Tencent Moves Raffles Place Staff to CapitaLand’s The Work Project at CapitaSky

Tencent has moved some of its Singapore staff to The Work Project’s flexible office space at CapitaSky in Tanjong Pagar, with a spokesman for the Chinese internet giant confirming the shift on Wednesday.

Tencent is leasing one floor, or about half of the 56,000 square feet (5,203 square metres) managed by CapitaLand-backed The Work Project at CapitaSky, a 29-storey tower co-owned by CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT) and a private fund of CapitaLand Investment.

“We recently relocated one of our offices from 30 Raffles Place to The Work Project at CapitaSky due to the conclusion of our lease agreement,” the Tencent spokesman told Mingtiandi. “We are excited to continue our business in Singapore.”

The arrangement was first reported Wednesday by Bloomberg.

Potential Consolidation

Tencent’s other Singapore office — housing game makers Level Infinite, TiMi and LightSpeed — occupies two floors of The Work Project’s branch at CapitaSpring in Raffles Place, a joint venture of developer CapitaLand, CICT and Japan’s Mitsubishi Estate.

When the CapitaSpring lease ends, Tencent may move those staff to the new space at CapitaSky, according to the Bloomberg account, which cited people familiar with the matter.

“We are thrilled to welcome Tencent to CapitaSky,” Sheena Goh, head of sales for The Work Project, told Mingtiandi. “This move affirms our three-year strong partnership with them, and TWP’s reputation as the leader in customised and turnkey enterprise solutions for multinational corporations.”

Formerly known as 79 Robinson Road, CapitaSky was a joint venture project of Temasek Holdings-controlled CapitaLand Investment and Japan’s Mitsui and Tokyo Tatemono. The JV partners sold the development two years ago to CICT and CapitaLand Open End Real Estate Fund for S$1.26 billion (then $930 million).

CICT took a 70 percent stake under the ownership scheme and COREF the remaining 30 percent. The new partnership also obtained approval to change the name of the property to CapitaSky, in line with existing local landmarks like CapitaSpring and sustainability showpiece CapitaGreen.

Rethinking the Office

Tencent’s new lease at The Work Project comes after Singapore authorities in April said they would begin requiring employers to facilitate employee requests for flexible work.

Bloomberg reported in May that Citigroup was exploring opportunities to hand back one of the six floors it occupies in Tower One of the Asia Square office complex in Marina Bay, a 10-minute walk from CapitaSky.

When contacted by Mingtiandi last month, the New York-based banking giant declined to confirm the news while explaining that the company is now allowing the majority of its team members to enjoy work-from-home options.

“The way of working has changed in recent years and most of our staff are on a hybrid work model,” a Citi representative said. “We periodically look at new ways to optimise our work spaces to encourage innovation and collaboration and meet our operational needs.”

Other multinationals are also altering their office thinking in Singapore, with the Business Times reporting in February that Facebook parent Meta was not planning to renew its lease for seven floors at South Beach Tower near Suntec City.

BNP Paribas is also said to be considering giving back the six floors it occupies at the Ocean Financial Centre at Collyer Quay by the end of the year, according to a Bloomberg report. The French lender is said to be moving its staff to a business park at Mapletree Business City outside the city centre.

Gross effective rents for Grade A offices in downtown Singapore rose 1.3 percent in the first quarter from the preceding three months to reach the highest level in 15 years, according to JLL data.