The plan to relocate Paya Lebar Air Base to Changi East has excited property players, as they look at options to redevelop the 800ha of land to be freed up, media reports stated.
“Developers and property consultancies will be studying the land use and plot ratio of available lots in the vicinity of the airbase for redevelopment potential,” said Chestern Singapore Research Head Elaine Chow.
Announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his recent National Day Rally speech, the move “will have a positive impact on long-term land use planning, given the scarcity of land here”, noted Jeffrey Ho, Managing Director of Urban Planning at building consultancy Surbana International Consultants.
The land as well as relocation of aircraft traffic, which limited building heights around the area, is expected to “provide more opportunities for new forms of development to cater to the future growth of Singapore”, he added.
The largest of four airbases run by the Republic of Singapore Air Force, the facility occupies a land area bigger than Ang Mo Kio. Once freed up, it can accommodate up to 80,000 private and public housing units, said Nicholas Mak, Research Head at SLP International.
Consultants believe the area and its vicinity will benefit greatly from the removal of building height restrictions, which depends on distance from the airbase, based on flight routes.
Considering the flight paths, height restrictions for private residential blocks range from eight-storeys in Geylang to 24-storeys in Marine Parade.
“Even though the private homes (in Geylang) have a plot ratio of 2.8 with an allowable building height of 36 storeys, the buildings are built up to only eight storeys because of the height restriction,” said Steven Tan, Managing Director at OrangeTee.
“Some of these developments should command higher prices given their en bloc potential once the height restrictions are removed.”
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
S’pore property won’t crash on US monetary stimulus concerns
Free property seminar at Hillion Residences
Home sales slump may be a blessing: KOP