http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/...27570,00.html?
Published February 24, 2011
GuocoLand updates on its iconic project
Development above Tg Pagar MRT station will be completed in 2015 or 2016, it says
By UMA SHANKARI
GUOCOLAND'S upcoming $3.2 billion mixed-use development above Tanjong Pagar MRT station will be completed in 2015 or 2016, the group said yesterday.
In fact, the residential units in the project could be launched as early as 2012, group managing director Trina Loh told reporters.
GuocoLand won the 99-year-leasehold plot in a government land tender in November last year with its offer of $1.708 billion or $1,006 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).
Yesterday, the company said it has appointed Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) as the architects for the development.
SOM is the firm behind the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and the upcoming One World Trade Center in New York City. The firm also designed Singapore's Changi Airport Terminal Three.
'We have every intention to create a new world-class icon which will redefine the Singapore skyline and enhance the vibrancy of the central business district in Tanjong Pagar,' said GuocoLand chairman Sat Pal Khattar.
He was speaking at the signing of a building agreement between GuocoLand and the Singapore government.
GuocoLand is required to allocate at least 60 per cent of the maximum 1.7 million sq ft gross floor area (GFA) to offices and another 10 per cent for hotel use.
In line with this, the development will potentially feature over a million sq ft of Grade A office space, a five-star hotel and retail space, as well as Singapore's tallest ever residences, reaching a height of 280 metres, or the equivalent of about 78 storeys. The $3.2 billion development cost includes the price of the land.
GuocoLand said it is confident about the prospects of the office and residential markets in Singapore.
'We have tendered at a price which underlies our confidence that the market will be good in the forthcoming future,' said Mr Khattar.
During the tender, GuocoLand bid about 12 per cent or $180 million more than its closest rival. The property group has been on the lookout for a mega development site in Singapore for years.
The timing of this development is favourable, said CBRE's executive director for office services Moray Armstrong.
'The supply of new prime office space in the central business district tails off significantly post 2013 and 2014 and GuocoLand will likely be able to capitalise on a strengthening market,' he said.