SINGAPORE – Two historic buildings in the Pearl’s Hill vicinity are set to be demolished to make way for new housing developments, as part of government plans to build 6,000 new homes in the area over the next decade.

The former Singapore Restricted Passport Centre at the now-vacant 240 Outram Road – originally built as Coroners’ Courts – and the former Pearl’s Hill School at 175A Chin Swee Road each sit on a site that will be developed for residential use, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) confirmed with The Straits Times on April 19.

A proposed amendment to the URA master plan that was published on April 12 indicated that three housing sites and one white site are being primed for development in the area.

The third housing site is located at the intersection of Chin Swee and Outram roads, while the white site sits largely atop the underground Outram Park MRT station.

The note on URA’s website said the proposed amendment will “facilitate public housing and a mixed-use development at Pearl’s Hill as part of larger plans to progressively develop the area into an inclusive and community-centric neighbourhood with a mix of public and private homes”.

This suggests that the three housing sites in the proposed amendment will be used for Housing Board flats, while the mixed-use development is likely to include new private homes.

URA added that “the proposed developments will support demand for housing and allow future residents to tap the neighbourhood’s proximity to workplaces in the city centre, amenities and transport nodes, such as Outram Park and Chinatown MRT interchange stations”.

Two private residential projects in the area are also currently under construction – the 774-unit One Pearl Bank, on the site of the former Pearl Bank Apartments, and the 396-unit The Landmark, located next to the former Pearl’s Hill School.

The Coroners’ Courts began operations at 240 Outram Road in September 1956, after the building was completed that year by the Public Works Department (PWD).

After the courts moved to the then new Subordinate Courts Building at 1 Havelock Square in September 1975, the building was taken over by the Immigration Department, which issued restricted passports for travel between Singapore and Malaysia there from July 1976.

The Singapore Restricted Passport Centre moved to the now-demolished Pidemco Centre in South Bridge Road in 1995, amid a steady decline in restricted passport applications as more travellers opted for international passports.

The Outram Road building was subsequently occupied by pre-schools, including Superland Pre-School, which moved out in end-2023 following the end of its lease.

Hotel Re! currently operates at 175A Chin Swee Road, which was home to Pearl’s Hill School from 1971 to December 2001, when the 120-year-old school was shuttered.

The PWD-built 12-storey building – the tallest in Singapore at the time of its completion – was the first state property leased by the Singapore Land Authority for use as a mid-tier hotel.

The hotel, which opened in May 2008, is still in operation and has a sub-tenant – Pearl Hill Garden Restaurant. Hotel Re!’s management declined to comment on the hotel’s future when approached. URA said its tenancy will expire in February 2025.

Pearl’s Hill School’s origin traces back to the Singapore Chinese Branch School established in 1881. Its alumni include Singapore’s fourth president Wee Kim Wee, who enrolled in 1923 at the age of eight, when the school was located at its previous location in Pearl’s Hill Road.

Mr Brian Sun, 50, who graduated from the school in 1985, said he distinctly remembers the lifts – a necessary fixture to move students and teachers, given the building’s height.

He fondly recalled the talent shows held in the ground-floor hall, which on other occasions was where “punishments were dealt out and awards given out”.

Overlooking the hall, he added, was a mezzanine floor where the dentist was located. Students were banned from running there, and those who defied the rule risked being caned by the school’s vice-principal.

Mr Sun, an executive coach at an international business school, lamented the potential loss of the school building, saying physical remnants of the past are the easiest way to preserve social memories.

“It made an impact on the Outram community, and was a starting point for many students from humble backgrounds who would go on to find success in life,” he said, adding that some of his closest friends today were from the school, and their parents held jobs such as charcoal suppliers, hawkers, shopkeepers and hairdressers.

He suggested that the building be retained and repurposed as part of the area’s future housing developments.

The former school is within a site of about 1.05ha or 1.5 football fields in size, which has been assigned a plot ratio of 5.3. Ms Christine Sun, chief researcher and strategist at OrangeTee Group, calculated that the site could yield about 750 HDB flats.

Meanwhile, the former Coroners’ Courts building is on a site about 2.05ha in size, with a plot ratio of 5.8, which Ms Sun estimates could house about 1,600 HDB units.

Noting that this site is physically separated from Pearl’s Hill by the CTE, she suggested that above-ground or underground walkways could be built so that prospective residents can tap future amenities such as an improved Pearl’s Hill City Park.

The third planned housing site – about 4.6ha in size, largely comprising land where the now-demolished Outram Park Complex stood – could have about 2,700 HDB homes, at a plot ratio of 4.4, she added.

Ms Sun said the addition of new public homes will help address a shortage of new flats in the area, which has driven up prices for resale units at nearby projects such as The Pinnacle@Duxton.

The 2.9ha white site – with a plot ratio of 6.3 – could have condominium units, long-term serviced apartments, or both, if not used for public flats, she said.

She said it is possible that the two larger housing sites may comprise more than one housing project in the future. Increasing the housing supply may slow down the rate of price growth for HDB resale flats in the area, making housing more affordable for those who want to live in the city, she added.

The URA spokesperson said agencies “are also looking at potential opportunities to further enhance public access and appreciation for the cluster of conserved state properties, such as 195 Pearl’s Hill Terrace and 90 Eu Tong Sen Street”, previously the police’s Upper Barracks and Lower Barracks, respectively.

URA previously said 90 Eu Tong Sen Street will be used as a community space. The building, now called Creative Innovative Development Centre, is leased till December 2024.

18 Pearl’s Hill Terrace, believed to have formerly housed senior administrators of the colonial government, is also conserved and not currently occupied.

Development timelines for these sites are being reviewed and more will be announced when ready, said the spokesperson, who reiterated that current tenancies for state properties in the area will not be affected by forthcoming plans.

Any extension of the current uses will be assessed alongside the ongoing review of development plans and timelines for Pearl’s Hill, the spokesperson added.

The master lease for 195 Pearl’s Hill Terrace, currently an indie arts and lifestyle enclave, ends in March 2025, but sub-tenants there have appealed to the Government to let them stay on.