New business district and Cross Island Line punctuate development of North-East Region
By Timothy Tay
/ EdgeProp Singapore |
Ongoing construction of the Punggol Digital District, dedicated to growth industries of the digital economy. (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
The diversity of towns and areas that encompass Singapore’s North-East planning region is a snapshot of Singapore’s urban development journey over the past half-century and more. It covers mature HDB towns like Ang Mo Kio and Bishan to burgeoning new estates like Lentor.
Over the past year or so, long-term development plans across this planning area have been coming to fruition. Singapore’s version of Silicon Valley, the technology hub in the US, is taking root in Punggol. Meanwhile, major infrastructure projects like the Cross Island Line look set to unlock the development potential of previously overlooked estates.
These development plans, supported by an influx of new residential areas, will continue to shape the profile and urban growth story of this thriving region for many more years to come.
Punggol Digital District
The largest Master Plan project in the North-East Region of Singapore is the ongoing development of the Punggol Digital District (PDD), billed as Singapore’s first business district dedicated to the growth industries of the digital economy.
The development plans for this sprawling 50ha enterprise district were unveiled in 2018, and the PDD was touted as the country’s first integrated smart district built from the ground up.
JTC is the master planner and developer behind this new enterprise hub, which Woha Architects is designing. The PDD has already clinched BCA’s Platinum Award for Green Mark Districts.
The PDD has been carved out of the burgeoning Punggol New Town, which is steadily growing into one of Singapore’s largest HDB residential towns. Close to 200,000 residents live within its 844ha planning area.
In addition to housing growth industries like cybersecurity and digital technology, the PDD promises to be an inclusive and green lifestyle destination for the surrounding residential community.
Some of the community amenities that will be built there include a public community playground and landscaped area, a new market village offering retail and dining options, as well as a 1.3km tree-lined heritage trail connecting Punggol Waterway Park to Punggol Point Park.
JTC is also planning to build a new 200-room waterfront serviced residence or hotel fronting Coney Island, as part of its master plans for the PDD. The tender for this site closed in April and JTC is evaluating the bids.
The highlight of the PDD will be eight business park towers that will add about 1.9 million sq ft of office and business park space, which the government hopes will create about 28,000 jobs.
Among the anchor tenants are UOB, which has invested $500 million in a 12-storey building in the business park, and public-sector agencies and government-linked entities such as the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore and the Government Technology Agency.
Other digital industry firms set to move in include AI and robotics firm dConstruct Technologies, blockchain solutions provider Wanxiang Singapore, and the Association of Information Security Professionals.
Five business park towers are under development in PDD, with three more in the pipeline. (Map: EdgeProp Singapore)
According to JTC, two-thirds of the net lettable area across the eight planned business park towers are pre-committed. Five towers are due to be completed this quarter, and the remaining buildings will be completed next January.
Also anchoring the development of the PDD is a new campus by the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), which will accommodate up to 12,000 students. This campus is also due to open in September.
To accommodate the daily commute of students and workers travelling into the PDD, an extension to the existing North East Line (NEL) is being constructed, and it will see a new station called Punggol Coast online by the end of this year. The new station will be integrated with the upcoming SIT campus.
More housing in Sengkang-Punggol
Within the Sengkang-Punggol HDB towns, the government periodically launches new Build-To-Order (BTO) projects and parcels new development land for future housing projects.
For example, the February BTO sales exercise included a new project in Punggol — Matilda Riverside, a 960-unit development on Sumang Lane. The upcoming BTO sales exercise in September will offer two new BTO projects in Sengkang — a 550-unit development on Fernvale Close and an 840-unit development along Fernvale Street.
According to HDB, selling prices (excluding grants) at Matilda Riverside start from $131,000 for a two-room flexi, $242,000 for a three-room, $318,000 for a four-room, and $464,000 for a five-room flat. Prices for the projects in the September exercise have yet to be announced.
According to a tabulation of average HDB resale prices in Punggol by EdgeProp Singapore, resale prices in the HDB town have consistently moved up over the past 16 quarters, climbing from about $466 psf in 3Q2020 to $648 psf in 3Q2024.
HDB resale price trends in Punggol as shown by EdgeProp’s new EP Buddy. (Graphic: EdgeProp Singapore)
Resale flat prices in Punggol also stack higher compared to the equivalent unit type in neighbouring Sengkang. Based on 1Q2024 transaction data published by HDB, the average resale price of a three-room flat in Punggol was about $490,000, compared to $470,000 for a similar flat in Sengkang.
A four-room flat in Punggol fetched approximately $633,000 in 1Q2024 compared to $580,000 for a four-room in Sengkang, and the average price of a five-room flat in Punggol was $728,000 compared to $629,000 in Sengkang over the same period.
The last remaining greenfield site for residential development in the Punggol-Sengkang area will likely be an 18.9ha site along Fernvale Street, bounded by the neighbouring Tampines Expressway. Recent amendments to the master plan indicate that this site near Seletar Aerospace Park could yield a total of 12,000 residential units.
