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SINGAPORE – The iconic Golden Mile Complex building, with its terraced façade facing the Nicoll Highway, is being proposed for preservation due to its historical and architectural significance, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said on Friday (October 9).
The decision, made after a two-year study, starts the process for it to be listed as a conserved building.
But to help ensure that the measure does not inhibit a future collective sale, the URA, in an unusual measure, offers developers additional planning incentives, including a one-third increase in floor area with an exemption from part of their development charge (DC) and the option to adjust the site limit of 1.3ha.
In turn, developers must adhere to conservation guidelines.
Most importantly, they must retain the development’s iconic main building, famous for its unique stepped terraces atop the podium overlooking Nicoll Highway.
Other key features that need to be maintained include the stepped construction profile and the plinth profile on the side facing Beach Road.
However, the URA assured the builders that it is open to considering creative design ideas that respect the architectural and structural character of the building.
The decision to keep the 47-year-old complex comes after two failed mass sales, both priced at the same $ 800 million. Both tenders closed without bids.
One of the main incentives is that the URA allows the development to have an increased total gross parcel ratio of 5.6 for the site. This one-third increase in floor area is the equivalent of an additional 30-story tower.
It will be located on the site of a multi-story parking lot adjacent to the main building.
Part of the CD for the additional floor area will not apply, but will be capped at 10 percent of the market value of the entire development, or 10 percent of the estimated value of the land, based on the current CD rate, depending on the approved mix of development use, whichever is less, the URA said.
Developers will also have the option of adjusting site boundaries to have a more regular site for optimal new tower design.
These incentives are in addition to typical planning incentives for preserved buildings, where CDs are waived for an improvement in value resulting from a change in site use and a lease of up to 99 years.
More than 7,000 buildings have been preserved in Singapore, many of which are in historic districts such as Chinatown, Little India, and Kampong Glam.
The decision to retain the Strata’s Golden Mile complex comes after input collected over two years by the URA from various stakeholders, heritage groups and industry players.
The 718-unit, 16-story property on Beach Road is zoned for commercial use under the 2014 URA Master Plan.
The Golden Mile complex was completed in 1973 and has approximately 48 years left on its lease. It was one of the first developments in Singapore to have offices, shops and residences.
When you find a developer in a crowdsale, Golden Mile Complex will be Singapore’s first large-scale, titled, conserved development to be sold.
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