THIRTEEN shophouses and two plots of land in Kampong Glam were auctioned off yesterday, as part of the long-term conservation plan for the heritage district.
Six parties, including an investment company called Classic View, snagged the pre-war properties with bids ranging from $510,000 to $3.06 million.
Most of the winners are obliged to restore existing conserved shophouses or rebuild shophouses on the vacant plots.
They can be used for shops, offices, restaurants and other commercial purposes.
One bidder, Mr Wong Nam Sim, bought two shophouses and one vacant plot in Jalan Sultan for a total of $1.83 million.
The properties could be converted into retail space.
The auction was the latest in a series the Urban Redevelopment Authority has conducted in the area from 1995.
Since then, it has sold about 100 shophouses - both restored and unrestored - for commercial use.
The Kampong Glam area, where Sultan Mosque is located, is known for its rich Malay and Arab heritage.
An 8.9ha area bounded by Ophir Road, Victoria Street, Jalan Sultan and Beach Road was gazetted as a conservation area in 1989.
The area has been quietly developing ever since.
The Istana Kampong Glam - a palace built in 1840 by Sultan Ali, the son of former Singapore ruler Sultan Hussein Shah - was turned into the Malay Heritage Centre.
Bussorah Street, in turn, was turned into a pedestrian mall.
Most of the buildings in the area are shophouses, the majority of which have remained intact.
There are more than 600 conserved properties in the area that can be used as commercial premises.
The URA restored and sold 48 shophouses in Bussorah and Arab streets from 1993 onwards to promote good restoration practices and encourage other building owners to do the same.
It then decided to offer subsequent unrestored shophouses for sale.
Another 20 unrestored shophouses in Kampong Glam will be sold in the future.
Shophouses figure prominently in Singapore’s architectural heritage, making up about 5,700 of the more than 6,000 conserved properties in Singapore.
One of the most iconic of the lot is the Red House in Katong.
There, an old-style bakery churned out Swiss rolls and curry puffs from 1931 until 2003.
The two-storey shophouse with a fire-engine-red facade, which is about 80 years old, is a wakaf property - or a property dedicated by Muslims towards charitable purposes.
The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (Muis), which manages the property, had said earlier this week that it may turn the Red House into a boutique hotel.
About two years ago, there were tentative plans to reopen it as a foodcourt.
Source : Straits Times - 9 Mar 2007
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