximity to the Central Region and its amenities, such as this Dorset Road site.

Table 3: Resale Flat Prices in Farrer Park

The increasing prices of HDBs here could be due to sellers intending to upgrade to private homes. This site could be a good option for upgraders looking to remain in the area. Potential demand could also come from landed property owners in D08 residing in enclaves such as those along Hertford Road, Cambridge Road, and Rangoon Lane. Landed property dwellers residing in the neighbouring D11 looking to right size could also consider this site.

Figure 3: Landed enclaves around the Dorset Road site

The median resale price for landed homes in D08 was approximately $4.65m in 2024, which should be sufficient to cover the cost of purchasing a new non-landed private home within the same locale. This is considering that the last new launch in the area that was in Northumberland Road (now Piccadilly Grand) was sold at a median price of about $1.7m, based on URA caveat data as of April 2025.

In other words, landed right-sizers would still have a sizeable surplus from their sales proceeds even after purchasing a new replacement home at Dorset Road; this could prove useful either for building a retirement nest egg or supporting their children’s housing aspirations.

Chart 2: Median prices for landed resale and non-landed new private homes in District 08

Comparable new launches

The most recent launch in D08 was in 2021 at Northumberland Road (now Piccadilly Grand). Other comparable condominiums above 300 units include Kerrisdale, Sturdee Residences, and Uptown @ Farrer.

Table 4: Comparable condominium projects within the vicinity of the site

Picadilly Grand, the most recent launch, achieved 77% of sales on its launch weekend. As this was the last site, this Dorset Road site could potentially garner significant popularity as there are not many new sites in the vicinity. Furthermore, median prices in D08 are lower than RCR median prices. This could contribute to buyer popularity.

Chart 3: D08 vs RCR median all sale prices

Recent Land Sale Performance

Developer sentiment has notably strengthened across the GLS front in the first nine months of 2025 (9M 2025), as reflected in higher participation rates at recent site tenders.

Excluding EC parcels, the 12 private residential sites awarded in 9M 2025 drew 4.8 bidders on average. This includes keenly contested sites such as Bayshore Road (eight bids) and Dunearn Road (nine bids), which saw a similar turnout as Dorset Road’s nine bidders. This observation marks an improvement over the 2 to 3 bidders typically seen for 2024’s GLS tenders.

Firmer optimism for GLS tenders is expected to continue through the remainder of the year, with developers eager to replenish their land banks amid strong sales at recent project launches. This positivity will also likely be reinforced by well-located sites on the 2025 Confirmed List, such as Dover Road, Tanjong Rhu Road, and Kallang Avenue.

Chart 4: Land cost and corresponding median price

Conclusion

The turnout of nine bidders is tied with Dunearn Road for the most bidders in a GLS exercise in 2025. The robust bidding activity reflects improved developer sentiment, buoyed by the healthy sales performance of recent new launches and the site’s attractive locational attributes.
 

The 1% price gap between the two highest bids is telling of developer confidence in Dorset Road’s potential. Dorset Road has not seen a residential plot of this scale released since 2021. The mid-sized site offers ample space to accommodate a full suite of facilities, which will appeal to homebuyers in an area largely characterised by boutique developments

Many of the site's attributes are expected to appeal strongly to local homebuyers. The site offers exceptional convenience, with Farrer Park MRT Station easily accessible on foot in under ten minutes. The site is also within 1km of popular primary schools such as St. Joseph’s Institution Junior, Hong Wen School, and Farrer Park Primary.

The top bid of $1,338 psf ppr, is still lower than The Orie which was awarded at $1,380 psf ppr awarded in Oct 2023, considering Dorset Road’s more centralised location. Based on $1,338 psf ppr, the average unit prices for homes in the future development could range between $2,650 to $2,750 psf.

Sites capable of yielding a mid-sized development are rare within the area, with the only recent example being the 407-unit Piccadilly Grand located at Northumberland Road. It was awarded in 2021 and up till the opening of Dorset Road, there has been no other GLS site of similar scale released for sale in the area.

This scarcity signals a clear opening for developers to capitalise on underlying pent-up demand for larger, mid-sized projects. During its debut weekend in 2022, Piccadilly Grand saw a 77% take-up rate (315 out of 407 units), signalling strong appetite for bigger projects in the neighbourhood.

Finally, Dorset Road is the first RCR site to be open for tender among GLS site offerings in the 1H and 2H 2025 Confirmed List. As such, its positive reception could inform bidding activity and strategies for the remaining five GLS site tenders that will close by the end of the year. Within the RCR, this includes desirable sites like Telok Blangah Road, Tanjong Rhu Road, and Kallang Avenue.

Based on the highest bid of $1,338 psf ppr, average unit prices for the future development at Dorset Road could range between $2,650 to $2,750 psf.