Expect more such projects, as well as the redevelopment of as many as 20 office towers. The government wants old office buildings near the central bank and the stock exchange to make way for mixed-use properties. The new structures will be allowed 25% to 30% higher development intensity, meaning their owners will have more space to sell or rent out. The incentive could nudge City Developments to tear down its old but centrally located Fuji Xerox Towers or City House, though as of last month’s earnings call CEO Sherman Kwek was yet to make a decision.
(Sept 29): Singapore’s property industry is coming to terms with the idea that, in about a decade, the city may no longer have a central business district. Landlords couldn’t be more chuffed.
There will still be offices, but without the rigid boundary between places where people work, and where they live and shop and dine. Local developer GuocoLand is among the first to run with the Urban Redevelopment Agency’s draft blueprint for a makeover of Singapore’s landscape. The company’s $2.4 billion Midtown project, a two-minute drive from City Hall, will have a 30-floor office tower, a 32-story apartment block and about 32,000 square feet of retail. The design of the condominium units will be unveiled next week.
