First Mount Pleasant BTO project to be launched in October

It will have two-room flexi, three-room and four-room flats, as well as public rental units

- Isabelle Liew

About 1,500 flats under the first.

Housing Board Build-To-Order (BTO) project in the new Mount Pleasant housing estate will be launched in October.

The project will have two-room flexi, three-room and four-room flats, as well as public rental units, in residential blocks that are more than 40 storeys high, said National Development Minister Desmond Lee in Parliament on March 5.

An eatery, a supermarket and shops will be located in the precinct, which is near MacRitchie Reservoir.

The 33ha housing estate on the site of the Old Police Academy will house about 5,000 flats in six BTO projects.

Mr Lee said during a debate on the Ministry of National Development's (MND) budget that the plans for Mount Pleasant are part of a broader strategy to build affordable public housing in attractive locations.

Bound by Thomson Road and the PIE, and located close to the mature town of Toa Payoh, the Mount Pleasant area has been earmarked for residential development in the Urban Redevelopment Authority's masterplan since 1998.

Residents will be served by Mount Pleasant MRT station on the Thomson-East Coast Line, to be opened in tandem with the completion of the BTO projects.

The estate is near the Toa Payoh Integrated Development, which is slated for completion by 2030 and will offer amenities such as a polyclinic, library and sports facilities.

The design of the estate will incorporate the area's rich heritage, and six buildings from the Old Police Academy have been conserved.

HDB had previously said the trusses, beams and columns of the old drill shed - one of the earliest buildings to be constructed in the Old Police Academy - could be incorporated into the estate.