The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday put a Bernam Street residential-with-commercial land parcel up for sale by tender, with about 75 more dwelling units, or 30 per cent higher than previously estimated under the first half 2019 Government Land Sales (GLS) programme.
The site comes with commercial space on the first floor, and is on the GLS confirmed list.
The URA now allows for an increase in gross plot ratio (GPR) to convert office developments in the Central Business District (CBD) to hotel and residential use, under the CBD Incentive Scheme announced at the launch of the URA Draft Master Plan in March.
The scheme encourages developers to build more homes and hotels in the city centre, which includes the CBD, to add more life and vibrancy after office hours.
Sites in the Anson area, including the Bernam Street land parcel, are thus permitted to increase their previous GPR - and in turn the estimated number of units - by up to 30 per cent if they are slated for residential with commercial at first storey use.
As a result of the increased development intensity, the Bernam Street site can now potentially yield up to 325 residential units, compared with the 250 units estimated in December.
URA noted that the actual number of units provided by the developer may vary.
Said Ms Tricia Song, head of research for Singapore at commercial real estate services firm Colliers International: "The implied GPR has increased to 7.28 times, compared with the 5.6 times in the current Master Plan."
She added: "The Bernam Street site is a rare fresh site in the mostly built-up Shenton Way CBD, and could ride on the future Greater Southern Waterfront development and CBD Incentive Scheme."
The land parcel has a 99-year lease period with a site area of around 41,400 sq ft or 3,846.2 sq m, and a maximum gross floor area of 28,001 sq m.
The maximum building height is 35 storeys in the high-rise zone, 20 storeys in the mid-rise zone, and four storeys in the low-rise zone.
Ms Song pointed out that 99-year leasehold residential projects in that area, such as Altez, Skysuites@Anson and Icon, transacted at $1,700-2,500 per square foot on average in the past 12 months, depending on age and unit size.
