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In a bid to leverage the growing number of flexible office space tenants, CapitaLand announced on Tuesday (2 Oct) that it has invested $27 million to acquire a 50 percent stake in co-working space operator, The Work Project.
The company also initiated its ‘office of the future’ strategy by integrating conventional office space (core) with flexible space (flex).
Under its core-flex model, traditional office occupants can choose to take up co-working space if they need to, while small and medium enterprises (SMEs) using flexible space have the option to rent conventional workspaces as they grow.
The core-flex model will first be implemented in Capital Tower and Asia Square Tower 2, where The Work Project has agreed to lease space from CapitaLand Commercial Trust, wherein CapitaLand holds a stake of around 30.1 percent.
In particular, the Business Times reported that the co-working space operator will lease 41,000 sq ft of space at Asia Square Tower 2 from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2023, with an option to renew for an additional five years.
Fit-out works for the new office space at Capital Tower and Asia Square Tower 2 are expected to be completed by Q1 2019. At the same time, an app and a tenant portal will be launched to enable occupants to book flexible spaces as well as participate in business and social networking programmes.
Overall, around 177,000 sq ft of co-working space will be offered at the two buildings and The Work Project’s current premises in Singapore and Hong Kong.
The Work Project has made a name for itself in the co-working space sector since it opened its first premises in 2016. In fact, it has been included in Huffington Post’s list of ‘20 Best Co-working Spaces Across the Globe’ and Forbes’ list of ‘5 Most Beautiful Co-working Spaces in the World’.
At present, it has four locations across Singapore and Hong Kong, including one opening in 2019. By 2021, it plans to add more than 500,000 sq ft of co-working space.
“We are pleased to find a partner in The Work Project, who shares our vision of a tech-enabled, data-informed future of work blueprint. The partnership will support our core-flex offerings and augment our operational capabilities, while generating a new income stream for CapitaLand,” said Lynette Leong, CEO of CapitaLand Commercial.
Aside from the aforementioned co-working spaces, Capital Tower will house collaboration spaces for project teams, an exclusive members-only club and the first movie theatre in Singapore’s central business district.
Capital Tower will also contain the showsuite for the upcoming CapitaSpring tower in Raffles Place, so that potential tenants can experience the new technologies to be implemented there, such as facial recognition access.
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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