Eight Housing Board (HDB) blocks on West Coast Road have been picked for redevelopment, with residents to be offered new replacement units at Clementi Avenue 1 and West Coast Link.
Yesterday, the HDB announced the selection of blocks 513 to 520 West Coast Road, comprising 994 flats, for the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers).
This is the 80th site under the scheme, which began in 1995 and involves demolishing old blocks, offering residents new units nearby, and redeveloping the old site.
It is the first Sers project announced since June 2014, when 31 blocks along Tanglin Halt Road and Commonwealth Drive were selected. Residents of the affected West Coast Road blocks, which date back to 1979, will be offered new units on fresh 99-year leases at two sites. “I’m very happy,” said Wang Min Zhu, 55, who works in the food and beverage industry and has lived there for about two decades.
“My husband and I bought this flat as a resale unit.
“We’ve never lived in a new flat before.”
Both projects are expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2022.
One site at Clementi Avenue 1 will have two 40-storey blocks offering 680 units in all.
The other, at West Coast Link, will comprise three blocks ranging from 30 to 32 storeys in height, offering 666 units.
The Health Ministry also plans to develop an eldercare hub near the West Coast Link site, with services such as day care and home care.
Selling prices for the new units are frozen at today’s prices. For instance, a three-room flat at the Clementi Avenue 1 site starts at $311,000 before the Sers grant.
R’ST Research director Ong Kah Seng expects the sites – particularly the Clementi one – to be popular with affected flat owners.
“The two new locations are actually very well-positioned residential enclaves and have an upmarket flavour,” he said.
For cashier David Chong, 43, the West Coast Link site’s lower prices – a three-roomer starts at $264,000 – and peaceful location are pluses.
“Because it’s facing West Coast Park, the view is unobstructed,” he noted.
Residents affected by Sers are compensated based on the flats’ market value today and “reasonable expenses”. For instance, total compensation for a four-roomer is estimated at $427,300 to $478,800.
If residents do not want a unit at the replacement sites, they can apply for a new flat elsewhere or sell the old flats in the resale market.
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