AWARDS: CapitaLand proud of its trendsetting role

By Lin Zhiqin

/ EdgeProp |

October 28, 2017 1:00 PM SGT

Singapore-listed CapitaLand prides itself on being innovative and setting new trends in the country’s residential market, says Ronald Tay, CEO of CapitaLand Singapore. “We are proud of our track record of iconic, award-winning residential developments.”

The Interlace, developed by a CapitaLand-led consortium, has been lauded by the international architectural fraternity as a “trailblazer” for its bold design, which features 31 interlocking blocks. Located on Depot Road, The Interlace is a redevelopment of Gillman Heights Condominium, an HUDC estate purchased by CapitaLand in 2007. The approximately 8ha site is elevated and nestles within the Southern Ridges, a 10km stretch of greenery. Recognising its potential, CapitaLand chose to partner with internationally acclaimed architect Ole Scheeren for the 1,040-unit condo.

The Interlace won the top prize at the 2015 World Architecture Festival

Scheeren arranged the blocks in hexagonal grids, which allow for a generous distance between each home to maximise privacy. The Interlace was completed in 2013 and won the top prize at the 2015 World Architecture Festival, considered the Oscars of the architectural world. The judges were impressed by its “bold, contemporary architecture and thinking, which offers an alternative for developments that might otherwise be default tower clusters”.

In Bishan, CapitaLand has teamed up with Moshe Safdie, who also designed landmarks such as Marina Bay Sands and Jewel at Changi Airport, to redefine city-fringe living with Sky Habitat’s dramatic three-dimensional matrix of homes. The design provides for lush vertical greenery, naturally ventilated units and generous views. Residents can enjoy panoramic views from any of the three sky bridges on the 14th, 26th and 38th floors. The bridges on the 14th and 26th floors were designed as sky gardens and offer a range of facilities such as a gymnasium, an outdoor exercise area, a karaoke room, a movie screening room and a reading/games lounge. The highest bridge — on the 38th floor — boasts a sky pool and a panoramic view of the city.

Many of the units at Sky Habitat come with outdoor terraces perfect for hosting parties or spending time with family. To shield users from the elements, CapitaLand erected trellises for all the terraces. Sky Habitat was shortlisted in the Development Excellence and Development Innovation categories of the EdgeProp Singapore Excellence Awards. In the Value Creation category, CapitaLand’s 583-unit Bedok Residences was the winner of the award.

Tay: We are proud of our track record of iconic, award-winning residential developments

The legacy of the late Zaha Hadid, the first female laureate of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, lives on at d’Leedon, a condo developed by a CapitaLand-led consortium. d’Leedon was Hadid’s first project in Singapore. With its seven 36-storey sculptural towers on an 840,049 sq ft site, the condo is a landmark in prime District 10. Comprising 1,703 apartments and 12 semi-detached houses, the project is also one of the largest in Singapore’s recent history. The ingenuity of Hadid’s design is that despite the number of units, the footprint of the built-up area occupies just 22% of the total site area. This means that almost 80% of the grounds are dedicated to communal facilities — the four swimming pools and landscaped gardens form the centrepiece of the development. d’Leedon was completed in 2014 and was the World Gold Winner in the residential (high-rise) category at the 2016 Fiabci World Prix d’Excellence.

The legacy of the late Zaha Hadid lives on at d’Leedon

CapitaLand also constantly pushes the boundaries in universal design by incorporating forward-thinking accessibility features in its developments, says Tay. Ascott Orchard Singapore and Cairnhill Nine, d’Leedon and The Interlace have been awarded the Universal Design Mark Platinum by the Building and Construction Authority, he adds.

Largest landlord of prime office assets

On Sept 21, CapitaLand Commercial Trust announced its acquisition of Asia Square Tower 2 from BlackRock for $2.09 billion, which is lower than the appraised value of $2.11 billion by Knight Frank. The acquisition is set to increase CCT’s portfolio value from $8 billion to $10.1 billion. Located in the heart of Marina Bay, Asia Square Tower 2 is a 46-storey integrated commercial development comprising a premium Grade A office building, The Westin Singapore and a two-storey retail podium.

