Changi Motorsports Hub set for new lease of life?

The Changi Motorsports Hub project could get a new lease on life after the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) on Tuesday terminated its project delivery agreement with SG Changi.

Work on the hub was brought to a halt early last year after the consortium failed to deliver an installment for piling work for the S$370 million project, which was slated to feature world class motorsports facilities including a 3.7 kilometre track, grandstands, motorsports museum and an entertainment centre.

Speaking in a press conference on Wednesday, SSC chief executive officer Lim Teck Yin said, "On Tuesday, SSC and SG Changi have signed off on the deed of termination on various issues relating to the land. We will be taking back possession of the land on Thursday."

Lim went on to reveal that the SSC is open to having the 41-hectare land be used for non-motorsports purposes and a market sound exercise will be carried out to assess the level of interest among potential investors for a motorsports hub or other sports and lifestyle concepts.

He also insisted the SSC will be more stringent in their criteria for future investors.

"The lesson learnt is that there could have been more stringent criteria to look at the financing strength and organisational ability of the consortiums," he added.

He added, "We are keeping our options open for different sports related concepts, whether motorsports or non-motorsports. So far, we have spoken to five to six potential investors, who are a mixture of local and foreign companies."

The market sounding exercise is expected to start late July and be completed at the end of the year, with the SSC having the final decision whether or not to proceed with a re-tender.

Should SSC proceed with the re-tender, the estimated launch date would be the third quarter of 2013.