The sites are expected to be sold to developers through the biannual Government Land Sales process, should the plots be used for private housing.
Four sites within the mature estates of Balestier, Bedok, Jurong East and Toa Payoh are set to be cleared to make way for housing projects, reported The Straits Times (ST) citing tender documents put out by the Housing and Development Board (HDB).
The sites – at 51 Jalan Rajah, 58 Bedok North Street 3, 571 Jurong East Street 24 and 1 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh – are all zoned for “Residential” use under the URA masterplan, which means either private homes or HDB flats may be built on the land.
HDB did not indicate if the sites are earmarked for private or public housing, saying it will eventually announce more details.
The sites are expected to be sold to developers through the biannual Government Land Sales process, should the plots be used for private housing.
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The site at 51 Jalan Rajah used to be occupied by the Global Indian International School Balestier campus, which is situated beside Pan-Island Expressway and Kallang River and across from Toa Payoh Stadium.
The Bedok site is occupied by the Muhammadiyah Welfare Home for children, which will move to a new space within Pasir Ris in June. With an estimated area of 16,500 sq m, the site is located near Bedok Reservoir MRT station. Demolition work is anticipated to be conducted between July and May next year.
The Jurong East site, on the other hand, is occupied by the now-defunct Yuqun Primary School that was merged in 2002 with Yuhua Primary School.
With an area of about 5,500 sq m, the site at Toa Payoh is next to Pei Chun Public School and Madrasah Al-Arabiah Al-Islamiah. Demolition work at the site is slated to be completed by November.
The tender documents did not specify the demolition timeline and land area for the sites in Balestier and Jurong East.
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In January and February, HDB called for a tender to engage arborists that will assess the health of trees on the sites.
“The healthy trees and other greenery on these sites will be retained or incorporated in the development of the sites, where feasible,” said HDB as quoted by ST.
Christine Sun, Senior Vice-President of Research and Analytics at OrangeTee and Tie, said the plots at Balestier and Toa Payoh are the most attractive due to their central location.
However, she does not expect HDB to launch new flats or put up the sites for sale any time soon since it takes time to clear and prepare the land.
“HDB will likely also have quite a bit of backlog of sites to launch, as COVID-19 probably delayed some plans, so these new sites may not take priority yet,” she said as quoted by ST.
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