What to expect from Singapore’s budding downtown district over the next decade

The Shenton Way/Tanjong Pagar precinct has emerged as CBD’s largest hub over the last five years.

According to JLL, the Shenton Way/Tanjong Pagar precinct’s critical mass, vibrancy and rental growth have outperformed the rest of the CBD. Over the next 5-10 years, JLL expects the transformation to accelerate, creating a compelling eco-system for fast growing businesses and investors.

Here’s more from JLL:

The Shenton Way / Tanjong Pagar precinct (“Tanjong Pagar”) has traditionally been seen as secondary to Raffles Place and Marina Bay, with older office buildings erected on smaller footprints and home to fewer multi-national corporations. This has changed in the last five years. Office stock in Tanjong Pagar has increased by 27% and its critical mass now outstrip both Raffles Place and Marina Bay, making it the biggest hub in the CBD. 

The new office developments in the precinct are thoughtfully designed, efficient, well finished, richly landscaped with urban parks and seamlessly connected to transport infrastructure and surrounding developments. These lifted both the quantity and quality of occupiers, residents and visitors to the area, and achieve rents comparable to those located in Raffles Place and Marina Bay.

Over 50% of homes and 30% of hotels / serviced apartments in the CBD are located in Tanjong Pagar 

Policy efforts to encourage the development of a work-live-play CBD also resulted in a significant increase in residential, hotels and serviced apartments in the CBD, especially in the Tanjong Pagar precinct, where over 50% of homes and over 30% of the hotel / serviced apartment stock in the CBD are located.

Growth of prime buildings’ share and homes and hotels to outperform CBD for the next 5-10 years 

Over the next decade, new projects and redevelopment schemes will continue to transform the area. We expect prime office buildings to make up 45% of Tanjong Pagar’s Grade A office stock in 2027, up from 34% currently. The number of homes, hotel rooms and serviced apartments will also grow by 28%, based on projects in the pipeline. This transformation outstrips the developments in Marina Bay and Raffles Place. 

These changes have been set in motion by the CBD Incentive Scheme launched by the planning authority in 2019, which incentivises landlords in the Anson Road, Cecil Street, Shenton Way, Robinson Road and Tanjong Pagar to redevelop their aging office assets into mixed-use developments. 

New redevelopments are expected over the next few years from AXA Tower (new development expected in 2027), Keppel Towers (c.2024) and Fuji Xerox towers (c.2026). These new developments will contribute to the Grade A office options in the area and add more residential units, hotel rooms, serviced apartments as well as retail spaces to enhance the vibrancy of the locality. 

Get the full report here.