Asia Square Tower 2 was completed in September 2013 and is one of the newest buildings in Marina Bay. The combined office and retail net lettable area (NLA) of 778,719 sq ft is expected to enhance CCT’s product offerings to meet the demands of tenants from diverse business sectors and “cements our position as the largest landlord of prime office assets in Singapore”, says Tay.

In July, a consortium comprising Capita- Land, CCT and Mitsubishi Estate announced that the 10-storey Golden Shoe Car Park will be redeveloped into a 51-storey integrated development. It will have 29 floors of Grade A office space with an NLA of 635,000 sq ft on the top floors; 299 units of serviced residences over eight floors to be managed by CapitaLand’s wholly-owned The Ascott Ltd; five floors of car park; and 12,000 sq ft of ancillary retail space. Stallholders of the former Market Street Food Centre, which was located in Golden Shoe Car Park, will be housed in a new food centre located on the second and third floors of the new building’s podium. There will also be a Green Oasis that is over 30m in height, comprising four contiguous and connected floors of openair, landscaped and technology-enabled areas for meetings, wellness programmes and other activities. The 280m tower is slated for completion in 1H2021.

Riding the gig economy

Recognising the importance of building and designing to cater for the needs of millennials, start-ups and the gig economy, CapitaLand launched the first premium co-working space in a Grade A office tower in Singapore’s CBD with the 22,000 sq ft Collective Works Capital Tower last year. It has since attracted tenants such as global venture capital firm 500 Startups and Nasdaq-listed B2B marketing consultancy Black Marketing. Through its venture fund C31 Ventures, CapitaLand also recently invested in The Great Room, a hospitality-inspired co-working space provider that recently expanded its operations at One George Street. CapitaLand is also partnering with China’s co-working unicorn UrWork to provide co-working spaces in CapitaLand properties in China and Singapore.

CapitaLand Mall Trust closed Funan DigitaLife Mall on June 30 last year for a $560 million revamp. When completed in end-2019, it will be the first mall to have smart tech integrated into its physical space. This includes CCTV cameras and video analytics that can track data such as footfall throughout the mall and traffic into each shop, which will be shared with the tenants. The project sits on a 124,457 sq ft site and will have 500,000 sq ft of retail space, 266,000 sq ft of Grade A office space and 121,000 sq ft of co-living apartments. There will be 279 co-living apartments and a co-working space.

The Ascott is investing $170.3 million through a serviced residence global fund it has set up with Qatar Investment Authority in the nine-storey co-living component, which will be named lyf Funan Singapore.

Ahead of Funan’s opening, the public can have a preview of what to expect at the two-storey show suite located at the junction of High Street and Hill Street. According to Capita- Land, the experiential show suite that incorporates design elements from the new Funan is the first of its kind in Singapore.

Dwindling inventory

According to CapitaLand, as at July 31, The Interlace and d’Leedon were almost fully sold while Sky Habitat was over 80% sold. Victoria Park Villas, CapitaLand’s exclusive landed development in prime District 10, has also seen brisk sales, with close to 90% of the 109 houses sold since its launch in September 2016. Victoria Park Villas is located in a Good Class Bungalow estate and comprises 106 semi-detached houses and three bungalows. “It’s very rare to have a new landed housing development located within an established GCB neighbourhood in a prime location,” says Mok Wei Wei, managing director of W Architects and master planner for the development. Mok, who has won the President’s Design Award, collaborated with three other leading architects — AR43, HYLA Architects and Studio Wills+Architects — to design the houses at Victoria Park Villas.

CapitaLand believes in the long-term potential of the Singapore residential market, says Tay. “We are actively looking to replenish our landbank while adopting a disciplined approach to ensure sustainable return on equity for our shareholders.”

This article appeared in EdgeProp Pullout, Issue 803 (Oct 30, 2017).

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