BUILDING LANDMARKS, CHARTING GROWTH
47
Annual Report 2015
Key Developments in the Period
For the period from 28 October 2014 to 31 December 2015
(“
Period
”), CHIJMES and Capitol Singapore, both of
which are landmark heritage developments located in the
downtown Civic District, commenced operations.
CHIJMES underwent a major asset enhancement
programme at a cost of about S$71 million and had
its GFA increased by approximately 18.2% to about
159,200 sq ft, and net lettable area (“
NLA
”) increased by
approximately 45% to about 115,500 sq ft. Repositioned
as a European-themed food and beverage (“
F&B
”) and
entertainment destination, the property commenced
operations in December 2014 and progressively
completed its enhancement works, including the façade
restoration works at CHIJMES Hall and Caldwell House,
two gazetted National Monuments within the compound,
in the third quarter of 2015.
CHIJMES attracted a wide array of new-to-market
and interesting F&B concepts, including Privé, El Mero
Mero, Ashino and Whitegrass. Its ‘LIVE’ entertainment
zone on the basement level, comprising tenants such
as Berlin and Highlander, is increasingly becoming
the preferred entertainment spot in the Civic District
for the local and the expatriate communities. As at
31 December 2015, CHIJMES registered a committed
occupancy of about 88% and all of these tenants have
commenced business.
Following three years of development works at Capitol
Singapore, its retail component, Capitol Piazza,
commenced business in the second quarter of 2015.
This was followed shortly by Capitol Theatre which
started operating in the same quarter.
Amidst a very challenging local retail environment,
Capitol Piazza secured a committed occupancy of about
80% as at 31 December 2015, of which about 97%
of these tenants by NLA had commenced business.
Capitol Piazza now hosts several new-to-market
concepts and international brands who are operating
in Singapore for the first time, such as Joseph, 45R,
Manifesto, Outdoor and Marimekko, alongside new F&B
concepts such as Palette, Kaiserhaus, Dazzling Café
and Angelina.
Capitol Theatre, the only multi-functional theatre in
Singapore is increasingly being recognised as the venue
of choice for a variety of events, having played host to
musicals, plays, conferences, red carpet gala nights,
private dining events and movie screenings. Separately,
Eden Residences Capitol, although not officially launched,
already sold close to half of its 39 luxury residences.
In January 2015, Perennial syndicated a consortium of
investors to acquire AXA Tower, a predominantly office
development with a retail podium located in the CBD, at
a total property price of S$1.17 billion. Perennial acquired
a 31.2% interest in the building. Based on the property’s
existing total NLA of about 676,000 sq ft, the acquisition
price translated to approximately S$1,730 per sq ft.
Together with TripleOne Somerset, a predominantly office
development with a retail podium located in the Orchard
Road precinct, Perennial is gaining strength as a key
commercial landlord in Singapore.
In line with our vision to become an integrated real
estate and healthare company, Perennial introduced
medical specialists’ facilities within its Singapore real
estate portfolio to create synergy amongst the tenants
of selected assets. These medical suites are expected
to be well-received by the growing number of specialists
who wish to start new or expand their practices.
This strategy will further enhance the destination purpose
and value of Perennial’s properties.
TripleOne Somerset has received all the regulatory
approvals required to proceed with the planned
S$150 million of asset enhancement works, and the
strata sale of the office space and medical suites.
The strata sale of the office space will commence with the
tower fronting Somerset Road, and the size of each office
unit ranges from about 370 sq ft to 2,050 sq ft.
The medical suites will be located on levels three and four
of the building and will be specially served by a medical lift
with access from basement one. The size of each medical
suite ranges from about 630 sq ft to 2,070 sq ft. The asset
enhancement works and strata sale are expected to
commence in the second quarter of 2016.
AXA Tower has an unutilised plot ratio that could add
an additional GFA of over 212,000 sq ft. The proposed
asset enhancement works are expected to increase AXA
Tower’s total NLA by about 84,000 sq ft, from 676,000 sq ft
to 760,000 sq ft. The office space and medical suites
will also be sold on a strata basis. The size of each
office unit is expected to range from about 790 sq ft to
1,960 sq ft, and each floor plate of about 14,000 sq ft
