Glass Observation Deck at Top of Guoco Tower

About 10 per cent of the office space at Guoco Tower in the integrated Tanjong Pagar Centre project, and 60 per cent of retail space, have been committed some 6 months ahead of the project’s completion.

Guocoland shared these figures on Wednesday at a topping-out ceremony, graced by Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong, for the S$3.2 billion flagship project.

Guoco Tower has a total net lettable area (NLA) of 890,000 sq ft. The 10 per cent of office lease commitment includes the space to be occupied by GuocoLand Group and Hong Leong Bank, both members of Hong Leong Group.

GuocoLand is consolidating its various operations from Tung Centre at 20 Collyer Quay and Robinson Centre into its flagship project, whereas Hong Leong Bank is relocating from 20 Collyer Quay. The exact floor space they will each take up at Guoco Tower is not revealed.

Other tenants who have signed up to lease space at Guoco Tower include Open Link, a trading and risk management solutions provider; DNB Asia Ltd, a shipping and offshore financing solutions provider; and global workplace provider Regus.

If current negotiations with potential office tenants bear fruit, leasing commitments for office space at Guoco Tower will go up to 50 per cent.

Including Guoco Tower, over 3.5 million sq ft of total known CBD office supply is coming onstream this year.

GuocoLand’s Singapore managing director, Cheng Hsing Yao mentioned that there is a healthy pipeline of interest for Guoco Tower, and leasing commitments are expected to pick up in the next few months.

“We are currently in discussions with more than 30 companies from diverse industries such as finance, technology, insurance, fund management, consumer, services, trading and law firms,” he told BT. “In terms of space, about one third of these companies are looking at multiple floors while a majority of the rest are looking at a range of 20,000 to 40,000 sq ft in floor size.”

At the briefing on Wednesday, he highlighted that the office leasing market, while not as exuberant as a few years ago, is “not a dead market”, with leasing activities still ongoing.

Tenant movements are driven by the need to upgrade to newer Grade-A premises with higher specifications and efficiency, or to consolidate or expand, he noted. “More and more tenants are realising that this might be a very good time to move.”

With the higher efficiency offered by large column-free floor plates (27,000-30,000 sq ft) at Guoco Tower, a more diversified tenant mix has also appeared. Mr Cheng noted that this is unlike a few years ago, when a single mega tenant could occupy half or three-quarters of a project.

Guocoland also highlighted the strong value proposition of the Tanjong Pagar precinct, that is undergoing a rejuvenation with other developments coming on-stream.

Once fully operational and occupied, Tanjong Pagar Centre is estimated to have 13,000 to 14,000 people working and living there or visiting each day, GuocoLand president and CEO Raymond Choong observed.

By the end of 2016, the catchment population in the immediate vicinity and within a 500-metre walking radius of Tanjong Pagar Centre is projected to reach more than 118,000 persons.

“These figures further demonstrate and reinforce the potential of Tanjong Pagar Centre as well as ensuring its success,” Mr Choong said.

Most of the committed leases and leases under discussion are with companies already in operation in Singapore. Leasing commitments are expected to start accelerating as the project nears completion, with negotiations with sizeable occupiers currently underway.

Office occupancy rates in Singapore now hover above 95 per cent, with rents for prime CBD office space averaging S$10.28 per square foot per month as at end-2015, after a 10 per cent decline for the whole year.

The current 60 per cent take-up rate for retail space at Tanjong Pagar Centre, whose retail component spans 100,000 sq ft in total NLA, includes 31,000 sq ft of anchor space taken up by gym operator Virgin Active.

Tanjong Pagar Centre will open in phases from the second half of 2016. It will also house a 5-star hotel, luxury residences, and a 150,000 sq ft Urban Park, and will be Singapore’s tallest building at 290 metres when it completes in mid-2016.

The previous week, GuocoLand announced the appointment of Accor Hotels to manage the 222-room Sofitel Singapore City Centre at Tanjong Pagar Centre. The 181-unit luxury homes, renamed Wallich Residence, was soft launched in 2014. Some 16 units were sold at an average pricing of S$3,100 psf.

Mr Cheng said Wallich Residence will be re-launched later this year. He foresees demand picking up when the project is completed, as was seen in the group’s earlier luxury projects Leedon Residence and Goodwood Residence.

Adapted from: The Business Times, 14 January 2016

The residential section of Guoco Tower is Clermont Residence. It bids fair to be the highest condominium in Singapore.

[Latest news as at February 2019: GuocoLand is also launching another luxury condominium in a prime location nearby, off Robertson Quay. This is the Avenir condo, on the site of the former Pacific Mansions. It offers the advantage of freehold tenure, as well as proximity to an MRT station as well. The Avenir condo will be something like 6 minutes walk to the upcoming Great World MRT station, and will feature beautifully landscaped grounds and gardens.]

Guoco Tower is located right above the Tanjong Pagar MRT Station. The 78-storey building comprises 38 storeys of grade-A offices, over 200 luxury apartments above the offices, 6 storeys of shops and F&B space, and a luxury business hotel.

