Government to proceed with Jurong Lake District development

S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia 29 Dec 08;

SINGAPORE: The Singapore government is proceeding to put in the infrastructure to facilitate the growth of Jurong Lake District. This follows the unveiling of the area's development blueprint in April this year.

Giving an update on Monday, both the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and JTC said the measures include constructing a new spinal road, expanding the Jurong East MRT station and redeveloping the bus interchange.

There will also be upcoming developments at the International Business Park (IBP), Teban and Pandan Gardens.

The existing business cluster in the IBP will be expanded to maximise its potential in the next economic upturn.

Given IBP's proximity to industrial estates in the west and to the major commercial hub at Jurong Gateway, it remains an attractive location for many industrialists to site their headquarter operations.

JTC envisaged that this strong demand for business park space in IBP will continue into the next economic upturn.

It is planning to develop the land parcels along the business park's southern boundary, generating about 5 hectares of land and 125,000 square metres of business park space.

There will also be improvements to the road network in the IBP which was the first business park established in Singapore in 1992.

Teban and Pandan Gardens will be rejuvenated as well to provide attractive waterfront housing and to enhance their connectivity.

On top of that, there will be road improvement works at Faber Terrace and Faber Hills. This will improve current traffic situation in the area and allow more quality low and medium density housing fronting Sungei Ulu Pandan.

All these are part of Master Plan 2008 to develop new growth areas outside the city centre.
- CNA/so

Jurong to get more business space
Expansion of business park will position Singapore for recovery
Jessica Cheam, Straits Times 30 Dec 08;

THE economic outlook is all gloom but the Government is already positioning Singapore for the next upturn by unveiling plans to beef up the supply of business park space in Jurong.

Its ambitious move comes even as demand in the property sector has fallen dramatically in recent months while office rents have dipped.

Industrial landlord JTC Corporation said yesterday it will develop 5ha south of the existing International Business Park. This will yield 125,000 sq m, or about 1.35 million sq ft, of rentable space.

The development will help JTC 'secure investments and anchor key companies' in an effort to better place the economy for the next upturn, it said.

Site surveys will start next month and infrastructure work, including improvements to the park's road networks, will begin in March. Two new road linkages to the Ayer Rajah Expressway and Pan-Island Expressway will be created.

Companies can lease space in the business park from 2011, said JTC.

Market watchers told The Straits Times that the Government is stimulating economic activity with the development while also seeking to avoid the kind of office space crunch that has hit businesses in recent years.

The economic boom that preceded the financial crisis saw prime office rents double to almost $19 per sq ft last year. This sparked a scramble to build more office space, including government moves to release transitional office sites to relieve pent-up demand.

While this has now led to concerns that Singapore could face an office space glut over the next two years, some analysts feel that early preparation of sites enables the market to respond faster when the economy does pick up.

Colliers International's research and advisory director, Ms Tay Huey Ying, said she did not think there would be a glut, and that this 'will help in ensuring a U-shape recovery instead of a V-shape one when the global economy recovers'.

CIMB-GK economist Song Seng Wun said government investment in public infrastructure like Jurong Island or Changi Airport during downturns has traditionally 'worked well for Singapore'.

Even though the impact on economic output 'will not be massive', such work will benefit local firms, added Mr Song.

The International Business Park - 21 land parcels of about 25ha - is Singapore's first such park. Established in 1992, it has drawn renowned tech firms such as Dell and Acer to set up shop.

JTC said a review of the park's masterplan was timely as the Urban Redevelopment Authority had recently announced a dramatic makeover for Jurong in its 2008 Masterplan.

The industrial town is to be redeveloped into Jurong Lake District - a 360ha mini metropolis of homes, hotels, shops, eateries and offices linked to the MRT via walkways and waterways.

It will consist of Jurong Gateway, the up-and-coming commercial hub of the West, and Lakeside, which is being developed as a destination for young families, with tourist attractions and parks complemented by water activities.

JTC said 'there is potential' for synergy between the expanded business park and the rejuvenated Jurong Gateway.

Collier's Ms Tay agreed that more business park space will add critical mass and 'aid in the realisation of the Government's vision for the Jurong Lake District'.

To complement the commercial developments, the surrounding housing estates will be rejuvenated by various statutory boards. This will mean upgrades to Teban and Pandan Gardens and the Faber Terrace areas in the next few years.

Wider variety of housing in the west
Straits Times 30 Dec 08;

RESIDENTS in the west can look forward to having a wider variety of homes to choose from in the next few years.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday announced detailed plans to rejuvenate estates such as Teban and Pandan Gardens, and Faber Terrace and Faber Hills - part of a bigger makeover for the Jurong district.

As the existing International Business Park expands, infrastructure upgrading works will also be carried out at surrounding housing estates by national water agency PUB and the Housing Board.

