High Point's fifth en bloc tender closes without a buyer

High Point’s fifth attempt at a collective sale has ended the way the first four did: without a deal. The tender for the freehold District 9 site closed on June 9 with no award, and owners now have a window of roughly 10 weeks, until mid-August, to negotiate a sale by private treaty.

The 59-unit High Point at 30 Mount Elizabeth, a short walk from Orchard Road, was relaunched for collective sale on April 22 with a guide price of $580 million. Marketing agent ETC said the price works out to a land rate of about $2,641 psf per plot ratio after factoring in the 7% bonus floor area, with no land betterment charge payable to redevelop the site up to its baseline plot ratio of 4.45. When the tender closed, no bidder took the estate at that level, according to a circular sent to owners after the close.

Under collective sale rules, the sale committee can still conclude a deal by private treaty within 10 weeks of the tender closing. If nothing is signed by mid-August, attempt number five lapses.

A long history of near misses

The freehold site occupies 47,607 sq ft on Mount Elizabeth, zoned residential with a height control of up to 36 storeys. On paper it is exactly the kind of trophy plot that rarely surfaces: ETC’s head of investment advisory Swee Shou Fern noted at the launch that brand-new freehold opportunities in District 9 have become increasingly scarce, which the owners hoped would make the site compelling to developers.

The history shows how close it has come. In December 2021, Hong Kong’s Shun Tak Holdings bid $556.7 million, about $2,626 psf per plot ratio, for the site. The developer then walked away and forfeited its $1 million deposit, a retreat that came just after the December 2021 round of cooling measures. A 2022 relaunch at a $550 million guide also closed without a sale, and a consent drive for a later attempt reportedly expired just short of the 80% threshold.

Three price tags across five years, and still no completed sale. Sources: ETC (2026 guide price); reported tender history. Chart: HomeAsset.

The pattern is not unique to High Point. Large prime-district freehold sites carry a heavy total quantum, and at $580 million plus construction and financing, a developer would be underwriting luxury-condo selling prices with a small pool of eligible buyers, in a market where additional buyer’s stamp duty makes the top end move slowly. Developers have been selective, favouring smaller sites or those with clearer pricing benchmarks.

What this means for you

• If you own a unit in an ageing prime condo, High Point is a useful reality check: a freehold Orchard-area site with a willing majority has now failed five times. En bloc hopes are not a retirement plan; price your holding on its own merits.
• If you are hunting for value in District 9, older freehold condos with stalled en bloc stories can trade at a discount to their land value story. Just go in expecting to hold, not to be bought out.
• Watch the mid-August private treaty deadline. A deal at or near $580 million would reset pricing expectations for prime freehold land; another lapse would confirm how cautious developers remain at this end of the market.