Property Insights Podcast: The CBD of tomorrow - Live, Work, Play

Our Colliers Experts discuss and give us their views on the potential of the white site development in Marina View and see what could be!

Colliers Singapore Property Insights podcast is our podcast series where Colliers Experts comment on the latest real estate news and provide their advice on how to maximise the potential of property.

There has been a lot of noise in the industry around the white site in Marina View, recently launched by the URA and released for public tender.

In this special episode, Bastiaan van Beijsterveldt, Head of occupier Services and Jonathan Denis-Jacob, Director for Valuation & Advisory Services, discuss and give us their views on the potential of this white site development and see what could be!

Key highlights:

The impact of COVID-19 on the Singapore CBD residential market was less dramatic compared to other global cities, with two somewhat contradictory trends. On the one hand, the vacancy rate of rental units in central business districts has gone up during the pandemic due to the decline in the number of expats and tenants relocating to larger units in more suburban locations. On the other hand, there has been a large surge in the number of new condo sales in the Core Central Region, despite work from home and other Covid-related restrictions, supported by robust household balance sheet and strong housing demand for central residential locations in Singapore, including by many 1 and 2 person households.

Despite some 600,000 sq ft of shadow space in Q1, Colliers estimate 35-40% was backfilled. Nonetheless, some of these tenants are still locked in their lease agreements, and we also witnessed keen interest in office demand from Technology companies.

"Overall, we expect both CBD Grade A rents and capital values to grow about 2% in 2021 on the back of strong economic growth, although vacancy could rise to 5.5%."

Key demand drivers are the Tech companies and flexible workspace operators who are also expanding at a modest pace. In addition, some corporates are also taking advantage of the situation and are moving and/or modernising their office and be ready for the reopening.

The CBD of tomorrow will transform into a vibrant 24/7 Live, Work and Play environment through mixed-use developments. In years to come, the Singapore CBD will be a lot less about just working and a lot more about the diverse set of activities that make communities great, from leisure and education to socialisation and recreation. We expect that with the new CBD Incentive Scheme of the Master Plan 2019, more development sites, including the GLS site at Marina View, will embrace the Live, Work, Play concept and focus on a mixed-use development with a large residential component.

Listen to the full Colliers Singapore Property Insights podcast – episode 3 | The CBD of tomorrow - Live, Work, Play here.

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Contact our Colliers Editorial team here.

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+65 6531 8688

+65 9639 6183

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She considers the undertaking of the Singapore office's leadership role as a significant career progression for her. Together with her team of experts, they have multiplied their profitability by six-fold since 2016, and the team continues to collaborate with colleagues across markets to deliver strong results for shareholders.

Having three daughters of her own that are coming of age, she understands her people's aspirations and recognises the acceleration of success of her people as one of her key focuses, where she mentors and nurtures them in becoming the next generation of leaders.

Colliers has given her tremendous space to accelerate her success, and she would like to accelerate yours too. Connect with her today!

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Bastiaan VB

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Singapore

+65 6531 8630

+65 9163 0494

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Pertinent to this assignment Bastiaan was the Head of Occupier Services in Singapore and has led complex transaction projects for diverse global multinationals and investors throughout the entire Asia-Pacific region.

In Asia - Pacific, Bastiaan lived and worked in; Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia and Australia.

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