Conservation vs en bloc sale: Money talks louder?

PEARL Bank Apartments will likely be demolished unless CapitaLand decides to preserve it, which is regretful.

In 2015, the Urban Redevelopment Authority supported owners' conservation efforts. In a reply to a letter from a reader of The Straits Times, URA's group director for Conservation and Development Services Ler Seng Ann wrote: "In studying whether to conserve, we assess the architectural and historical merits of buildings and structures, and consider feedback from the Conservation Advisory Panel as well as owners ... Given the building's merits and the council of the corporation's interest, we are prepared to facilitate the proposal if there is support from individual owners."

It transpired that "support from individual owners" to the URA meant support of 100 per cent of owners. On the other hand, the building can be demolished with only 80 per cent of owners' votes, in an en bloc sale.