A 1.7HA site in Novena to build a private hospital was yesterday released for tender by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
It is the first time in 31 years such a site has been put on the market, since the site of Mount Elizabeth Hospital was sold in 1976.
The move is part of the Government's plan to release more land for medical facilities, to meet both the needs of the population here, and rising demand for medical services by foreigners.
More than 410,000 foreign patients were treated here last year, a 15 per cent jump over the previous year.
The Novena site, along Irrawaddy Road and opposite Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), will be leased out for 99 years.
The URA said in a statement yesterday that the new hospital's total floor area cannot exceed 7.2ha, and that at least 35 per cent of the area must be used for inpatient wards.
Its retail element, such as its gift shops and food & beverage outlets, can occupy up to 5 per cent of the area, while the remaining space has to be used for facilities like operating theatres and medical suites.
The tender will close on Feb 15, with the hospital expected to be completed by 2015.
The hospital will seal Novena's reputation as a medical hub, given that the neighbourhood includes TTSH, the National Neuroscience Institute, National Skin Centre, upcoming Renci Hospital and Novena Medical Centre.
Mr Nicholas Mak, director of research and consultancy at Knight Frank, put the price of the site at between $600 million and $670 million.
As its stated use is very specific, he expects few bids to come in, and bidders will probably be hospital operators.
Raffles Medical Group, which runs Raffles Hospital, indicated interest, but said it needs to review the documents.
A spokesman for Parkway Group Healthcare, which runs Gleneagles, Mount Elizabeth and East Shore hospitals, said the group is 'thrilled' by the news because of the demand for more local and foreign patient beds.
Parkway already runs a day-surgery centre in nearby Martaban Road. It will open a 465 sq m radiology clinic at Novena Medical Centre next month, and a laboratory in the same centre later.
A site at one-north in Buona Vista, also slated for a private hospital, has not been put up for tender yet. And earlier this month, the URA awarded a Race Course Road site to Singapore Health-partners, but it is for a hotel-cum-hospital project.
