Singapore introduces the CBD Incentive and Strategic Development Incentive schemes and announces the end of the Bonus Plot Ratio scheme

The Strategic Development Incentive Scheme ran for five years from the date of gazette of Master Plan 2019, not from its own commencement, and URA said it would review the scheme at the end of that period and could vary its requirements during it.

Stated 27 March 2019. The period is anchored to the gazette, not to 27 March 2019. The circular states neither the gazette date nor an end date. Counting five years from commencement would put the end in March 2024, which the circular does not say.

The CBD Incentive Scheme was to run for five years from the Master Plan 2019 gazette, with URA to review it at the end and free to vary its requirements and the extent of incentives during that period.

Stated 27 March 2019. No end date is stated. Unlike the Strategic Development Incentive circular, this one names the extent of incentives among what URA may vary.

URA said Master Plan 2019 would be adjusted to take into account the bonus plot ratio applicable within 200m of the designated MRT stations, and that it would honour the previously approved GFA of developments that had used the scheme when they were redeveloped.

Stated 27 March 2019. A distance from the stations, not a plot ratio. The circular names no parcel and states no resulting plot ratio; which parcels changed in Master Plan 2019 is planning-layer state and is not carried here. URA tied the honouring of approved GFA to the provisions of the Master Plan Written Statement.

Under the CBD Incentive Scheme, in Anson and Cecil Street, the maximum allowable intensification for conversion from office to Residential with Commercial at 1st storey was 30%.

Stated 27 March 2019, in force from the gazette. A maximum, not an entitlement: measured against the Master Plan 2019 GPR or the approved GPR, whichever is higher (claim 17), and assessed on the detailed design. The only 30% option in the scheme, and not offered in Robinson Road, Shenton Way or Tanjong Pagar. No before-value: the scheme was new.

In Anson and Cecil Street, the maximum allowable intensification for conversion from office to Commercial and Residential was 25%.

Stated 27 March 2019, in force from the gazette. A maximum on the same base as claim 11.

In Anson and Cecil Street, the maximum allowable intensification for conversion from office to Hotel was 25%.

Stated 27 March 2019, in force from the gazette. A maximum on the same base as claim 11.

In Robinson Road, Shenton Way and Tanjong Pagar, the maximum allowable intensification for conversion from office to Commercial with 40% Non-Commercial Uses such as Residential was 25%.

Stated 27 March 2019, in force from the gazette. Two different quantities sit in one row. The 40% in the option's name is the non-commercial share of the use mix; the 25% is the cap on added intensity. They are never added or read as one figure. The circular did not offer this option in Anson or Cecil Street.

In Robinson Road, Shenton Way and Tanjong Pagar, the maximum allowable intensification for conversion from office to Commercial and Residential was 25%.

Stated 27 March 2019, in force from the gazette. A maximum on the same base as claim 11.

In Robinson Road, Shenton Way and Tanjong Pagar, the maximum allowable intensification for conversion from office to Hotel was 25%.

Stated 27 March 2019, in force from the gazette. A maximum on the same base as claim 11.

The CBD Incentive Scheme required a building at least 20 years old from the date of its last TOP, with exemptions considered case by case.

Stated 27 March 2019, in force from the gazette. Counted from the last temporary occupation permit, not from construction. The circular states no ground for an exemption. The Strategic Development Incentive Scheme sets its own 20-year criterion (claim 32).

In Anson the minimum site area for the CBD Incentive Scheme was 1,000 sqm.

Stated 27 March 2019. Anson only, with no corner distinction.

In Cecil Street, and in Robinson Road, Shenton Way and Tanjong Pagar, the minimum site area for a corner site under the CBD Incentive Scheme was 1,000 sqm.

Stated 27 March 2019. For the robinson road group, table 2 carries the figure only through a spanned cell; the appendix sheet states it in words. The circular does not define a corner site.

In Cecil Street, and in Robinson Road, Shenton Way and Tanjong Pagar, the minimum site area for any site other than a corner site under the CBD Incentive Scheme was 2,000 sqm.

Stated 27 March 2019. URA said the minimum varies by area to avoid a wall-like environment. Stored apart from claim 23 so the corner and other-site figures are never merged.

The Strategic Development Incentive Scheme required a development at least 20 years old from the date of its last TOP.

