Left to right: Bjarke Ingels, Lawrence Wong, Ng Kee Choe (CapitaLand chairman) and Lim Ming Yan at the ground-breaking ceremony. Image credit: CapitaLand
CapitaLand has broken ground on a 51-storey, mixed-use skyscraper in downtown Singapore that will provide futuristic offices, serviced apartments and amenities from food stalls to a four-storey tropical garden upon completion in 2021.
The integrated development will bring 635,000 square feet (58,993 square metres) of grade A office space along with 299 serviced residence units to Raffles Place in the core of Singapore’s downtown banking district. The Singaporean development giant is building the project together with its REIT affiliate, CapitaLand Commercial Trust (CCT), and Japan’s Mitsubishi Estate.
The S$1.82 billion ($1.32 billion) project at 88 Market Street will entail redeveloping the site of the 10-storey Golden Shoe Car Park, which the joint venture picked up last August. The multi-use facility is designed by Danish superstar architect Bjarke Ingels and Italy’s Carlo Ratti Associati.
Sustainable Tower To Feature AI and Facial Recognition
The completed tower is poised to be one of the five tallest in Singapore, and will feature high-tech functions from facial recognition and robots to workspace temperature and lighting control via mobile phone, according to a statement by CapitaLand. The serviced residence units will be managed by CapitaLand unit The Ascott Limited.
Rendering of the “Green Oasis,” which will provide a tropical experience 100 metres above ground. Image credit: CapitaLand
“Anchoring the rejuvenation of Raffles Place, the upcoming integrated development will set a new benchmark for workspaces of the future as we harness the best-in-class design, engineering and smart technologies to empower occupants with new levels of flexibility and mobility,” commented Lim Ming Yan, president and group CEO of CapitaLand Limited in the statement.
Green Building Will Also Feature Roti Prata
The sustainable building will also include a 19-metre-high atrium on the ground floor, integrated with a 1,161 square metre public park, and a “green oasis” with a botanical promenade 100 metres above ground. The second and third levels of the tower will house the Market Street Food Centre, owned by the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, which has been moved from the car park to a temporary location 200 metres away.
“I’m very happy that the hawker centre will return in the new development,” said Lawrence Wong, Singapore’s Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance speaking of the open air food court that had been an attraction at the Golden Shoe site. In his remarks at the ground-breaking ceremony on Friday Wong keyed on the collection of food stalls serving a melange of Hainan chicken rice, nasi goreng and roti prata that, “I think that is the most important thing! Because if there’s one thing that reflects our multi-cultural society, it is our food, but it is importantly our hawker centres that captures the diversity of our cultures.”
CapitaLand and Friends Redevelop Another Car Park
Southeast Asia’s largest property developer CapitaLand teamed up with CCT and Mitsubishi Estate last year to purchase the Golden Shoe Car Park from CCT for S$161.1 million, paying another S$957.8 million for land-related costs including conversion of the site for commercial development.
CapitaLand and CCT each took a 45 percent stake in the venture, while the Japanese partner holds the remaining 10 percent. CCT has a call option to buy out the remaining stake owned by its two partners within five years after the building is completed.
In 2011, the same three companies partnered to redevelop the Market Street Car Park, near Raffles Place, into CapitaGreen, a sustainable, 40-storey grade A office tower. Last May, CCT agreed to buy out the remaining 60 percent stake in the project it did not already own for S$393 million.
CapitaLand is betting that a scarcity of downtown offices will buoy its new tower. “With no new supply of office space completing in Raffles Place until 2021, the Golden Shoe Car Park redevelopment is expected to become a location of choice for progressive companies seeking a prestigious address, modern facilities and a vibrant, work-live-play community to grow their businesses and attract the best talent,” commented Kevin Chee, CEO of CCT Management Limited.
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