SINGAPORE (Aug 20): Singapore is pushing up its plans to transform the Greater Southern Waterfront (GSW) into the next trendy place to live, work and play.
First unveiled in March earlier this year, GSW will be redeveloped over the next five to 10 years, starting from the relocation of the PSA City Terminal in Tanjong Pagar to Tuas from 2027 onwards to help free up prime land.
The GSW stretches about 30km of Singapore’s southern coastline, from the Gardens by the Bay East to Pasir Panjang. Spanning across 2,000ha of land, the GSW includes the PSA city terminals not just in Tanjong Pagar, but also at Keppel and Brani.
“Each new generation will leave their mark on our city, as their predecessors have done,” said prime minister Lee Hsien Loong at this year’s National Day Rally on Sunday night.
For new places to “live”, the government plans to redevelop the land where Keppel Club, the golf course, currently stands after the lease expires in 2021. The area has enough land to build about 9,000 housing units.
The government also has plans to allow people to “work near where they live, and live near where they work”. Hence, more office space is expected to pop up in the GSW near Labrador Park, bringing in more jobs.
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As for “play”, the government plans to redevelop two old power stations in Pasir Panjang, just like how St James Power Station near VivoCity was turned into a nightlife destination. It also plans to develop Pulau Brani together with Sentosa, after Brani Terminal moves out.
In an Aug 19 report by DBS Group Research, analyst Derek Tan reckons that VivoCity, the closest large retail mall located at the centre of the GSW masterplan, will be the bedrock of the rejuvenation of the GSW.
“We believe there will be greater benefits to the mall over time with the expected increase in residential apartments, working population, and new tourism elements added to the GSW,” says Tan.
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Also with plans for a Downtown South resort mirroring NTUC’s Downtown East resort, the analyst believes that it will over time bring more holiday-goers, and families to the vicinity, driving visitations to both Sentosa and VivoCity.
Meanwhile, with plans for more office space within the GSW, Tan believes that this will be positive for Mapletree Commercial Trust (MCT) which has office properties in the Alexandra precinct (Mapletree Business City Phase 1, PSA Building) and Harbourfront (Merrill Lynch Habourfront building) and will over time benefit from a wider pool of office tenants looking to relocate there while the increased live-in population within the GCW will fuel the attractiveness of the properties to occupiers over time.
Arising from this development, besides MCT, some other potential beneficiaries could be Frasers Commercial Trust (FCOT), which owns Alexandra Point and Alexandra Technopark in the area, Keppel Corp as well as Genting Singapore from added revitalisation of the area.
MCT declared total DPU of 9.14 cents for FY18/19 while FCOT declared a total DPU of 9.6 cents for FY18.
As at 12.26pm, units in MCT are trading at $2.05 giving it a yield of 4.5% for FY18/19 while units of FCOT are trading 1 cent higher at $1.62 giving it a yield of 5.9% for FY18.
