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Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA)
Circulars

Conversion of Surplus Car Park in Commercial, Mixed Use and Hotel Developments

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General

4 February 2008

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Circular No : URA/PB/2008/02-DCD

Our Ref : DC/ADMIN/CIRCULAR/PB_08

Fax : 6227 4792

CIRCULAR TO PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTES

Who Should Know:
Developers, building owners, tenants and Qualified Persons (QPs)

Effective Date:
With effect from 4 February 2008

Objective

To allow temporary conversion of car park lots provided voluntarily by owners in excess of the LTA’s minimum car parking standards in commercial, mixed-use and hotel developments.

Background

  1. Surplus car park in a development is the car parking space provided over and above the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) minimum car parking requirement. Currently, URA’s policy on surplus car park allows building owners to convert their surplus carpark if the resultant GFA of the development including the additional floor area from the conversion of the surplus car park is within the Master Plan (MP) use and Gross Plot Ratio (GPR). In addition, the conversion of the surplus car park is also subject to compliance with the LTA prevailing parking standards for the remaining car parking space in the development.

  2. In the past, some owners have requested to convert their surplus carpark lots to non-carpark uses even though the developments have already reached the maximum GPR in MP. For such cases, URA has only allowed the conversion of surplus carpark arising from LTA’s downward revision of its parking standards. This is because the surplus carpark lots in this case are created by the downward revision of LTA’s minimum car parking standards and not due to excess provision of car parking space by the owners on their own when the building was initially built.

  3. On the other hand, carpark lots provided by owners on their own in excess of LTA’s minimum car parking standards are not allowed to be converted to non-car parking uses. This is because such surplus carparks lots were previously allowed strictly on the basis that they would remain as carpark. As these surplus carpark lots were not computed as GFA1 , their conversion will result in a higher GPR than that allowed in the MP and hence cannot be supported.

Policy Change

  1. Following a review of the current policy, URA is prepared to consider, for selected areas, the conversion of the surplus carpark arising from initial over provision in the existing developments even if the maximum MP GPR has been reached but subject to the conditions stipulated below.

Application

  1. This relaxation of the policy will only apply to existing commercial, mixed-use and hotel developments in the Central Business District (CBD) and the Marina Centre (SeeAppendix 1) and the conversion is only allowed if the additional GFA created is meant primarily for office and hotel use in view of the current high demand for offices and hotel rooms.

  2. For developments in other locations, any proposals for conversion of surplus car parking space will be assessed based on the following criteria:

  • The additional GFA for office or hotel use must be in line with the planning intention for the site and its surrounding area.

  • Other developments in the surrounding area have sufficient carpark to meet LTA’s minimum car parking requirements. URA may also seek inputs from relevant agencies to ensure that there is no car park shortage in the vicinity and that the existing infrastructure is able to support the increased intensity.

Conditions

  1. All proposals for conversion of surplus car park for existing developments which have reached the Master Plan GPR and not due to downward revision of LTA car parking requirements, if allowed, are subjected to the following:

  • The proposed conversion is from existing car park spaces and does not result in any increase in the existing building bulk. The revised policy seeks to give more flexibility to building owners to make more optimal use of the existing built spaces without any change to the building bulk and hence, it does not apply if the existing car parks are to be demolished.

  • The proposal is allowed on temporary permission up of to 10 years. This is to ensure that the conversion of existing surplus car park spaces is only interim in nature and will not lead to entrenchment of the converted space. This is to minimise the impact of such conversion so as not to unintentionally cause serious amenity problems in the longer term in areas that were not originally planned for the higher development densities arising from such conversion of space. The converted GFA will not form part of the development baseline nor the development potential for the site.

  • Payment of 100% Temporary Development Levy2 so as not to give undue financial advantage over other sites which had not been provided with surplus carparks (see computation inAppendix 2)

  • The remaining car parking space after the conversion can comply with prevailing LTA parking requirement.

Submission Details

  1. Applicant are advised to clearly provide the car park statistics (usingForm DC/PR 17) to show the number of car parks required to meet LTA’s car parking standards, and the number which are in excess of the standard, due to downward revision or initial over provision or both. Applicants can liaise with LTA (Development and Building Control Department) to determine the number of excess car park lots. For proposals to convert parking spaces on a temporary basis, applicants are to ensure that the layout allows such converted spaces to be easily reverted back to car park use in the event the temporary permission is not renewed.

  2. I would appreciate it if you could convey the contents of this circular to the relevant members of your organisation. If you or your members have any queries concerning this circular, please do not hesitate to call our DCD Enquiry Line at Tel: 6223 4811 or e-mail us at ura_dcd@ura.gov.sg. We would be pleased to answer queries on this, and any other development control matter. For your information, the past circulars to the professional institutes are available from our websitehttp://www.ura.gov.sg.

1 Currently, additional car parks provided in excess of LTA's standard in new commercial, hotel, and mixed-use developments, are computed as GFA and factored in the GPR computation at the outset. This allows developers the flexibility of convering such parking spaces to other uses as and when the developer so decides.

2 SLA will charge Differential Premium on the basis of 100% of the enhancement value for state-leased sites with title restrictions where differential premium is applicable.

Thank You.

HAN YONG HOE
DIRECTOR (DEVELOPMENT CONTROL)
for CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
URBAN REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

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