1                 The Ministry of National Development (MND) today announced:

a         The Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme for private residential, commercial and hotel development for the first half of 2007; and

b         The supply of private residential, commercial and hotel space from projects that will be initiated by various Government agencies in the first half of 2007, apart from the GLS Programme.

Background

2                 The GLS Programme for the second half of 2006 comprised 33 sites on the reserve list and one on the confirmed list, namely, the site at Beach Road/Middle Road. Under the reserve list, the Government will only release a site for sale if an interested party submits an application for the site to be put up for tender with an offer of a minimum purchase price that is acceptable to the Government. Sites under the confirmed list are released for tender at a pre-determined date, without the need for the sale to be triggered by an application.

3                 To-date, 4 sites on the reserve list for the second half of 2006 have been triggered for tender after developers submitted successful applications for them to be put up for sale. Three are hotel sites, at Mohamed Sultan Road/Nanson Road, Bencoolen Street and Sinaran Drive, and one is a commercial site at New Bridge Road/North Canal Road. The first 2 sites have since been sold, while the tender for the Sinaran Drive site will close in January 2007 and that for the New Bridge Road/North Canal Road site will close in February 2007. With the sale of these 4 sites, there remains 30 sites (i.e. 14 residential sites, 2 commercial & residential sites, 5 commercial sites[1], 3 white sites, 1 sports and recreation site and 5 hotel sites) on the GLS Programme for the second half of 2006.

Commercial site at Beach Road/Middle Road

4                 The commercial site at Beach Road/Middle Road will be re-scheduled for launch as a confirmed list site in Mar 2007, instead of Dec 2006. This is because the Government would like to ensure that a high quality development is built on this site to complement and enhance the vision for this area as a premier office, convention and hotel cluster. A two-envelope tender will therefore be adopted for the sale of the site. URA needs more time to work out the details for the two-envelope tender.

GLS Programme for First Half of 2007

5                 In addition to the Beach Road/Middle Road site, all the remaining sites on the second half GLS programme will be carried over to the GLS Programme for the first half of 2007.  Five of these sites, which were on the reserve list for the second half of 2006, will be transferred to the confirmed list in the first half of 2007.  Another 8 new sites will be placed on the GLS programme for the first half of 2007. Seven of these new sites will be added to the reserve list and 1 new site will be released for tender as a confirmed list site. The GLS Programme for the first half 2007 will therefore comprise 7 sites on the confirmed list and 32 sites[2] on the reserve list.

Confirmed List for First Half of 2007

6                 Each GLS Programme comprises a mix of confirmed list and reserve list sites. The sites to be placed on the confirmed list depend on market conditions and the planning need for the sites to be developed early. In addition to the commercial site at Beach Road/Middle Road, the 6 additional sites to be sold through the confirmed list for first half of 2007 and the reasons for each site are as follows:-

a) Commercial site at Tampines Grande

The Tampines Regional Centre today is an established hub for the back offices of many financial institutions. The demand from financial institutions to expand outside the Central Area as well as that from supporting business services is expected to grow. The release of the site under the confirmed list will help to ensure that the site is developed earlier to make available more office space to meet the needs of financial institutions and other business services.

b) White site at Belilios Road/Klang Lane

This site is located in the Historic District of Little India, an area rich in architecture and history, and popular with locals and tourists. Surrounding the site are established commercial developments, conservation shophouses and hotels. Zoned as a white site, the developer has the option to develop the site for a hotel, commercial, or residential development, or a mix of these uses. The sale of the site thus presents a unique opportunity to inject greater vibrancy and diversity of developments into Little India.

c) Sports and Recreation site at Fairy Point Hill

The revitalisation efforts for the Changi Point Scenic Coastline was recently completed. With the completion of the Changi Point ferry terminal and waterfront garden and the construction of an extensive park connector and boardwalk along the coastline, it is timely to release the site on the confirmed list so that the site is developed earlier to further enhance the vibrancy and attractiveness of the Changi Area and enhance the area as a recreational destination. It will also allow the early refurbishment of the elegant Command House building within the site, which has been earmarked for conservation.

d) Residential site at Choa Chu Kang Road/Woodlands Road

The land parcel is planned as an integrated commercial and residential development with an existing LRT depot. The 3-storey podium block comprising existing commercial space and the LRT depot was completed in 1999, and was designed to allow a residential block to be built above the podium block. The release of the site on the confirmed list will help realize the early integration of the entire development.

e) Residential site at Handy Road 

The sale of this site will help to inject more live-in population and add to the vibrancy of the Central Area. It is timely to release this site for development given the recent completion of major developments in the area including the Singapore Management University and the refurbishment of the conserved Cathay Building, as well as the sale of another GLS residential site along Handy Road in 2004. It will also help complete the developments in the Mount Sophia side of Handy Road. 

f) New white site at Central Boulevard/Shenton Way

The Government has also decided to release a new white site at Central Boulevard/Shenton Way via the confirmed list in the first half of 2007. Located near the intersection between Raffles Place and Marina Bay, the release of the site via the confirmed list will maintain the momentum of building up Marina Bay and the seamless growth of the existing CBD.

