Map showing the location of the white site. Source: URA
Malaysian developer IOI Properties Group and Hong Kong-based Hongkong Land on Monday (12 June) signed an agreement to jointly develop and manage a prime 99-year leasehold “white” site in Marina Bay.
The deal, which is subject to certain regulatory approvals, will see IOI Properties holding 67 percent of the joint-venture company and Hongkong Land the remaining 33 percent.
The 118,400 sq ft plot at Central Boulevard was awarded to IOI Properties after the firm submitted the top bid of $2.6 billion ($1,689 psf per plot ratio) in a Government Land Sales tender last November. The winning bid was 16 percent higher than the next offer from Singapore’s Mapletree Investments.
The site is adjacent to One Raffles Quay and close to Marina Bay Financial Centre. A new mixed-use development is expected to be built comprising two office towers of approximately 1.26 million sq ft of leasable space and a small retail podium of about 30,000 sq ft.
“We look forward to working with our partner Hongkong Land on this exciting new development, which will bring office space of the highest quality to Singapore’s Central Business District,” said Lee Yeow Seng, CEO of IOI Properties.
Moray Armstrong, Managing Director, Advisory & Transaction Services at CBRE, pointed out that Marina Bay has become the largest Grade A office micro-market in the city. “The critical mass of this quality office space has contributed in no small measure to the development of Singapore as a global city,” he said.
With limited office supply scheduled to be completed from 2018 through 2021, Armstrong believes this project “is ideally placed to capitalise on the Singapore office market cycle, which is poised to strengthen through the next few years”.
Armstrong reckons demand will come from the technology, financial, insurance and professional services sectors.
IOI Properties has developed several projects in Singapore such as The Trilinq near Clementi MRT station and South Beach on Beach Road – a joint venture with City Developments Limited.
Hongkong Land, on the other hand, currently has over 1.7 million sq ft of prime office space in Singapore, mainly held through joint ventures. Its subsidiary MCL Land is also an established condo developer here.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
