Changi Business Park to see new project

Source : Straits Times - 20 Dec 2008

A JOINT venture between Ascendas Land (Singapore) and Frasers Centrepoint has won a tender for a development in Changi Business Park including shops and a hotel, the second such project in Singapore.

The joint venture - known as Ascendas Frasers - had put in a bid of $115.8 million for the 4.7ha site, next to the Singapore Expo and Expo MRT station. That is $119 per sq ft of gross floor area.

Sixty per cent of the total gross floor area of 1.26 million sq ft will be set aside for business park space.

The rest will comprise ‘white’ or commercial activities - which will be for shops and a hotel projected to have about 300 rooms.

The retail and hotel components are expected to capitalise on demand generated from Changi Business Park, Singapore Expo, the upcoming university in Changi as well as nearby estates, said Frasers Centrepoint chief executive Lim Ee Seng.

The development will break ground in June next year, said JTC.

Late last year, United Engineers won a tender for an industrial project at Changi Business Park that comes with a hotel.

Its development, with an estimated development cost of $280 million, will comprise a business centre to house 200 IT companies; an IT training hub comprising exhibition and convention halls, an auditorium and seminar rooms; a business hotel with 200-300 rooms; and office and retail space.

In a joint statement yesterday, JTC and the 50-50 joint venture Ascendas Frasers said pipeline projects in Changi Business Park remain strong despite challenging economic conditions.

Its current working population of 6,000 is expected to surge to 20,000 by 2011, it said.

Singapore’s industrial market is weakening, with rents softening.