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The former Park Mall site will be transformed into a Grade-A commercial building (pictured) that is set to be completed by end-2019, reported TODAYonline.
To be undertaken via a joint venture with Haiyi Holdings, Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust and SingHaiyi Group, the $800 million development will have two wings comprising eight levels of office space, with a net lettable area of 352,000 sq ft, and 15,000 sq ft of retail space.
It will also feature walking and cycling paths around the building, shower rooms, lockers and bicycle parking facilities, in line with the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) and Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) Walking and Cycling Plan.
Built in 1971, Park Mall used to be known as Supreme House. It was extensively conceptualised and refurbished as a premier furniture and lifestyle shopping mall in 1991.
The Straits Times reported that Suntec Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) sold Park Mall for $411.8 million in June 2015. The trust still owns a 30 percent stake in the building.
Desmond Sim, CBRE Research Head for Singapore and South-east Asia, noted that while office demand is going through challenging times, Orchard Road has its own sources of demand.
“The new building will be a breath of fresh air for Orchard Road as there has been no new supply in this sub-market for a period of time,” he said, adding that there may be some “musical chairs” as tenants within the area move to quality.
He also believes that the project’s location could be a “plus or minus – it is not right in the middle of the action but it is well connected to the MRT”.
And as a Chinese company, SingHaiyi could attract Internet companies from mainland China to move into the building, said Alan Cheong, Research Head at Savills Singapore.
“I won’t be surprised if Internet firms choose to relocate to Orchard as they want a campus-like atmosphere, but have not reached a critical mass.”
Source: SingHaiyi Group
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
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