Measuring around 48 hectares – about the size of 86 football fields, this area will see about 6,000 Housing and Development Board (HDB) BTO flats built on the site of Keppel Club, with the first Build-to-Order (BTO) project expected to launch within three years announced Minister for National Development Desmond Lee on 12 April 2022 (Tuesday).
Being close to the coast as well as green spaces, the Keppel Club site will offer unique waterfront living, close to nature within a central location with Labrador Park MRT and Telok Blangah MRT stations nearby. This new town is expected to adopt a "car-lite” model in the estate, enabling residents to get around easily by walking or cycling. The housing estate will have new parks and open spaces which feature walking trails that connect to the MRT stations providing residents with easy access to transport nodes and new social and commercial facilities. Green roofs on lower rise blocks can also supplement the green spaces to serve as additional habitats for butterflies and smaller urban bird species.
HDB will also set aside close to 10 hectares or about 20 per cent of the site area for parks and open spaces to develop:
- The Central Corridor: a central green park running through the centre of the site
- Berlayer Corridor: a 30m-wide extension along Berlayer Creek protecting existing mangrove forest
- Henderson Corridor: a linear park along the eastern boundary of the Keppel Club site, which also serves as an avian connectivity path
- The Northern Corridor: a landscaped linear green connecting the other 3 corridors
The green corridors at Keppel Club will also be part of the new Labrador Nature Park Network to enhance greenery along the surrounding areas, the Labrador Nature Park Network will comprise more than 200 hectares of green spaces including the Labrador Nature Reserve, Labrador Nature Park, Berlayer Creek and Pasir Panjang Park, and the mature secondary forests along the Southern Ridges.
The housing developments will feature “sky rise greenery” and “landscaped terraces” allowing residents to live in an eco-friendly environment close to the city centre. This is part of the government's efforts to move towards having more housing options and mixed-use development in the central region bringing homes closer to jobs. There are also plans to transform the nearby Pasir Panjang Power Station buildings into a distinctive and vibrant mixed-use district characterised by its unique industrial heritage and waterfront. National Parks Board (NParks) will introduce several new green spaces along Alexanda Stream, at Berlayer Creek and at King's Dock. NParks is also adding a waterfront extension at Pasir Panjang Park. Together with the new parks at the Keppel Club site, there will be a total of more than 25 hectares of new green spaces.
HDB is still deciding whether these new flats will fall under the Housing and Development Board's Prime Location Public Housing (PLH) model as they will be considering factors such as the project's locational attributes and market values.
Keppel Club’s 30-year lease on the land which ended Dec 31, 2021, has been granted several extensions, the latest till Mar 31, 2023, to facilitate its clearance and reinstatement of the site. The property was zoned Residential under the URA 2019 Master Plan.
Nearby in Bukit Merah, the median resale prices of 5-room HDB flats was S$750,000 in March, while the median for 4-room flats in the resale market was S$735,000, according to latest data from SRX. In the private residential market, near the Greater Southern Waterfront - Avenue South Residence developed by UOL Group with 92% of the units already sold are seeing its available units selling above $2,300 per square foot (psf) according to data from URA's Realis platform.
HDB recently announced to buyers at three BTO projects to expect further delays of at least 3 months to 6 months due to tight manpower shortage causing buyers of Tampines GreenCourt, Clementi NorthArc and Woodleigh Hillside BTO projects who were expecting their flats to be ready in the third quarter of this year - already a delayed completion date - to wait longer between three and six more months for their homes.
"I believe HDB may want to settle these construction delays that may last thru 2023 before launching the new BTO flats at Keppel Club. If HDB launch these BTO flats after 2023, I expect the 4 room flats to be priced around $850,000 and 5 room flats around S$1 million if these BTOs are not classified under the PLH model which has more restrictions on buyers. Keppel Club future development will integrate the best attributes the government has gathered from developing Punggol 21, Bidadari Town and Marina Bay coupled with the additional upside from The Greater Southern Waterfront." said Kiwi Lim.
Extracted From Straits Times News On 12 April 2022