More land sites in 2011

The Ministry of National Development (MND) has announced that it will place 17 sites on the Confirmed List of the 1H2011 GLS Programme.

The sites, which comprise 16 residential sites including 3 EC sites, and 1 commercial and residential site, can potentially yield a total of 8,100 residential units.

Meanwhile, the Reserve List in 1H2011 will also have 13 sites, which can together yield about 6,200 residential units. This comprises 12 residential sites including 1 EC site, and 1 commercial and residential site.

“With the continued strong demand for private residential homes, the government has placed 13 new residential sites and one new commercial/residential site on the Confirmed List alone. Three new residential sites have also been added to the Reserve List. These include three executive condominium (EC) sites on the Confirmed List and one new EC site on the Reserve List,” said Li Hiaw Ho, executive director of CBRE Research.

Overall, the 1H2011 GLS Programme will have 30 sites for residential development, which can yield up to 14,300 private residential units.

This is higher compared to the 13,900 private residential units released in the 2H2010 GLS Programme, an increase that is mainly attributed to the rise in the Reserve List supply, said MND.

Out of the 30 sites, 17 are new, while the remaining 13 sites were carried over from the 2H2010 GLS Programme. Majority of the sites are located in the Outside Central Region or in locations in the Rest of Central Region, where more affordable private housing will likely be built.

To ensure a steady supply of office space to support the growth of the financial and business services sector, MND will release 2 commercial sites at Robinson Road / Cecil Street and Paya Lebar Road / Eunos Road 8 on the Confirmed List of the 1H2011 GLS Programme.

A commercial site at Sims Avenue / Tanjong Katong Road will also be added to the Reserve List to provide for growth of Paya Lebar Central into a sizeable and sustainable commercial node.

“Pushing ahead with the government’s vision of creating a new decentralised commercial hub in the east, two sites in the vicinity of the Paya Lebar MRT station will be launched under the GLS 1H 2011 programme,” said Mr. Li, adding that a 1.42 ha site will be made available in January 2011.

“The second parcel, located slightly further away at Sims Avenue/Tanjong Katong Road, was placed on the reserve list. This 2.15 ha commercial parcel with a hotel component, could possibly yield about 500,000 sq ft of retail and office space,” he said.

In addition, two new hotel sites located at Race Course Road / Perumal Road and Kallang Riverside will be added to the Reserve List of the 1H2011 GLS Programme. These new sites will ensure that a wide variety of hotel sites are maintained in the 1H2011 Reserve List for property developers to choose from, said MND.