Tenancies at Bukit Timah Turf City to expire at end of 2023 to facilitate redevelopment works for a new neighbourhood

    ·     Bukit Timah Turf City will be vacated by 31 December 2023 to facilitate redevelopment

    ·    Planned as an inclusive and highly accessible neighbourhood that celebrates its heritage, the Bukit Timah Turf City site will introduce a variety of amenities, and housing             types catering to diverse aspirations and needs, including the possibility of public housing

    ·    To support tenants in making transition plans, Government had engaged tenants extensively on relocation since 2019 and made available more than 20 new sites in                 recent years through public tenders for mixed, childcare and sports uses

Singapore, 21 December 2023 – The Bukit Timah Turf City site will be vacated by 31 December 2023 to facilitate redevelopment works for a new neighbourhood.

Inclusive and highly accessible new neighbourhood at Bukit Timah Turf City

2.       The Bukit Timah Turf City site has been zoned for residential use since the Master Plan 1998 to cater to future housing needs. Located at the city fringe and served by the existing Sixth Avenue and King Albert Park MRT stations, accessibility to the area will be further improved with the completion of the Turf City MRT station on the Cross Island Line in 2032. Agencies have been developing plans for the new neighbourhood, including studying the possibility of introducing a good mix of both public and private housing supported by new amenities, to meet the diverse aspirations and needs of Singaporeans. The character of the future neighbourhood will also be anchored on the area’s heritage and natural environment. Detailed technical studies such as environmental and heritage studies are being carried out to ensure that the site is developed sensitively. Future residents as well as those living nearby will benefit from the new infrastructure and amenities, enhanced connectivity and pedestrian-friendly facilities introduced to the Bukit Timah Turf City area.

3.       Conceptual plans for Bukit Timah Turf City are currently being featured in the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA)’s ‘My City, My Home’ exhibition at The URA Centre, which presents proposals for new homes in more central locations. URA will share more details of the new neighbourhood over the next year as part of the ongoing Draft Master Plan 2025 public engagement and seek feedback from Singaporeans and stakeholders on the plans, with the aim to make Singapore a more liveable, inclusive and endearing home.  

Four-year lead time given to Bukit Timah Turf City tenants

4.       As previously announced, the tenancies at Bukit Timah Turf City will end on 31 December 2023. The vacated site will be hoarded up to facilitate land preparation works that will take place progressively for future residential development. Tunnelling works for one of the six MRT stations in Phase 2 of the Cross Island Line began earlier this year.

5.       Bukit Timah Turf City tenants were given around a four-year lead time to plan their transition. Since 2019, agencies have engaged tenants regularly on the need to vacate the site to facilitate redevelopment. Two successive 18-month tenancy extensions were given in 2019 and 2021, to give the tenants more time to firm up their transition plans.

6.       As part of efforts to support affected tenants in making transition plans, the Government had made available more than 20 new sites through public tenders to provide additional relocation options for tenants. The sites are located across Singapore, range in size from over 8,000 square feet to 1.6 hectares, and support a variety of uses such as childcare, sports, and mixed uses. For a list of the sites launched in recent years, please refer to Annex.

Sites for sports use

7.       Some Bukit Timah Turf City tenants have secured new sites through the public tenders launched. For example, WWTBF Pte Ltd (“WWTBF”), a Bukit Timah Turf City tenant that operated The Cage, was awarded a sports use site at 10A Harding Road via a Price-Quality (PQ) tender. In addition, the Rainforest Sports Hub Pte Ltd (“Rainforest Sports Hub”), a sub-tenant at Bukit Timah Turf City, was awarded a site adjacent to Haw Par Villa MRT station via a PQ tender.

8.       To complement the strategies under the Sports Facilities Master Plan (SFMP), SportSG aims to increase the network of sport and play spaces beyond the provision of public sport facilities. To do so, SportSG has been working closely with relevant agencies to identify sites that can be progressively tendered out for sports use. This would attract good proposals to better engage communities through sport. For example, WWTBF’s proposal envisaged the 10A Harding Road site as an engaging and vibrant multi-sports facility, with a line-up of regular sports programmes involving diverse communities. Similarly, Rainforest Sports Hub’s vision for the State land adjacent to Haw Par Villa MRT station is to create an engaging, vibrant and eco-friendly rugby sports facility with regular rugby-related programming to engage the wider community. With the myriad of rugby sports offerings and programming, the new site has the potential to become Singapore’s first designated Touch Rugby facility catering to children and youth, whilst facilitating community engagement and social integration.

Blue Dolphin Gallery

9.       All tenants, with the exception of Blue Dolphin Gallery (BDG), an equestrian operator, are due to vacate the Bukit Timah Turf City site by 31 December 2023.

10.      BDG had in February 2023 secured a State property at 8 Admiralty Road East to relocate to. However, due to extenuating and unforeseen circumstances resulting in delays of preparatory works, it will face a delay in getting the site ready for occupation. SLA will grant a 3-month Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL) to BDG, on an exceptional basis, to enable BDG to house and maintain approximately 150 horses under its care, while it gets its new site ready. As the Bukit Timah Turf City site will be hoarded up and access will be restricted to ensure public safety, BDG will not be able to carry out any commercial activities at the Bukit Timah Turf City site during the period of its TOL.

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Issued by

Singapore Land Authority

Sport Singapore

Urban Redevelopment Authority

 21 December 2023

ANNEX

Sites launched/awarded in recent years