Paya Lebar Quarter: The allure of live, work and play

SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Ahead of its expected TOP in November, Park Place Residences has only one unit left for sale, revealed Steve McCann, group CEO and managing director of Lendlease, at the official opening of Paya Lebar Quarter (PLQ) on Oct 24.

Proof of the allure of the “live, work and play” concept, Park Place Residences at PLQ sold 50% of its units on the first day of its Phase 1 launch in March 2017. The development comprises 429 units on a 99-year leasehold, and is integrated directly with PLQ Mall and three Grade-A office towers that span one million sq ft. The three components form PLQ – earmarked to be a bustling sub-regional hub in the heart of the Paya Lebar enclave – which costs $3.7 billion and occupies over 4ha of land.

Moreover, PLQ is linked directly to Paya Lebar MRT Interchange Station for the East-West and Circle Lines.

“We used to have spaces between residential, office and retail compartmentalised and separated from one another, and sometimes with long commuting times between them,” Lawrence Wong, Minister for National Development and Second Minister for Finance, said in his speech at PLQ’s opening. But now, “we are increasingly moving towards integrated mixed-uses, to live, play, work and shop all within walking distances”, the minister highlights.

McCann says: “From a Lendlease perspective, our central philosophy and business strategy is all around urbanisation.”

He adds: “Today, about 55% of the world’s population live in city centres that [are] growing rapidly. It’ll be about 68% by 2050. And the way we see that happening is obviously significant increases in the challenges that come with urban density, around social issues, environmental issues, traffic congestion, [and] pollution.”

He believes integrated hubs like PLQ are “the right answer to those challenges”.

Already, tenants have begun working at PLQ’s office component, called PLQ Workplace, which has 90% of its office spaces leased out, shares McCann. SMRT Corp, PLQ Workplace’s first tenant, moved in as early as March 2019. Other tenants include CBRE, JLL, NTUC Income, Great Eastern, Spaces by IWG and Intellectual Property Office of Singapore.

PLQ’s co-working space, csuites, takes up 72,000 sq ft within one of the three Grade-A office towers. The flexible workspace is set to welcome German multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company Bayer later this year.

Meanwhile, the new PLQ Mall is about 90% leased to date. It has 340,000 sq ft of net lettable area, with over 200 shops across six floors. Its anchor tenants are the FairPrice Finest supermarket; KopiTime, a new thematic food court by Kopitiam; and Shaw Theatres, which will feature 12 halls and an Imax theatre.

Other retailers include Uniqlo, Tokyu Hands, Foot Locker, Haidilao Hot Pot, The Providore, and Starbucks Reserve.

PLQ Mall also offers new-to-Singapore F&B dining options such as Mom’s Touch, a popular South Korean fried chicken chain; Hayai, serving Japanese rice sandwich; Wursthans Switzerland, offering authentic Swiss sausages; and Fong Sheng Hao, a famous charcoal-grilled toast and milk tea cafe from Taiwan.