Stated 27 March 2019. Paragraph 8 allows exemptions from the Table 1 criteria where a redevelopment benefits the wider streetblock or precinct. Stored apart from the CBD Incentive criterion (claim 19).

A Strategic Development Incentive proposal should include a minimum of two adjacent sites, unless an exemption was allowed, for example where a single site was large enough on its own to achieve the impact sought.

Stated 27 March 2019. A norm with named exceptions, not a hard floor. Paragraph 8 gives three example grounds, including plugging gaps in the pedestrian network and opening a view corridor, and the list is not closed.

URA announced that it would rescind the Bonus Plot Ratio scheme, introduced in 1989 for commercial developments close to five designated MRT stations and for those meeting a minimum plot size, in tandem with the gazette of Master Plan 2019.

Stated 27 March 2019. Announced, not rescinded that day. The stations named are Orchard, Somerset, Dhoby Ghaut, Raffles Place and Tanjong Pagar. The circular gives no bonus quantum for the scheme and no minimum plot size, and no primary held states them. The year is context and carries no structured value.

The maximum intensification in the CBD Incentive Scheme was measured against the Master Plan 2019 GPR or the approved GPR, whichever was higher, and would be assessed on the detailed design, with URA free to refuse approval or to approve with conditions.

Stated 27 March 2019. The base was a plan not yet gazetted: on 27 March 2019 Master Plan 2019 was a draft. The circular gives no worked example of the base or of the resulting floor area.

URA said residential and hotel uses were encouraged in the CBD Incentive areas, and that approval of the allowable uses was subject to the statutory rezoning process and to Rule 4 and Rule 7 of the Planning (Master Plan) Rules.

Stated 27 March 2019. A conversion needs rezoning; the scheme does not rezone. The circular does not say what Rules 4 and 7 require. The rule numbers are not values.

The CBD Incentive Scheme was open to predominantly office developments only.

Stated 27 March 2019. The circular does not define predominantly.

The CBD Incentive Scheme applied in selected parts of Anson, Cecil Street, and Robinson Road, Shenton Way and Tanjong Pagar, as mapped in the circular's Appendix 1.

Stated 27 March 2019. Selected parts, not whole districts. The boundaries are image maps in the appendix and Prevo holds no geometry for them, so no site can be placed inside or outside an area from this archive. Raffles Place is not an area.

Any increase in development intensity under the CBD Incentive Scheme was subject to URA's planning approval, to development charge or differential premium where applicable, and to the prevailing urban design guidelines for the Downtown Core Planning Area.

Stated 27 March 2019. The added intensity is charged for, not free. The circular does not quantify the charge or premium.

A CBD Incentive development had to adopt the lower bound of the range-based parking provision standards in LTA's prevailing Code of Practice for Vehicle Parking Provision.

Stated 27 March 2019. The bound itself is set in LTA's code, not in the circular.

A CBD Incentive development had to achieve a minimum Green Mark Platinum score, no Bonus GFA applied for that requirement, and bonus GFA under other schemes stayed available within the prevailing overall cap.

Stated 27 March 2019. The Strategic Development Incentive circular sets no Green Mark tier of its own; it says only that bonus GFA will not apply where a minimum Green Mark score is required (claim 37).

Any increase in development intensity approved under the CBD Incentive Scheme would not count towards the site's future development potential, and lease renewals were subject to SLA's approval under the prevailing lease renewal policy.

Stated 27 March 2019. The circular does not explain how future development potential is measured.

Applications under the CBD Incentive Scheme were made as an Outline Application to URA's Development Control Group, and sites in the designated areas were guided by this scheme rather than by the Strategic Development Incentive Scheme.

Stated 27 March 2019. The two schemes do not overlap: a site in a CBD Incentive area cannot be considered under the Strategic Development Incentive Scheme. Standard processing and application fees applied; no fee is stated.

The Strategic Development Incentive Scheme evaluates proposals that deviate from a site's existing planning parameters, namely GPR or GFA, land use and use quantum, and building height, and its circular sets no fixed or maximum bonus for any of them.

Stated 27 March 2019. The absence of a figure is the fact. No paragraph of the circular states a quantum; any added intensity is decided proposal by proposal. Carrying the CBD Incentive caps over to this scheme is the misreading to guard against.

