AWARDS: Park Place Residences — acing sustainability and innovation

/ EdgeProp |

October 12, 2018 12:03 PM SGT

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Australian-based construction and property developer Lendlease has been making waves in the Singapore property market since establishing itself here in 1973. Its latest develop ment in Singapore is Paya Lebar Quarter, a modern integrated development in the centre of the Paya Lebar neighbourhood.

Paya Lebar Quarter’s residential component, the 429-unit Park Place Residences, clinched three awards at the EdgeProp Singapore Excellence Awards 2018 on Oct 3, including the Top Development award for an uncompleted project in the Central region.

Although Park Place Residences and Paya Lebar Quarter have yet to be completed, the judges of this year’s awards were impressed by the plans and details of the development submitted for consideration. They also took into account Lendlease’s track record of innovative developments and proven commitment to environmental sustainability. “Park Place Residences and Paya Lebar Quarter are Lendlease projects, and I believe the company has the reputation to deliver a high-quality development,” says National University of Singapore associate professor Yu Shi Ming, who is head of department at the school of design and environment. He was one of the judges at this year’s EdgeProp awards.

Landscaping and natural water catchment areas throughout the development will reduce urban heat by 20% (Picture: Lendlease)

Lendlease has set key sustainability targets for Paya Lebar Quarter, including growing tree coverage by three times the existing area and a 30% increase in biodiversity. More than 100,000 sq ft of the site will be dedicated to public green spaces on the ground floor as well as in vertical and podium areas. The greenery will extend into an elevated landscape deck between the residential blocks at Park Place Residences. This deck will feature the condominium’s facilities, including a 50m lap pool, yoga deck, outdoor dining terrace and clubhouse with private dining room and kitchenette. Most of the condo’s public areas will be embedded with natural water catchment areas and landscaping to reduce storm water discharge by 30% and generated urban heat by 20%.

The developer also plans to reduce the operational energy consumption of all the buildings in Paya Lebar Quarter by more than 30%. It will incorporate energy-efficient lights and water-chilled plant and air-conditioning systems, and lifts and escalators equipped with sleep mode drives that will set them to idle when not in use. In support of greener transport options, the integrated development will provide the electrical infrastructure to support electric vehicle charging. For its environmentally sustainable initiatives, Park Place Residences was awarded the Building and Construction Authority’s Green Mark Platinum award in 2016. It was also awarded the Sustainability Excellence Award at the EdgeProp awards this year.

Park Place Residences is the residential component of Paya Lebar Quarter (Picture: Samuel Issac Chua/The Edge Singapore)

“In terms of sustainability, Lendlease is among a handful of developers in Singapore that actually walk the talk. Based on all their other projects, it is quite clear that they want to achieve what they set out to do in terms of sustainability,” says Yu. “When I examine what they are proposing, and even though the project is incomplete, I believe Paya Lebar Quarter and Park Place Residences will do well in terms of sustainability.”

The 429-unit Park Place Residences is Lendlease’s maiden residential property development in Singapore. The 99-year leasehold condo has a mix of one- to three-bedroom units in three towers. There are 117 one-bedroom units of 484 to 581 sq ft; 234 two-bedroom units of 646 to 904 sq ft; and 78 three-bedroom units of 1,076 to 1,367 sq ft. More than half of the units were snapped up on the first day of launch in March last year. The developer had intended to sell only about 170 (40%) units, but released more because of overwhelming demand.

Park Place Residences is more than 95% sold, since it was launched in March last year (Picture: Samuel Issac Chua/The Edge Singapore)

The second phase of sales occurred in April this year, and saw more than 149 units sold, out of the 219 units remaining. Park Place Residences is more than 95% sold, and prices have ranged from $935,000 ($1,930 psf) for a 484 sq ft, one-bedroom unit sold on April 5 this year to $2.13 million ($1,832 psf) for a 1,163 sq ft, three-bedroom unit sold on April 7.

Lendlease banked on its success as a developer of urban regeneration projects in Australia and the UK to market to local buyers the potential of Paya Lebar Quarter to be a new regional commercial hub in Singapore. Its strategy included emphasising the transport connectivity and good location, since the site is beside the Paya Lebar MRT interchange on the East- West and Circle lines. At this year’s EdgeProp awards, Lendlease also walked away with the EdgeProp Marketing Excellence Award.

The mixed-use Paya Lebar Quarter will have a mall adjacent to the Paya Lebar MRT interchange (Picture: Lendlease)

The 4ha Paya Lebar Quarter will comprise one million sq ft of Grade-A office space in three office towers and a 340,000 sq ft retail mall. More than half of the office space has already been pre-committed and leased to international companies and local industry leaders. Insurance giants Great Eastern and NTUC Income will lease 125,000 sq ft across four floors and 55,000 sq ft across two floors respectively. Meanwhile, listed office outsourcing company IWG is in talks to lease 52,000 sq ft for Spaces, its co-working business. Other tenants include SMRT, which is leasing 97,000 sq ft across three floors, and CBRE, which will move 600 employees into a dedicated innovation centre.

“That big, local companies like CBRE are committing to office space in Paya Lebar Quarter is reflective of not just the excellent location of the project, but also their confidence in the high-quality project Lendlease is creating,” says Yu.

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