This site will allow for a quality development with an optimum mix of prime office space and complementary hotel or retail uses. The development will contribute to the vision of transforming Marina Bay into a waterfront Garden City by the Bay, and an international business and financial hub. The site will be sold with the requirement for a minimum amount of office space. The details will be announced later.

7       With immediate effect, the existing 5 reserve sites at Tampines Grande, Belilios Road/Klang Lane, Fairy Point Hill, Choa Chu Kang Road/Woodlands Road and Handy Road will be withdrawn from the reserve list and released for tender through the confirmed list based on the scheduled dates highlighted in Annex 1.

Reserve List for First Half of 2007

8                    All the other 24 sites remaining on the reserve list of the GLS Programme for the second half of 2006 will be carried over to the first half 2007 reserve list. 

9                    The planning parameters for the 24 sites remain the same, except for the sites at Enggor Street and Punggol Point. Based on market feedback that developers prefer smaller parcels, the site at Enggor Street is subdivided into 2 smaller parcels, one yielding about 225 units and the other yielding about 240 units. The site at Punggol Point is released as a smaller site for Food & Beverage development within a larger area planned for recreation facilities. This is also in response to market feedback.

10               The 7 new sites to be added to the reserve list for the first half of 2007 are as follows: -

a 2 residential sites at West Coast Crescent and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8;

b 3 hotel sites at Victoria Street/Syed Alwi Road, Victoria Street/Jellicoe Road and New Bridge Road;

c 1 white site at Outram Road/Eu Tong Sen Street; and

d 1 commercial site at Anson Road/Enggor Street.

11               The residential sites at West Coast Crescent and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 will provide more choices for private housing development on different parts of the island.

12               Together with the existing hotel sites from the second half 2006 reserve list, the addition of 3 new hotel sites to the reserve list will provide a good variety of hotel sites which can cater to a range of accommodation needs of visitors. This will also contribute to meeting the demand for hotel rooms.

13               In addition, the white site at Outram Road/Eu Tong Sen Street will be sold with a requirement to develop a minimum quantum for hotel and office use. The site is located near to the Historic District of Chinatown which is popular with visitors. The minimum quantum of hotel and office use, which will be determined when the site is put up for sale, will provide opportunities to meet the demand for hotel accommodation and office development in this area. The remaining floor area may be developed for office and hotel uses as well as other uses such as residential and retail uses.

14               The commercial site at Anson Road/Enggor Street will add to the list of sites which can be developed to meet the demand for office space within the CBD.

15               The GLS Programme for the first half of 2007 will therefore consist of 32 sites (i.e. 15 residential sites, 2 commercial & residential sites, 4 commercial sites, 3 white sites and 8 hotel sites) on the reserve list and 7 sites (i.e. 2 residential sites, 2 commercial sites, 2 white sites and 1 sports and recreation site) on the confirmed list (see Annex 1). These sites can potentially yield about 5,475 private residential units, 492,880 sqm Gross Floor Area (GFA) of commercial space and 5,285 hotel rooms.[3]

Other Government Supply to be made available in First Half of 2007

16                Apart from the GLS Programme, the Government also makes available other supply of land and properties which provide additional residential, commercial and hotel space. The Ministry of National Development works closely with other agencies to coordinate the supply of space from GLS and other sources made available by the Government.

17               The supply of private residential, commercial and hotel space by the Government outside of the GLS Programme in the first half of 2007 is as follows:

a            145,000 sqm GFA of commercial space, including:

i Retail facilities under the Economic Development Board’s (EDB) Warehouse Retail Scheme[4] (40,000 sqm);

ii Leasing of vacant State buildings to cater to demand for office and commercial school space (90,000 sqm);

iii Localized retail facilities in sports and recreation areas, business parks and MRT stations;

iv Other Interim use of vacant State buildings; and

v            Sale of conservation shop-houses at Kampong Glam.

b            600 hotel rooms[5]; and

c            400 private residential units at Sentosa Cove and one-north.

18               Most of the commercial space are from a few major projects, such as EDB’s Warehouse Retail Scheme and the leasing of vacant State buildings for commercial school use. These projects are intended to support the Government’s economic or development objectives.

19               There is currently strong demand for office space.  SLA will be leasing out suitable vacant State properties for office use in 1H2007 which can meet this demand immediately and provide options for office users who do not need to be located in prime CBD locations e.g. training facilities for business services and backroom support operations.

20               The remaining projects, such as those in sports and recreation areas, business parks and MRT stations, are small-scale and will cater to localized demand.

21               The announcement of the planned supply to be made available by the Government outside of the GLS Programme will provide a more complete picture of the overall Government supply of space for the first half of 2007. The quantum is indicative and may change as the plans are still under study. The actual supply that will be realized would depend on market demand and interest from investors.

 22        The site maps are available at www.mnd.gov.sg.