The Strategic Development Incentive Scheme was open to building owners in strategic areas across Singapore, with applications in Orchard Road, the CBD and Marina Centre encouraged, and excluded sites inside the CBD Incentive areas.

Stated 27 March 2019. No strategic area is mapped or defined. Orchard Road, the CBD and Marina Centre are named as encouraged, not as the whole of the scheme.

The Strategic Development Incentive Scheme was open to commercial or mixed-use developments with predominantly commercial uses, and not to developments with predominantly residential uses.

Stated 27 March 2019. The paragraph 8 exemptions apply to the Table 1 criteria as a whole.

Strategic Development Incentive proposals were evaluated on urban and architectural design, environmental improvement and contribution to the community, and use mix, with technical agencies such as LTA and PUB consulted on any proposed intensification.

Stated 27 March 2019. The community contributions listed include quality public spaces, public transport measures, pedestrian networks, public or cultural facilities, public infrastructure, conservation and adaptive re-use of heritage buildings as one item, and environmental sustainability. No weighting is stated.

A Strategic Development Incentive proposal was submitted as an Outline Application with Form DC/SDI, and a proposal needing a change to Master Plan parameters also had to go through the statutory Master Plan amendment process for rezoning.

Stated 27 March 2019. A supported proposal still needed a formal development application, and URA could support it with or without conditions. The form and the work flow are appendices not read here.

Evaluation under the Strategic Development Incentive Scheme was proposal-specific and set no precedent; added GFA or intensity was subject to development charge or differential premium, did not count towards future development potential, and earned no bonus GFA for requirements the scheme mandated.

Stated 27 March 2019. Bonus GFA under other schemes, such as balconies or indoor recreation spaces, stayed available within the prevailing overall cap. Lease renewals were subject to SLA's approval.

On 27 March 2019 URA issued a circular package introducing two rejuvenation incentive schemes, the Strategic Development Incentive Scheme and the CBD Incentive Scheme, as part of its review for the Draft Master Plan 2019.

Stated 27 March 2019. An announcement of two schemes, each in its own circular with its own effective date. The Draft Master Plan 2019 was a draft and changed no statutory control; the circulars were issued with it, not under it.

The Strategic Development Incentive Scheme took effect on 27 March 2019.

Stated 27 March 2019. Commencement only. The Effective Date field reads "With effect from 27 March 2019". The five-year period is claim 3 and runs from a different date.

The CBD Incentive Scheme took effect from the date of gazette of Master Plan 2019, and before the gazette URA would use it as guidance when considering Outline Applications received in the designated areas within the Downtown Core Planning Area.

Stated 27 March 2019. The circular's date is not the scheme's commencement. The Effective Date field reads "With effect from the date of gazette for Master Plan 2019". Guidance before the gazette is a weaker status than commencement, and the circular states no weight for it. The gazette date is claim 6.

URA stated on 27 November 2019 that Master Plan 2019 was officially gazetted that day, which fixed the CBD Incentive Scheme's commencement and the start of both schemes' five-year periods.

Later source, not known on 27 March 2019. The gazette circular says nothing about either incentive scheme; the link is that both 2019 circulars anchor their periods to the gazette. It is also the date with which the Bonus Plot Ratio rescission was to coincide (claim 7).

URA gave as its reason for the rescission that over the scheme's 30 years most eligible buildings had already optimised their development potential by using it.

The government's stated rationale, not a measured result. "Over the last 30 years" is URA's framing of the scheme's age. No count of eligible or remaining buildings is given, so no value is stored.

URA's stated aim was to make the CBD a 24/7 mixed-use district for living and leisure as well as work, to enhance Orchard Road as a lifestyle destination, and to encourage mixed-use precincts in other strategic areas.

The government's stated aim, not an observed effect. The CBD Incentive circular calibrates the incentives to create mixed-use neighbourhoods at the CBD fringe of Anson and Cecil Street and a blend of uses in Robinson Road, Shenton Way and Tanjong Pagar, while keeping the core of Raffles Place predominantly commercial.

The package set two different kinds of incentive: the CBD Incentive Scheme published caps by area and conversion option, while the Strategic Development Incentive Scheme published none and left the added intensity to URA's evaluation of each proposal.

Prevo's reading, not a Government statement. The inputs are verified. A consequence of the dates is that owners outside the CBD Incentive areas could apply from 27 March 2019, while owners inside them had only guidance until the gazette.