Revitalising the heartland
Elsewhere in the North-East Region, residents of Ang Mo Kio can anticipate a revitalised town centre and refreshed community services. There are also plans to expand the cycling network by 16km and extend public transport connectivity with the upcoming Cross Island Line (CRL).
First announced by former Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in August 2022, the Ang Mo Kio Town Centre will undergo a facelift in two phases. It will start with the upgrading of the pedestrian mall between blocks 702 and 705 on Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 with a sheltered canopy all the way to AMK Hub. The next phase will see new themed community spaces and retail areas being developed.
A new sheltered pedestrian mall will connect AMK Hub to the town centre. (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
A new landscaped trail connecting the Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park to the Ang Mo Kio Town Centre will also be completed. A new 2km linear park along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8, which stretches from Yio Chu Kang MRT Station to Bishan Road, is also in the works.
LTA has also been charged to significantly expand the cycling network and and connectivity within and around the Ang Mo Kio Town Centre, increasing the existing 4km network of cycling trails by 21km by the end of 2026. This network will also be integrated with the upcoming North-South Corridor.
Cross Island Line — connecting Ang Mo Kio and Hougang
The most significant infrastructure project impacting the North-East Region will be the CRL, especially the first operational phase of the line which will stretch from Aviation Park in Changi to Bright Hill in Sin Ming.
This initial stretch of the CRL will turn Ang Mo Kio MRT Station on the North-South Line (NSL) into an interchange serving the CRL and NSL, as well as Hougang MRT Station on the NEL into an interchange serving two MRT lines.
New MRT stations that will be completed in the North-East Region as part of the CRL consist of Teck Ghee, Tavistock, Serangoon North and Defu.
When these stations are completed by 2030, the region will be served by five different MRT lines — the NSL, NEL, the Circle Line, the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) and the CRL.
Ongoing construction of the Cross Island Line beside Hougang MRT Station. (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
Subsequent phases of the CRL will extend its coverage to Turf City, King Albert Park, Maju, Clementi, West Coast and Jurong Lake District.
Development of the CRL also includes a 7.3km extension connecting Pasir Ris Interchange to Punggol station, turning the existing Riviera LRT Station into an interchange, and adding a new station — Elias, located next to Pasir Ris Park.
Plots adjacent to Riviera LRT Station have already been earmarked for future residential development, indicating that existing businesses along Tebing Lane such as Punggol Sports Hub, Punggol Container Park, and Par Golf Range @ Punggol East along Punggol East, could vacate in the coming years. Meanwhile, two forested plots along Pasir Ris Drive 10, and next to Pasir Ris Park, have also been earmarked for future residential development.
This extension to the CRL would cut travel time between Punggol and Pasir Ris to 15 minutes, down from the approximately 40-minute bus journey today. Construction of this MRT line extension started last October.
Lentor Hills
The newest private residential neighbourhood taking shape in the North-East Region is Lentor Hills, which is coalescing around the completion of Lentor MRT Station on TEL, and the development of at least seven new private residential projects in the vicinity.
Billed by the government as a new private residential enclave between Teachers’ Housing Estate and Lentor MRT Station, the Lentor Hills estate comprises 11 residential development plots with the potential to inject an estimated 5,000 new residential homes when it is fully developed.
So far, the government has released seven plots, with six already awarded and the remaining unawarded plot due to be launched for tender in October. The remaining plots have not been included in the latest line-up of the Government Land Sales (GLS) programme.
Ongoing construction in the Lentor Hills estate. Pictured in the foreground is Lentoria. (Picture: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
To date, there have been five new condo projects launched in Lentor Hills over the past two years — Lentor Modern, Hillock Green, Lentor Hills Residences, Lentoria and Lentor Mansion. The last known project is Lentor Central Residences, which is expected to be launch-ready by the end of this year.
The most recent project to launch in Lentor Hills was the 533-unit Lentor Mansion in March. It is the best-selling new launch project so far this year, with 400 units (75%) sold over its opening sales weekend on March 15–16. Lentor Mansion is jointly developed by GuocoLand and Hong Leong Holdings.
To date, the development of Lentor Hills has been implicitly shaped by GuocoLand, which has won and is developing four of the six awarded GLS sites in Lentor, either as a solo developer or as part of a joint venture.
Other developers have also contributed in shaping the Lentor Hills estate. The 474-unit Hillock Green is being developed by a joint venture between Forsea Holdings, United Engineers and Soilbuild Group. Meanwhile, the 267-unit Lentoria is being developed by TID, a joint-venture company of Hong Leong Holdings and Mitsui Fudosan.
Developing the North-East Region
Overall, the North-East Region looks set to benefit from various development and rejuvenation programmes that unlock new growth areas while upgrading key mature residential HDB towns.
Significant infrastructure projects like the CRL will boost the overall public transport connectivity for many residents living in neighbourhoods like Teck Ghee and Serangoon North, which are not in the convenient proximity of MRT lines. It would also unlock the development potential of the industrial estate at Defu and Tavistock.
The phased development of the PDD is significant for its potential to create jobs and attract new businesses in emerging industries.
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