Selling larger land parcels, such as the government did at Marina Bay, will be one of the methods used in future development plans.
The government aims to increase the involvement of the private sector in its development plans, as part of its strategies to boost the economy, reported Today.
During the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore’s (Redas) 57th anniversary dinner, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong — who used the development plans at Marina Bay as an example — said one of the possible partnership models is the “master developer approach”.
At Marina Bay, the government had put out significantly larger land parcels instead of following the previous practice of tendering smaller plots of land for sale.
“Prior to Marina Bay, the way in which we sold land in Singapore was to sell land on a plot-by-plot basis. For Marina Bay, we did something different. We put out much larger land plots for the first time. It allowed the developer to optimise different uses and build in a more integrated manner,” said Wong.
“Because it was a much larger plot of land, we also helped to mitigate the risk by giving the developer options to phase out the project. So you don’t have to pay everything upfront in one cash outlay.”
Notably, London has used a similar approach in areas such as King’s Cross Central and Canary Wharf.
Another partnership model being considered by the government is the setting up of Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), where businesses spearhead improvements in a defined commercial area.
“Under a BID, the property owners and retailers will be represented and they will have a say in what they want for the BID area,” Wong explained.
“Together, the members of the BID will contribute funds, which would then be ring-fenced for use in the BID area, and they will come up with their own solutions to make the BID area more attractive and (to) increase footfall. It allows stakeholders to have direct ownership and responsibility in implementing plans for the area.”
Other ideas being considered by the Committee on the Future Economy are the expansion of space options and the development of infrastructure to support a digital economy.
Currently, Singapore is looking at ways to create more underground space and embarking on new reclamation methods to reduce its reliance on imported sand.
With the growth of the digital economy, the country is also exploring ways to strengthen its digital network infrastructure, including creating a “plug-and-play” environment for Internet of Things applications and connected devices, said Wong.
Cheryl Marie Tay, Senior Journalist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories, email cheryl@propertyguru.com.sg
