WeWork Leases HSBC Building in Singapore From CapitaLand Commercial Trust

Shared office giant WeWork is taking over Singapore’s HSBC building after the bank moves out early next year, according to an announcement by the office tower’s landlord today.

WeWork is set to gain occupancy of the 200,470 square foot (18,624 square metre) tower for seven years, starting in the second quarter of 2021, CapitaLand Commercial Trust Management Limited, a unit of CapitaLand which manages the CapitaLand Commercial Trust REIT revealed today in a stock exchange statement.

The New York-based office phenomena will be adding 21 Collyer Quay, as the 21-storey tower in the Southeast Asian city-state is officially known, to WeWork’s existing set of 11 locations and would be the company’s largest location in the city.

WeWork Expands in Run Up to IPO

With the company having filed for a US IPO expected to come later this year, WeWork has been making Singapore one of the focal points of its Asian expansion.

“Together with CapitaLand, we look forward to empowering creators, entrepreneurs and enterprises by integrating them into a supportive and diverse community that fosters innovation,” Turochas “T” Fuad, Managing Director of WeWork Southeast Asia said in a statement.

The company said in its statement that it would be occupying 20 storeys in 21 Collyer Quay without specifying the destiny of the remaining level.

Since gaining a foothold in the Lion City by acquiring Fuad’s startup Space Mob for $500 million in 2017, the company has already opened 11 centres, including WeWork 109 North Bridge Road at Funan, which debuted most recently.

Earlier this month reports indicated that the firm run by entrepreneur Adam Neumann is raising $4 billion in debt as a pre-IPO cushion.

CCT to Upgrade 21 Collyer Quay

CCT will be using the one year layover from HSBC moving out to WeWork’s takeover to make some improvements to the 37-year-old building. “The Manager plans to capitalise on the transitional occupancy downtime during changeover of tenants to upgrade the building,” the company said in the statement.

The tweaks to the tower near Raffles Place, which the company expect to cost S$45 million, include enhancing public and lettable areas, replacing equipment and making improvements necessary to achieve a GoldPLUS rating under Singapore’s Green Mark sustainable building code.

HSBC Moves to Marina Bay

HSBC, which last year signed a one year lease extension that prolonged its stay in the 1982-vintage tower through the end of April next year, said at that time that it will relocate its Singapore headquarters to Tower 2 of the Marina Bay Financial Centre, a CK Asset, Hongkong Land and Keppel Land joint venture project one kilometre away on Singapore’s reclaimed waterfront.

For the 2019 to 2020 extension the bank had agreed to pay S$27.7 million to lease the building, a rate which works out to just over S$11.51 per square foot per month. CapitaLand Commercial Trust has yet to comment on the rental rate for its agreement with WeWork.