Ravi Chandran
Remaking of Greater Southern Waterfront and climate change activities could set stage for “Great Eastern Waterfront” says Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) Research.
In his 2019 National Day Rally Speech, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that Singapore’s Greater Southern Waterfront is to be remade to take advantage of our coastline. The PM said that the GSW will comprise of 30km of Singapore’s southern coastline, from the Gardens by the Bay East, all the way to Pasir Panjang.
GSW contains 2,000 hectares of land: six times the size of Marina Bay and in our terms, double the size of Punggol.
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“The GSW includes the PSA city terminals at Tanjong Pagar, Keppel, and Brani. And it also includes the Pasir Panjang Terminals too. By 2027, the city terminals will move to Tuas. Later on, in 2040, the Pasir Panjang Terminal will also go to Tuas Port. This will free up prime land for re-development. It will be an opportunity to reshape the GSW into a new place to live, work and play.”
Commenting on the announcement by PM on the remaking of GSW, Cushman & Wakefield said, “the GSW is poised to be transformed into a mega mixed development zone where Singaporeans can work, live and play.”
One of the first new developments for GSW will be on the existing Keppel Club site, which will be redeveloped into a housing precinct, comprising a mix of 9,000 private and public housing units. This will allow a wide range of Singaporeans, both lower and higher income households, to enjoy sea-front living with modern and high-rise residential blocks in the GSW.
Ms Christine Li, C&W’s Head & Senior Director of Research said, “housing in this area is expected to good demand, given its city fringe location, sea-front living and connectivity due to the nearby MRT stations. Additionally, a new business cluster will emerge at a highly sought- after city fringe location where multinationals the likes of Google, Unilever and Cisco are currently situated.”
“There will be minimal impact on the existing housing projects in the vicinity when construction starts due to blocked views and construction noise and dust. However, over the longer term, housing prices are expected to appreciate due to the injection of more commercial and entertainment activities in the area. Sentosa and Pulau Brani will leverage on the waterfront location to create the next generation entertainment and recreational facilities for the region. Plans are already underway for Sentosa to open a new lifestyle quarter called Siloso Green, which will span 24,500 sqm.
Resorts World Sentosa has also previously announced a $4.5b development investment which will expand its current GFA by about half. Upcoming attractions include Singapore Oceanarium, Minion Park and Super Nintendo World nearby. Pulau Brani, which is now home to a port terminal is also expected to house a new resort called Downtown South.
The resort is expected to be accessible to the mass market, bringing more local traffic to the south which could help change the perception of Sentosa being too inaccessible and expensive to the local mass market. The large expanse of land in the GSW that is available for development is an opportunity to secure Singapore’s status as an entertainment hub in Southeast Asia.
This will further enhance the attractiveness of decentralised office and business park offerings, and will help to accelerate the pace of office decentralization away from the CBD over the next decade. Given the recent CBD incentive scheme, where the government is trying to encourage more mixed-use developments by introducing more residential, retail and hospitality components, the concept of a CBD may become obsolete in Singapore over the long term. The current CBD and the GSW may eventually evolve into a “Central Business Coast” and would connect One North to Bugis.”
C&W said that, these however are very long term plans, and these announcements are not expected to impact the real estate market over the short to medium term.
The C&W Research also commented on the topic of climate change, and said,”Singapore being a small island is especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change and rising sea levels.”
“The eastern coastline of Singapore has been highlighted as a potential high risk area due to rising sea levels. If left unchecked, this would have wide ranging repercussions on property values, safety and livability in the area in the future.
Two potential solutions were highlighted during PM Lee’s National Day Rally yesterday, namely building coastal defenses such as polders and dykes along the eastern coast line or reclaiming a series of islands and connecting them with barrages.
Both solutions would result in reclamation of land, which can then be used for new developments such as residential and commercial developments. Although such plans are not expected to complete in this generation, we could see the creation of a “Great Eastern Waterfront”, which would then connect the GSW to Changi Airport.”
Dark red areas at risk
Polders and sea walls
Reclaiming a series of islands
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