End of the road for 174 Seletar colonial homes

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Published July 31, 2008

End of the road for 174 Seletar colonial homes

As aerospace park takes shape, many 'black-and-white' homes must go


By VEN SREENIVASAN


(SINGAPORE) The first phase of the $60 million Seletar Aerospace Park (SAP) project is nearing completion and Phase 2 is about to take off, so the agencies spearheading the redevelopment of the complex have been briefing residents and other tenants about the next step forward.

A significant number of the remaining units will be converted to offices and commercial outlets, including F&B and lifestyle clusters around The Oval/Parklane area.

Agency officials, led by Edwin Ho, JTC Corp's assistant director for industrial parks, met tenants of the colonial 'black-and-white' residences last night to inform them that 174 of the 378 buildings could be demolished.

A significant number of the remaining units will be converted to offices and commercial outlets, including F&B and lifestyle clusters around The Oval/Parklane area.

But about 100 will be retained as residences.

All affected tenants will have to move out by this December, while those remaining will have to sign up to new tenancies.

Mr Ho assured everyone that all aspects of the development of SAP were being done with the input of 'all stakeholders' including residents, commercial tenants, aviation business operators, the Nature Society and other interest groups.

Other works in the upcoming Phase 2 of the massive project will be road widening and refurbishment of buildings which will be retained.

Phase 2 works will begin next January and stretch until 2013.

Phase 1 has essentially focused on the groundbreaking works for new tenants Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney, and upgrading facilities for existing giants like ST Aerospace and Jet Aviation.

Besides the demolition of old buildings and refurbishment of others, key elements of Phase 2 will also include demolition of the old water reclamation plant located in the complex and the upgrading of the airport and the lengthening of the runway by some 300 metres.

The runway lengthening will be done for 14 hours a day for 18 months, starting this November, with works done at night.

Also starting next January will be works on construction of a new flyover from the Tampines Expressway, which will be the main entrance to the complex. There will also be some road diversions within the area.

A joint project of the EDB, CAAS and JTC Corp, the SAP will host an integrated aerospace industry cluster incorporating maintenance, repair and overhaul, design and manufacturing of aircraft systems and components, business and general aviation, and an aviation campus to train pilots, other industry professionals and technical personnel.

When completed in 2018, the SAP is envisaged to elevate Singapore's status as an aviation hub, contribute $3.3 billion a year or one per cent of GDP and create jobs for 10,000 people.