Efforts to gain conservation status for one of Singapore’s oldest private residential buildings, Pearl Bank Apartments, have hit a roadblock.
Channel NewsAsia understands that so far, about 90 per cent of its residents have given their support to the plan. This is short of the 100 per cent approval required under existing rules, and the deadline is end-October.
According to sources, the Pearl Bank Apartments’ liaison committee has appealed to authorities to review the approval criteria.
Apart from just preserving the building’s heritage, the committee is hoping that a conservation status will also give Pearl Bank’s owners extra floor area to sell to developers. The money can then be used to fund refurbishment works for the horseshoe-shaped building.
Pearl Bank Apartments, located in the Outram area, was built in 1976. It was put up for en-bloc in 2007, 2008 and 2011, but there were no takers.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 12 Oct 2015