More than half of office space leased at Paya Lebar Quarter
Paya Lebar Quarter (PLQ), a $3.2 billion mixed-use development by Lendlease, has secured tenants for more than 50 per cent of its office space, including some potential deals that are under final offer or in a stage of advanced negotiations, ahead of the offices' scheduled opening in the third quarter of this year.
This was announced at the topping-out ceremony of one of the three office towers yesterday, which was attended by Minister for National Development Lawrence Wong.
With approximately 1 million sq ft of total office space, Lendlease expects 10,000 employees to be working at PLQ's offices when they are fully occupied.
Prospective tenants include both local and multinational corporations in finance, technology and real estate sectors. Lendlease declined to disclose the confirmed tenants.
But it did say that up to 15 per cent of available office space will also be used to house co-working facilities, which will allow smaller start-ups to network and work with established companies on special projects.
The average leasing price is $7 to $8 per square feet (psf), said Lendlease Asia chief executive Tony Lombardo.
According to CBRE's fourth-quarter figures, the average leasing price for Central Business District (CBD) offices is $9.40 psf.
Ms Ng Hsueh Ling, managing director for Singapore at Lendlease, who is the former chief of Keppel REIT, said that prices have bottomed, due to high economic growth and low supply.
Industry watchers are generally bullish on PLQ's ability to attract companies.
DBS Bank analyst Derek Tan said PLQ may pose some form of competition to CBD office space if Lendlease is able to position the property as a viable alternative.
It was also announced that more than 40 per cent of retail space in PLQ Mall has been pre-committed.
Confirmed tenants include FairPrice Finest supermarket and Kopitiam food court.
Other offerings include a multi-screen cinema and restaurants with al fresco dining concepts.- THE STRAITS TIMES
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