Dredging works by the PUB to deepen Jurong Lake to allow for more recreational water activities, for example, have already begun.

Under its Active, Beautiful, Clean (ABC) Waters Programme which aims to convert canals and reservoirs into a scenic network of waterways, PUB plans to build a new waterfront promenade with boardwalks, bridges and wetlands at Jurong Lake.

At Teban and Pandan Gardens, the HDB has been rejuvenating these estates through various upgrading programmes and its Selective En-bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers). Sers involves the relocation of residents in public housing that is about 30 years old to newly developed high-density projects located nearby.

Road improvement works at Faber Terrace and Faber Hills will also allow more quality low- and medium-density housing fronting Sungei Ulu Pandan to be built to support the growth of the Jurong Lake District, said URA.

A 1.9ha private residential and commercial site next to Jurong East MRT was also put on URA's reserve list last month.

Knight Frank's director of research and consultancy Nicholas Mak does not expect the plans to have any immediate significant impact on the market.

But Colliers International's research and advisory director Tay Huey Ying said the plans to enhance residential estates 'will add variety to housing options...and help entice home purchasers'.

'This can help to boost population in this area - a critical ingredient if the Jurong Gateway is to be a success.'

JTC to bulk up space at Jurong business park
Area to be increased by 20%; some parts to see plot ratios raised
Emilyn Yap, Business Times 30 Dec 08;

(SINGAPORE) The economy may be slowing but the government has already set its sights on riding the recovery. To meet future demand for space, JTC Corporation plans to expand the International Business Park (IBP) in Jurong by 20 per cent and will raise plot ratios for some areas in the park.

Property consultants generally welcomed the news and believe that the new supply, which will enter the market only in the mid to long term, will have little impact on the weakening property market.

First established in 1992, the IBP now consists of 21 land parcels spanning 25 hectares, and JTC has fully allocated these plots. The park is home to several global technology firms such as Creative Technology, Acer and Dell.

'We are expecting a surge in demand for business park land in this area in the next economic upturn, which land intensification on existing IBP land alone would not be able to address,' said a JTC spokesman yesterday.

To prepare 'land supply in advance to meet investors' needs, we are planning to develop land parcels adjacent to the IBP for its expansion'.

JTC will be adding five parcels or around five hectares of land along the IBP's southern boundary. With a plot ratio of 2.5, this will generate some 125,000 square metres of new business park space.

JTC has also been receiving requests from existing IBP lessees to intensify land use. The overall occupancy rate for multi-tenanted buildings at the park has been high, at around 90 per cent.

To meet these needs, plot ratios for around 14.8 hectares of land will be increased from 1.4 to 2.5.

In line with the redevelopment, the government is looking to improve the area's road network by creating two road linkages to direct traffic from the IBP to the Ayer Rajah Expressway and the Pan Island Expressway.

It could take another 3-4 years for the IBP's revamp to be completed, estimates JTC. The redevelopment will complement the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) 2008 Master Plan to create a suburban commercial hub in Jurong.

'There is potential to create synergy between the IBP and the proposed developments in Jurong Gateway, the commercial precinct of the Jurong Lake District,' said the JTC spokesman.

JTC's announcement comes amid a cooling economy and a softening property market - consultants are predicting a fall in demand for industrial space and rents in the coming year. But some whom BT spoke to remain sanguine about prospects for the extra IBP space coming up.

'Business park space is still a good alternative for those looking at office space outside the Central Business District (CBD). As long as rentals in the CBD are considered high, interest in business parks will be healthy,' said Knight Frank's head of industrial business space, Lim Kien Kim. 'I don't think this new supply will significantly affect rents for business parks in general.'

According to its website, JTC charges a land rent of around $60.57 per square metre (psm) per annum, or a land price of $913 psm on a 30-year lease for IBP sites with a plot ratio of 2.5.

DTZ's executive director Ong Choon Fah also believes that the new IBP supply will not pose a big concern. 'This is long-term . . . There will always be market cycles, so we must not lose sight of the long- term goals . . . Announcing this now also allows market players to be aware of what is happening in the future, so they can start to plan.'

Cushman & Wakefield Singapore managing director Donald Han says that the new IBP plots could also be put on the reserve list if they are released in a subdued market. Reserve list sites are launched for tender only upon successful application by a developer with an undertaking of a minimum bid acceptable to the state.

'I don't think (the government) will force feed the market,' he said.

Alongside JTC's redevelopment plans for the IBP, URA also released other updates to its 2008 Master Plan for the Jurong Lake District yesterday. They include the rejuvenation of Teban Gardens and Pandan Gardens, and road improvement works for Faber Terrace and Faber Hills.

