ST : Govt expected to release Marina Bay land from 2013

Nov 26, 2010

Govt expected to release Marina Bay land from 2013

DEVELOPERS eyeing prime Marina Bay land might have to wait until at least 2013 before getting a chance to lodge a bid.

That is when the Government is expected to start releasing 11 parcels of land in step with the completion of infrastructure works in the area. These projects include the Downtown rail line and the Marina Coastal expressway, which will be completed in phases in the next few years, said the Ministry of National Development (MND) yesterday.

Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) urban planning and design director Andrew Fassam said about 1.75 million sq m of gross floor area could stem from these parcels, about four times the area of nearby Marina Bay Financial Centre. The 11 sites may be released individually in future land sales programmes or combined with neighbouring plots.

However, the four mixed-use land parcels to be jointly developed by Malaysia and Singapore as part of the railway land swop deal are expected to be vested for development next year. The four land parcels have a gross floor area of 341,000 sq m, part of which will be for office use. These sites and two other land swop deal plots can yield a combined gross floor area of 500,000 sq m.

URA group director of land sales and administration Marc Boey said smaller sites have been released to address concerns that there might be a shortage of office space in 2014 once most ongoing developments are completed. These sites, such as one announced yesterday in Cecil Street and one on the corner of Peck Seah and Choon Guan streets, can be completed in about three years, he said.

Apart from the government land sales programme, an additional supply of about 39,000 sq m of gross floor area of commercial space can be expected to be released by various government agencies in the first half of next year, the MND said.

ESTHER TEO