The government has announced that it is extending the Central Business District Incentive (CBDI) and Strategic Development Incentive (SDI) schemes for another five years. The CBDI and SDI schemes were introduced by the government in November 2019. The latest decision was unveiled by Desmond Lee, Minister of National Development (MND) at the Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (Redas) annual Spring Festival lunch on Feb 7.

The CBDI scheme was rolled out to encourage the conversion of existing older office buildings in certain areas of the Central Business District (CBD) into mixed-use developments. These areas consist of Tanjong Pagar, Robinson Road, and Shenton Way. The scheme is intended to inject more homes, bolster the live-in population in the CBD, and introduce a greater mix of uses in the traditionally commercial-centric district.

Meanwhile, the SDI was introduced to encourage the redevelopment of older developments in strategic areas to bolster transformative changes within surrounding urban environments. The strategic areas are Orchard Road, the Central Business District, and Marina Centre.

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According to URA, 14 of the 17 CBDI proposals and seven of the 12 SDI proposals submitted to the government have been granted in-principal approval.

Four CBDI projects in the Anson-Tanjong Pagar area are under construction. They include Newport Plaza, a mixed-use development on 80 Anson Road, which comprises the 246-unit Newport Residences as well as 198 serviced apartment units. The Skywaters Residences comprises 190 luxury residential units as part of a larger mixed-use development on 8 Shenton Way. Other CBD projects include two commercial developments at 15 Hoe Chiang Road and 51 Anson Road.

However, the five-year extension of the CBDI and SDI will come with refinements to both schemes, says Minister Lee.

The CBDI will be extended to include commercial developments in Anson and Cecil, and developers and property owners who submit CBDI proposals for buildings in these areas will have the option to retain their commercial zoning (with 40% non-Commercial use) if the redevelopment includes long-stay serviced apartment units.

According to URA, CBDI applicants seeking to redevelop in Anson and Cecil will need to provide at least 200 residential units, or set aside their entire non-commercial floor area for long-stay serviced apartment, whichever is lower. Previously, office buildings redeveloped under the CBDI were allowed to retain their existing Commercial zoning if 40% of the new floor area was set aside for non-commercial use.

“By enabling the continual renewal of the many aging buildings in the city centre, and with the injection of more residential units, these incentives aim to make the CBD a place to work, live and play,” says Marcus Chu, CEO of ERA Singapore.

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In addition, the revamped CBDI and SDI schemes will include new sustainability requirements, and all new CDBI and SDI applications going forward must include a sustainability statement that assesses the feasibility of retrofitting part, or all, of the existing building.

“While we support revitalisation and rejuvenation through redevelopment, what we do not want is wasteful demolition and excessive rebuilding, especially if the buildings are relatively young, or still in good shape,” says Lee.

He adds that several projects that are being redeveloped under the CBDI or SDI schemes are already going beyond the mandated sustainability requirements, such as Union Square, a mixed use development at Havelock Road , which is incorporating a district cooling system.

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