With the announcement of the master plan 2019, there has been much anticipation and talk about the development of the Greater Southern Waterfront (GSW) on how it will be transformed into a new hub filled with various opportunities.
What we know so far
The move to rejuvenate the GSW will commence in 2027, where PSA city terminal in Tanjong Pagar will be relocated to Tuas in a bid to decentralize our city state. The GSW will extend from Gardens by the Bay East to Pasir Panjang, which is a long stretch covering 30km of the southern coastline with about 2,000ha of land for potential redevelopment. Just imagine developing an area of 6 Marina Bays in size!
With this redevelopment of the GSW, there will be potentially 9,000 new residential development homes over the site currently taken by Keppel Club, which will end their land lease on 31 December 2021 to cooperate with the redevelopment. Hence, we can also expect a rejuvenation of the lifestyle amenities there, starting from the largest retail mall in the area, Vivocity.
There are already plans set in stone for an establishment of a resort for the residents to enjoy, which will mirror NTUC's Downtown East resort. You can expect facilities like bowling, swimming, cinema, lots of retail shops and dining options as well. This will definitely be a hot pick for families over the weekends and the holidays.
More office spaces are also actively sought after within the GSW to bring more people into the area to work, which will boost the number of working population there. A wider pool of office tenants will also progressively relocate within the region, which will be a great positive for firms with office properties in the area.
There will also be an increase in tourists once the new tourism elements are added. Some of the new attractions include the addition of rides and facilities in USS, which is set to complete in stages from 2020 all the way to 2025 as part of the GSW rejuvenation.
In addition, The S.E.A Aquarium in Sentosa will also see a 3 times expansion of space and be rebranded as the Singapore Oceanarium. Some of its new features include deep sea holograms, discovery pools with live creatures and many more.
This will help Sentosa cement its status as a top regional integrated resort, which will see more than 20 million visitors in due time.
What does this mean for properties residing within the GWS? To better answer this, we take a look at a similar case study: The Sail @ Marina Bay.
Case study: The Sail @ Marina Bay
Back in 1971, the government embarked on an ambitious land reclamation project in anticipation of increasing growth of the existing city centre. This led to 38 hectares of land relciamed at Bayfront, creating the shore profile of Marina Bay that we see today. By the late 1990s, the Marina Bay area covered a total of 360 hectares of prime land for development.
By 2010, we saw the compilation of many key public infrastructure, with the addition of the iconic Marina Bay Sands decorating the area with a touch of elegance and luxury. A 100 hectare Gardens by the Bay with its massive Supertrees also opened in 2012. Slowly but surely, the heart of Singapore’s new financial hub came to fruition in 2013, with the opening of The Marina Bay Financial Centre and Asia Square.
Today, Marina Bay certainly looks nothing like it was in the 1970s - as the centrepiece of Singapore’s urban transformation effects, it has grown into a leading financial centre, a civic space, and a community playground for all.
How did this transform the property prices within the Marina Bay area? Here, we take a look at The Sail @ Marina Bay.
From the table above, we see that even though they bought it in the range of $9xx psf, all the units were able to sell at $2,0xx psf range. The profits were all extremely high at approximately 102% to 157%.
While the average URA PPI increased by +18% only across the 10 years, we saw a steep increase of +110% in the units within the Marina Bay area. This is a significant 5x increase of property price increase, an extremely good opportunity well tapped upon by utilising the first-mover advantage!
As the next biggest infrastructure transformation, it is greatly possible that the properties near GWS will enjoy the capital gain like how The Sail @ Marina Bay owners enjoyed.
Another Case Study: Jurong Lake District
Here, we look into another case of transformation effect, through the lens of Master Plan 2008 in the Jurong Lake District.
Back in earlier years, we saw the Draft Master Plan 2008 explain plans ahead to decentralize economic activities and opportunities from the Central Business District (CBD) area. This was aimed at bringing more vibrancy to respective regional centres across the city state, which Jurong Lake District was highlighted as one of them. As such, we saw in the next few years a development of business, leisure and lifestyle amenities within the area.
For those that are not aware, Jurong Lake District is actually a combination of two areas - namely Jurong Gateway and the Lakeside. Both of them come together within the vicinity of the Jurong East and Jurong Lake MRT stations, with surrounding amenities aimed at establishing a commercial Hub further away from the CBD region.
Currently, it is already a vibrant commercial with a good mix of office, retail, residential, hotel, recreational and dining options. With 500,000 sqm of office space and 250,000 sqm of retail, F&B and entertainment space, Jurong Gateway is indeed well positioned to provide numerous employment opportunities and lifestyle enjoyments. It currently also enjoys close proximity to a multitude of international businesses around the International Business Park and the Jurong & Tuas Industrial Estates. In addition, its proximity to the tertiary institutions like the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) also allows it to gain a ready pool of talents.
Again, we see how important the transformation effect is - based on the table above, while the average URA PPI increased by only +18%, the properties near Jurong Gateway saw a much higher price increase. Westmere saw an increase of +89%, while Ivory Heights had an increase of +101%. This greatly supersedes the average URA PPI, indicating how much the transformation effect benefitted the property value.
Important question: What are the projects near GWS then?
With this many benefits and new developments happening along the GSW, many of you might be interested in investing a property there before the price spikes, or are already planning to move there due to the employment opportunities there. Some of the properties you should definitely consider:
Still unsure and have questions on the property? If you would like property guidance that is tailored to your needs and preferences, reach out to our team of agents that is well equipped with the latest property news and updates.
The above is written by Kaeden Ong. To know more, contact him at +65 9048 0660.
The information provided is for generation information purposes only and does not have regard to specific investment objectives, financial situation and the particular needs of any recipient hereof. No information here should be used as legal, taxation or investment advice.
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