SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Lendlease Global Commercial REIT (LREIT) has won the tender to redevelop the 48,200 sq ft site on Grange Road into a multi-functional event space. The site is currently an open carpark sitting next to Orchard Building, with double frontage along Grange Road and Somerset Road. It will be linked directly to the 313@Somerset mall via the Discovery Walk.
The addition of the new site will expand 313@Somerset's net lettable area to 330,000 sq ft, further strengthening its presence in the Somerset precinct. Incidentally, 313@Somerset sits within LREIT’s portfolio too.
The tenure of the site is 3+3+3 years with an option to extend for one more year. The project's development cost is estimated at $10 million, which translates to just 1% of LREIT’s total property value – well within the 10% regulatory limit on property development for REITs. The cost will be funded by LREIT’s working capital. There will be no impact on the gearing, which stood at 36% as at March 31, well below the 50% leverage limit for REITs, according to Lendlease Global Commercial Trust Management, the manager of LREIT.
“We envision this space to provide a differentiated lifestyle experience for locals and tourists alike,” says Kelvin Chow, CEO of LREIT’s manager. “A well-curated space will have a complementary effect on 313@somerset, which also seeks to continue to improve its experiential and omni-channel retail offerings.”
The Grange Road open carpark site was put up for tender last October, jointly by Singapore Land Authority (SLA), Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) as part of the overall plan to transform Orchard Road into an “innovative lifestyle destination”. The tender had called for a “plug-and-play event space” that will enliven the Somerset area.
Awarded based on a price-quality method with a higher weightage on the latter, the new event space is expected to “strengthen the Somerset area’s position as a youthful and energetic entertainment sub-precinct”, according to SLA, STB and URA in a joint statement on June 12.
Expected to be operational by 2Q2022, the new site with concept by DP Architects will see multiple, dedicated event spaces and hawker stalls. DP Architects is the architectural firm behind the design of many of the malls along Orchard Road, including Mandarin Gallery, Paragon and the nearby Orchard Central.
To inject life into the new event space, LREIT will be collaborating with Live Nation, a global entertainment company, to create a calendar of concerts, film and events; independent cinema operator The Projector; and Museum of Food, an experiential attraction centred around curating and documenting local cuisine.
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