SINGAPORE (Oct 2): CapitaLand has, through its subsidiary CL Kingdom Investment (CKI), subscribed for a 50% stake in The Work Project Kingdom (TWPK) for $13.5 million, with the intention of extending shareholder loans through CKI to TWPK.
TWPK owns the intellectual property rights to the brand The Work Project, a design-centric developer and operator of co-working offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Together with the subscription amount, the shareholder loans will bring CapitaLand’s total investment in The Work Project to $27 million.
In a filing on Tuesday, CapitaLand says its acquisition of TWPK comes as part of its new ‘office of the future’ strategy aimed at engendering a culture of innovation, promoting talent attraction and retention and optimising cost efficiency for tenants of its office properties.
This involves integrating a building’s conventional or core office space together with flexible space, including co-working spaces, into what the group calls its core-flex model: an ecosystem of innovative workplace solutions that are community-driven, tech-enabled and provide value-add for all tenants.
Under the new core-flex model, conventional office tenants will have any new, flexible requirements met while small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in co-working spaces could choose to lease conventional workspaces as they grow, according to CapitaLand.
Capital Tower and Asia Square Tower 2 will be the first two office buildings in Singapore to take on these core-flex offerings. Fit-out works for the two buildings are scheduled to complete in 1Q19, during which an app and a tenant portal will also be ready to enable both buildings’ tenants to book flexible spaces and participate in business & social networking programmes.
Further, Capital Tower will also feature an exclusive members-only club, collaboration spaces for project teams, a showsuite for CapitaLand’s upcoming CapitaSpring project, and “the first movie theatre in the CBD”.
Combined with TWPK’s offices in Singapore and Hong Kong, CapitaLand estimates that a total of 177,000 sq ft of flexible spaces will be initially available to complement the group’s core-flex offerings to tenants.
It adds that more flexible spaces will be added to meet the needs of tenants’ mobile workforce as The Work Project brand expands its footprint across the region.
“To build our ‘office of the future’ ecosystem, CapitaLand is going beyond traditional property management to providing more value-add services and community experiences for our office tenants. We believe this strategy will serve as a key differentiator from other office landlords and ensure that CapitaLand’s workplace offerings continue to be conducive for and complementary to tomorrow’s consumers and economy,” says Lucas Loh, President (China & Investment Management) of CapitaLand Group.
Shares in CapitaLand closed 1 cent lower at $3.36 on Monday.