Rejuvenation for Jurong residential areas
Better connectivity and more housing choices are on the cards
Emilyn Yap, Business Times 30 Dec 08;

MORE residential areas in Jurong are to be rejuvenated as part of the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) 2008 Master Plan to develop commercial hubs outside the Central Business District.

Supporting the growth of the Jurong Lake District, Faber Terrace, Faber Hills, Teban Gardens and Pandan Gardens will soon enjoy better connectivity and more housing choices.

Various infrastructure plans in the region will proceed 'notwithstanding the current economic downturn', said URA in a release yesterday.

The government will be enhancing roads at Faber Terrace and Faber Hills. Not only will this improve the area's traffic situation, it will also allow more low and medium-density housing fronting Sungei Ulu Pandan to be built in future, said URA.

Noting that traffic along the Ayer Rajah Expressway in the area can be heavy, DTZ's executive director Ong Choon Fah agreed with the plans. 'If you build up the Jurong Lake District, you will also need to find an accessible way to get there,' she said.

According to URA, new residences at Faber Terrace and Faber Hills will be private and could include landed property as well as low- and medium-density condominiums. The area could be suitable for cluster housing, said Cushman & Wakefield Singapore managing director Donald Han.

Teban and Pandan Gardens will also undergo rejuvenation. Two public housing sites at Teban Gardens are already under the selective en-bloc redevelopment scheme, and PUB's ABC Waters programme for the Pandan Reservoir will further enhance waterfront living in the area.

There are also plans to improve Teban and Pandan Gardens' connectivity with the Jurong Lake District.

The district - comprising a commercial centre at Jurong Gateway and a leisure hotspot at Lakeside - could attract more large and global companies and the redevelopment of the International Business Park would further support this. As JTC Corporation also said yesterday, it plans to add another five hectares of land and raise plot ratios for some areas in the park.

Knight Frank director of research and consultancy Nicholas Mak pointed out that multinational corporations do pay attention to where the workforce is when they pick a site for their headquarters or factories. 'To know that (workers) are all living around is good, there is a ready pool of labour,' he said.

The announcements are also 'a signal to potential developers and investors that there is still land around the Jurong Lake area available,' he added.

URA also provided more updates on the development of Jurong Lake District yesterday.

For instance, dredging works to deepen the Jurong Lake for more water-based activities are already underway.

The ‘lake district’ just gets bigger ...
Zul Othman, Today Online 30 Dec 08;

IN APRIL, they learnt how nearby Jurong would be transformed into a “lake district” and Singapore’s largest commercial hub outside the city centre.

Yesterday, residents of three estates located a stone’s throw away — including one that made history by being the first to reject upgrading — found out they would be part of the rejuvenation, too.

The 30-year-old public housing neighbourhoods of Teban and Pandan Gardens, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority, can expect “attractive waterfront housing”, a feature that has been given top billing elsewhere, such as in Punggol.

With Pandan Reservoir and Sungei Ulu Pandan in the vicinity and water-based activities expected, space for private housing fronting the river has also been set aside at nearby Faber Terrace and Faber Hills.

And to top off the effect of the Jurong Lake District, which promises leisure infrastructure and should be fully developed by 2020, it was announced yesterday the authorities would expand the nearby International Business Park (IBP) so that more jobs and homes go hand-in-hand in the former swampland-turned-industrial town.

JTC Corporation (JTC), which manages the 25-hectare IBP, will add five hectares or 125,000 sq m of business space to the area, which, in its current size, had been fully allocated by the middle of this year.

There is potential to “create synergy” between IBP and the proposed developments in the Jurong Gateway, the 70-hectare commercial precinct (500,000 square metres of office space) of the Jurong Lake District, said JTC.

“We’re expecting a surge in demand for Business Park land in this area in the next economic upturn, which land intensification on existing IBP land alone would not be able to address,” said a JTC spokeswoman.

Tenants of the IBP engage broadly in data centre, engineering, software R&D, info-comm and telecommunication (ICT) activities. It is too early to say if rent at IBP will increase, which would depend on the market, the spokeswoman added. Expansion will start with a site survey next month and site preparation works in March, which will include two road linkages to direct traffic to the Ayer Rajah and Pan-Island Expressways. The targeted completion date is within three to four years.

Across the AYE, road improvement works will also be carried out at Faber Terrace and Faber Hills to support future growth in low- and medium-intensity density housing while more housing choices will be provided in Teban and Pandan Gardens through the Selective En-Bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers). The latter estate rejected upgrading works in 2003.

But this time, residents Today spoke to said they were pleased to hear about the coming developments, which in the case of Teban Gardens, already includes two Sers sites. More details will be made known at a later stage, but residents such as clinical nurse Farida Abdul Talib, 46, has her wishlist ready.

She said: “(There’s) not much variety now. I would definitely like to see more shops to liven up the place.” ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SUFIAN BIN SUDERMAN