Potential BTO at Kallang Basin Swimming Complex, St Wilfred Sport Centre sites likely to be Plus flats: ERA Singapore
The intentions to close the Kallang Basin and St Wilfred sports centers for redevelopment are timely, given that both locations are substantially older compared to some other sports facilities, notices Eugene Lim, key executive officer at ERA Singapore. “It makes sense for the sites to lead the way for far better land usage, especially considered that they are located fairly near to the city centre,” he adds.
Residents will have access to a new Sport-in-Precinct establishment in nearby Kolam Ayer, which is scheduled to launch at the end of the year. On the other hand, plans to introduce public housing at the two sites are currently being researched, according to the companies.
Meanwhile, the St Wilfred Sport Centre is a 10-minute stroll from Boon Keng MRT Stop. It stands close to St George’s Road, wherein most of the existing HDB flats date back to the 1980s, according to Lim.
He anticipates the future BTO job at the site can feature a mix of two- to four-room flats. “The neighboring sites have a plot ratio of 2.8, and assuming a quite similar plot ratio, we might see some high-rise BTO apartments, possibly up to 36 floors,” he includes.
The Kallang Basin ActiveSG Swimming Facility and the St Wilfred ActiveSG Sports Centre are going to discontinue operations entirely in the 2nd part of 2025. On June 13, URA, HDB and Sport Singapore together declared the end of the centers upon their lease expirations. The Kallang Basin facility, located on Geylang Bahru Lane, will finalize on Sept 1, and the St Wilfred center on St Wilfred Road is going to close on Oct 1.
The Kallang Basin Swimming Facility location is inside walking proximity of Geylang Bahru MRT Terminal and the Geylang Bahru Market and Food Centre. Lim indicates that a lot of the public housing blocks in the Geylang Bahru area were constructed in the 1970s, indicating a wish for new growths that will renew the area.
Lim believes that future Build-to-Order (BTO) projects at the area could be assigned as Plus flats due to their distance to town and facilities. Plus flats have tighter resale constraints compared to Standard group apartments, including a much longer minimal occupation era of one decade and limitations on renting out the flat.
