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SINGAPORE: About 1,000 Build-to-Order (BTO) flats at the site of the former Keppel Club golf course will go on sale in October, National Development Minister Desmond Lee said on Thursday (May 15).
The project will offer units ranging from two-room flexi to four-room flats, as well as public rental flats.
The new flats will be located next to Berlayer Creek, an area "rich with biodiversity as well as historical maritime connections", said Mr Lee in a Facebook post.
"Residents can enjoy the conveniences of downtown living and panoramic views of the waterfront. The estate will be sensitively designed in response to the area’s rich biodiversity," he added.
"It will come with lush green spaces and stepped building heights of between 19 and 46 storeys."
Mr Lee said families can look forward to a preschool and a nature-themed playground.
New landscaped terraces and green corridor features will also be integrated into the development to facilitate "ecological movement" and create new habitats to attract and protect biodiversity, as guided by recommendations from an environmental study and feedback from nature groups.
It was previously announced that about 9,000 new homes will be built on the Keppel Club site, with about two-thirds being Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats.
Mr Lee said in April 2022 that the first BTO project on the site would be launched for sale within three years.
When asked in 2022 if the flats at the Keppel Club site would be Prime flats, HDB said "a range of factors" would need to be considered. These include the project's "locational attributes and market values".
Prime flats are priced with more subsidies to ensure affordability, but also come with tighter restrictions on resale and rental to reduce the “lottery effect”.
One such restriction is the subsidy clawback – derived as a percentage of the flat’s resale or valuation price, whichever is higher. Prime flats also come with a 10-year minimum occupation period.
An artist's impression of new HDB flats that will be launched in Toa Payoh Town (West). (Image: Facebook/Desmond Lee)
NEW FLATS IN TOA PAYOH
Mr Lee also said about 740 flats in Toa Payoh Town (West) will go on sale in the July BTO exercise. The new estate will have an eating house, shops and a preschool.
"Apart from being conveniently located near Caldecott MRT station, residents will also have easy access to a hawker centre and neighbourhood shops," Mr Lee said.
The new flats will be at the junction of Toa Payoh Rise and Braddell Rise, and is next to Lighthouse School, according to a map on HDB's website.
It is within a five-minute walk of Caldecott MRT station and is also near Braddell MRT station.
The flats in Toa Payoh Town (West) are among the 5,400 flats that will be launched in the July BTO exercise. Flats in Bukit Merah, Bukit Panjang, Clementi, Sembawang, Tampines and Woodlands will also be up for sale.
Mr Lee said: "We are committed to ensuring that public housing remains affordable, inclusive and accessible for Singaporeans by building more homes across the island, including in areas near to the city centre.
"This will enable families to live closer to their workplaces or their elderly parents who may be staying in the older HDB towns nearer to the city centre, for mutual care and support."
Mr Lee reiterated the government's aim to launch about 19,600 homes this year.
