Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A)

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1. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) closed the tender for the two sites at Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A) and River Valley Green (Parcel A) today.

2. The public tender for the site at Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A) was launched on 4 December 2023, while the tender for the site at River Valley Green (Parcel A) was launched on 11 March 2024.

3. There were no tender bids received for the site at Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A). The details of tender bids received for the site at River Valley Green (Parcel A) can be found in Annex A.

4. This is not an announcement of tender award. A decision on the award of the tender will be made after the bids have been evaluated. This will be publicised at a later date.

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To cater to the rising private housing rental demand, two sites — Zion Road Parcel A and Upper Thomson Road Parcel A — are launched to pilot long-stay Serviced Apartments with a 3-month minimum stay requirement1.

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The Government has released more than 9,000 residential units on the Confirmed List in the whole of 2023 (including long-stay Serviced Apartments), which is the highest in a decade. Increase in release for private housing supply (including long-stay Serviced Apartments) for upcoming GLS programmes will address both purchase and rental demand, while promoting market stability.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has released four residential sites at Upper Thomson Road (Parcels A & B) and Zion Road (Parcels A & B) for sale today under the second half 2023 (2H2023) Government Land Sales (GLS) Programme. The sites at Upper Thomson Road (Parcels A & B) and Zion Road (Parcel A) are launched for sale under the Confirmed List, and can potentially yield a total of 2,750 units (including long-stay Serviced Apartments), while Zion Road (Parcel B) is available for application under the Reserve List with a potential yield of 610 residential units. Together, these four sites can potentially yield 3,360 residential units (including long-stay Serviced Apartments).

New Long-stay Serviced Apartments While homeownership aspirations among Singaporeans remain strong, there is a segment of the population that opts to rent. This includes some younger Singaporeans who may choose to rent as a start. Singaporeans who are awaiting the completion of their new or renovated homes, as well as those who come to study or work in Singapore may also seek rental housing. While Serviced Apartments partially cater to this demand, potential tenants who need to rent Serviced Apartments for longer durations would have to compete with those seeking shorter stays, including tourists and business travellers. We have thus consulted the industry extensively on options to cater to such longer-term housing needs.

To expand the range of housing options available and ensure Serviced Apartments can be more targeted in meeting demand for longer stays, the Government will be releasing sites for a new category of long-stay Serviced Apartments with a 3-month minimum stay requirement. Similar to existing Serviced Apartments with a 7-day minimum stay requirement, these long-stay Serviced Apartments cannot be strata subdivided for sale.

The two Confirmed List sites at Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A) and Zion Road (Parcel A) will have a potential combined yield of around 535 long-stay Serviced Apartments, and around 1,275 conventional residential units. Both sites are located near to existing MRT stations and will provide residents with easy access to the city centre, employment nodes, and various amenities. The injection of rental housing supply from the release of such sites will complement conventional rental housing in the market to cater to different needs and help ensure a healthy rental supply.

New neighbourhood in Springleaf Precinct A new neighbourhood will soon be introduced to the Springleaf Precinct with the launch of Upper Thomson Road (Parcels A & B) for sale. Current and future residents can look forward to more amenities in the area, as well as improved pedestrian accessibility to the new Springleaf MRT station.

As the sites are close to the Central Catchment Nature Reserve, a biodiversity-sensitive development approach was taken for these sites. The conserved building of the former Seletar Institute is also situated at the location. Bearing in mind the ecological context as well as the heritage of the area, agencies have conducted extensive environmental and consultancy studies to guide development plans. The findings from the studies as well as plans for the precinct were exhibited as part of the Long-Term Plan Review. Engagements and consultations were conducted with nature and heritage groups, as well as the local community, which aided in drawing up plans for the new neighbourhood. The findings and feedback guided plans to ensure that impact on the surrounding biodiversity is minimised and ecological connectivity is safeguarded in the area. Refer to Annex 1 for details of the land parcels and this link for more information on the biodiversity-sensitive development approach for the precinct.

The successful tenderers for Upper Thomson Road (Parcels A & B) will be required to incorporate biodiversity-sensitive urban design strategies in their proposed developments. They are also strongly encouraged to propose innovative proposals that meet or exceed typical planning and urban design requirements. In addition, the successful tenderer for Upper Thomson Road (Parcel B) will be required to sensitively integrate the conserved building of the former Seletar Institute with the proposed development to preserve the heritage and identity of the area.

Sites are part of increased GLS supply in 2023 In total, the Government has released more than 9,000 Confirmed List units in the whole of 2023 (including long-stay Serviced Apartments), which is the highest in a decade. This is also around 50% higher than the supply in 2022, and around 2.5 times the supply in 2021. More private housing supply, including long-stay Serviced Apartments, will be released in upcoming GLS programmes to cater to purchase and rental demand.

Other Details The tenders for Upper Thomson Road (Parcel B) and Zion Road (Parcel A) sites will close at 12 noon on 4 April 2024 while that for Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A) will close on 19 June 2024.

Upper Thomson Road (Parcels A & B) and Zion Road (Parcel A)

More information on planning guidelines for long-stay Serviced Apartments is available via the circular issued by URA dated 4 December 2023 – “Guidelines for Serviced Apartments II (SA2)”.

1These will be known officially as the Serviced Apartments II (SA2) typology.

2Of these, two are zoned Residential and the other two are zoned Residential with Commercial at 1st Storey (see Annex 1).