Turochas T Fuad, managing director of WeWork in Southeast Asia
WeWork announced on Tuesday the official opening of its tenth location in Singapore, at 380 Jalan Besar in the city’s Kallang area.
The new outlet will be located in the mixed-use complex ARC 380 near Farrer Park and will have capacity for over 380 members.
While WeWork has a substantial presence in the city-state already, this will be the operator’s first location in a residential area outside of the urban core, and the first to include features like a sky terrace with a swimming pool, a gym and an open roof terrace overlooking the city’s skyline.
Serving Clients Big and Small
“Singapore is at the epicenter of a high growth region with ambitious and capable startups and enterprises hungry for success,” Turochas “T” Fuad, Managing Director of WeWork Southeast Asia said in a statement. “We see this as an opportunity for WeWork to grow in lockstep with enterprises to businesses of all sizes, where we support them in building a dynamic and creative community in Singapore as they expand their footprints across Southeast Asia.”
The company plans to open its next location in the city state — in the recently redeveloped Funan Mall at 109 North Bridge Road — in the second quarter of this year.
WeWork’s newest location was inspired by Singapore’s little India
The space’s interior design was inspired by the colorful mix of patterns in the neighboring Little India as well as on the facade of Singapore’s House of Tan Teng Niah, a Chinese villa built in 1900.
WeWork’s Jalan Besar outlet is near the City Square Mall, and the upcoming Paya Lebar Commercial Hub. The complex is 15 minute drive from Marina Bay Financial Centre in District Eight.
The new centre benefits from having three MRT stations nearby — Bendemeer on the Downtown Line, Lavender on the East-West Line and Boon Keng on the North-East Line — as well as being surrounded by major roadways and arterial expressways such as the Central Expressway (CTE), Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) and Pan-Island Expressway (PIE).
WeWork’s new outlet is set to capitalize on the $20 million Jalan Besar five-year master plan, which, once completed, will bring over 200 improvements to the district.
Singapore Becomes a Co-Working Hub
According to property consultancy JLL, by mid-2018 there were approximately 80,000 square metres of coworking space in Singapore — a 2.7 percent penetration rate based on the total grade A office space in the city. In terms of penetration rate, Singapore lags behind only three large markets in APAC; Shanghai, Beijing, and Melbourne.
In Singapore, WeWork competes against firms like London-listed IWG (which operates Regus and Spaces), and JustCo, which operates 15 spaces in the city. Some of the country’s largest developers have also entered the flexible office sector recently. In October last year, CapitaLand took a 50 percent stake in The Work Project, which has locations in Capital Tower and Asia Square Tower Two.
WeWork has made the island-state a centrepiece of its growth, acquiring locally based Spacemob in August 2017 as part of its $500 million plan to expand in Southeast Asia.
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