Apartments start at the 40th floor, 180m above sea level, which is equivalent to 50th floor units elsewhere, as the offices below it have higher floor to ceiling distances – almost 4m. The top floor units reach 290m above sea level, which almost guarantees sweeping unblocked views around.

At that level, prices start from around $2,800 PSF for north facing units. These get panoramic views of the city skyline. Units facing south to the sea start from around $2,900 PSF.

The Clermont Residence showflat is available for viewing only on weekends. Appointments are encouraged.

Design of Tanjong Pagar Centre · TP180 and Guoco Tower

Tanjong Pagar Centre is a fusion of premier office, residential, retail and hospitality spaces designed in the sleek signature style of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), one of the most recognised architectural firms globally.

The design of Guoco Tower and TP180 epitomises the concept of a liveable vertical city that meets all the needs of urbanites in a single location.

SOM is behind some of the world’s most iconic buildings such as Burj Khalifa in Dubai, Jin
Mao Tower in Shanghai, and One World Trade Center in New York City.

ECO-DESIGN OF TP180 & GUOCO TOWER

Tanjong Pagar Centre is also a benchmark for environmental sustainability. It has already garnered several awards for its eco-friendly features. Guoco Tower has achieved the LEED (CS) (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum Precertification.

LEED (CS) is an internationally renowned award recognising eco-friendly buildings.

Guoco Tower, together with the hotel and retail components, has been given the Singapore BCA (Building and Construction Authority) Green Mark (Platinum) award, while TP180 will hold a Green Mark (Gold Plus) award.

SINGAPORE PROPERTY MARKET 2014 – 2015

This project was launched for sale in December 2013 to a generally muted response, coming as it did on the heels of the runaway success at Duo Residences. The next similar project will be the Marina One condo at Marina Bay, which is selling at a lower pricing than for Guoco Tower.

For the first quarter of 2014, several new suburban condominium developments will be launching for sale, including Panorama in Ang Mo Kio, Riverbank @ Fernvale, and Rivertree Residence.

Closer to the city, on the fringe fronting Kallang River, but within walking distance of Lavender MRT station, will be a new freehold condo called Kallang Riverside condo. To launch in the 2nd Quarter of 2014, at the same time as another much anticipated new condominium project right next to Queenstown MRT station. Called Commonwealth Towers, it will be by one of the most established developers, Hong Leong Holdings.

Projects that launched in Q3 of 2014 include Seventy St Patricks that sold out 65% of its units at the Preview. Other projects that are anticipated to launch soon, possibly in the last quarter of 2014 are Marine Blue condo, also a freehold project in Marine Parade and Tre Residences at Aljunied MRT Station.

Another one of interest is ParkSuites Condo, a mixed development opposite Henry Park Primary School. It would interest parents seeking to own an address within 1km of Henry Park for an affordable price, as the units here will be mainly small SOHO units.

SINGAPORE PROPERTY MARKET 2018

Fast forward to 2018: following the quieter years of 2013 to 2016, the market picked up steam in 2017, when almost all the existing projects practically sold out all their units. This prompted developers to replenish their land banks through a stream of en bloc or collective sales, that turned into a veritable river, as owners of older condominiums jumped enthusiastically into the tide.

Several new launches resulted, starting in early 2018. Some of those included Affinity at Serangoon, Garden Residences, and Verandah Residences (that sold out within 3 months of its launch). For the 2nd half of 2018, upcoming launches include Arena Residences at the Guillemard area on the city fringe near to Kallang Stadium, and Parc Esta just across from Eunos MRT station, on the site of the former Eunosville HUDC flats.

SINGAPORE PROPERTY MARKET 2022

By 2021, most of the earlier launches have sold out, or are close to selling out. This year sees the launch of a new batch of residential projects, at amazingly even higher price points, despite the pandemic. The most watched out for are likely to be a handful of integrated developments. Namely the Reserve Residences at Jalan Anak Bukit in the Upper Bukit Timah / Beauty World precinct, Piccadilly Grand alongside Piccadilly Galleria in Little India, Sceneca Residence with Sceneca Square at Tanah Merah, and Lentor Modern at Lentor Hills.

Of these, Piccadilly Grand is the first to launch. Indicative pricing is in the region of $2,2xx PSF average. The Reserve Residences price range will probably be slightly higher than this, as it the cachet of being in the Bukit Timah neighbourhood. Also, it enjoys views of Bukit Timah Hill and Nature Reserve. While Lentor Modern and Sceneca Residence will probably be closer to that of Piccadilly Grand.

All these are directly connected to their respective MRT stations too. Piccadilly Grand sits at exit C of Farrer Park MRT station. The Reserve condo is linked underground directly to the concourse level of Beauty World MRT station. Sceneca Residence is right in front of Tanah MRT station, while Lentor Modern is at Lentor MRT station on the newly opened Thomson-East Coast Line.

Most of these projects also enjoy the benefit of being located in partly low rise private residential estates. Such as Sceneca Residence in the Tanah Merah private residential estate, Lentor Modern in the Lentor Hills enclave, and the Reserve Residences in the Toh Tuck / Beauty World neighbourhood.