Singapore Real Estate – Land Optimization

In an age of rapid development, a small country with limited land resource must reinvent itself. New land parcels for residential, commercial and industrial development have dwindled. Since the beginning of its nationhood, Singapore has bloomed into a metropolis at breakneck speed. But there is a limit to how much a tiny island republic can develop itself, especially where limited land area is concerned.This has spurred the government and private developers to look to other areas of growth. Vertical and underground expansion are now the emphasis. Residential apartment condominiums, flatted public housing and commercial office complexes continue to be built and redeveloped in this direction.

Singapore Real Estate - Careful Redevelopment Through Planning

New Integrated Commercial Hubs Through Redevelopment

Underground expansions focus on transport hubs and lines, and the creation of new subterranean car-parking structures is encouraged and rewarded by the government with subsidies. The integration of such underground structures with high rise commercial buildings has been greeted with resounding success.

As an example, the Raffles City hub comprises 2 hotels, conference facilities, office and shopping units, an underground train station, and a few levels of enormous underground car-parks. In addition, this hub has an underground pedestrian link-way that connects it to the Suntec International Convention & Exhibition Centre. Lined with shops and food & beverage outlets, this link-way provides relief for those that wish to traverse in air-conditioned comfort.

The government plans is to redevelop every land parcel above existing underground train stations into commercial hubs likened to the Raffles City model. Such redevelopments shall see a shift of businesses from other locations that can be freed up for further redevelopment.

Vertical and subterranean expansion through redevelopment suits the needs of a dynamically progressive society that craves land space.

Reclamation of the Sea

Singapore’s first major reclamation of the sea occurred in the late 1960’s with the creation of Marine Parade and portions of the East Coast Park Expressway. Public high rise flatted apartments, exclusive apartment condominiums and commercial complexes were built on this 6 square kilometer site. Since then, there have been several major reclamation projects to expand industrial and commercial space, the most recent of which is the Marina South/Marina Bay Area.

In keeping with Singapore’s efforts to tackle its growing amount of refuse, such refuse is incinerated to produce electricity. The resultant ash that is procured from incineration is then used to reclaim land. One such project is the Pulau Semakau Landfill located 6 kilometers to the south of the mainland. Presently allocated as an eco-park, this tiny islet is where research testing is done on solar, wind and wave energy. This could be the future of land reclamation in the sea if it is found to be successful in years to come.

As Singapore is surrounded by the sea, it makes good sense to research the feasibility of floating structures. Examples of such structures would be the floating airports found in Japan and Hong Kong. Safely cradled between Malaysia and Indonesia, Singapore is ideally sheltered from the brunt of nature’s forces. The seas are calm and therefore conducive to the development of such structures. Whether anchored down or mounted on hydraulically supported structures, the government is avidly pursuing much research into this area.

En Bloc Sales for Redevelopment

Residential, commercial and industrial collective sales of real estate is another way to optimize land use. Medium to high rise buildings and complexes are preferred to building of conventional private homes and commercial structures. These vertical redevelopments are not only restricted by building budgets, but also by height restrictions in proximity to certain sensitive government areas, as well as in relation to the surrounding landscape. As with the concept of transport/commercial hubs, integrated amenities further maximize land use.

Residential en bloc sales have reached fever pitch. Major developers scour the island in search of more and more suitable sites to offset the shortfall of new land parcels. Existing clusters of houses and private apartments have been sold en bloc. Residents of apartment buildings must procure an 80% majority vote before these dwellings can be sold.

As a rule, residential properties may not be redeveloped for other uses, unless approval has been given by the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore. This is to ensure that the status quo of residential to commercial ratio remains balanced.

Commercial and industrial en bloc sales are usually large scale ones where the major real estate players first liaise closely with relevant government agencies before bidding for such sites. The Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore overseas commercial sites while the Jurong Town Corporation in charge of all government owned single, double and multi storied factories.