Government approval has been obtained for the construction of the tallest tower in the Lion City, one of the most popular office regions in the Asia-Pacific territory, by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd (NYSE: BABA) in collaboration with Perennial Holdings, whose main shareholders include Singapore billionaires Ron Sim and Kuok Khoon Hong.
New 63-story building to house hotel, commercial and residential space
The consortium’s plan to construct a 63-story mixed-use skyscraper with hotel, commercial, and residential uses on the property at 8 Shenton Way in Tanjong Pagar, close to the Raffles Place commercial district, was authorized by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on July 7. Temasek Holdings’ former corporate office was located on the site, which was first constructed in 1986 under the name Treasury Building.
The proposed construction will top the 284-meter Guoco Tower as the tallest finished building in Singapore when it is finished by 2028, reaching a maximum of 305 meters in height. The skyscrapers will be connected to the Tanjong Pagar MRT station. The project coincides with a significant demand in the city’s office and hotel space markets that has mostly been abandoned due to Covid-19 travel restraints.
New skyscraper to have overall spaces of 148,450 square meters
According to URA, the new structure will have an overall gross floor space of 148,450 m², of which 87,966 m2 will be used for commercial space, 49,420 m² for apartments, and the remaining space will be used for a hotel and other facilities.
In Singapore, one of the region’s largest office markets, there is a huge market for commercial real estate, which has led to the renovation of 8 Shenton Way. Property consultancy JLL’s investment in the city’s commercial real estate grew by 81 percent in the first half of the year to $9.3 billion.
A joint project between Haiyi Holdings and SingHaiyi Group, which is run by real estate billionaire Gordon Tang and his spouse Celine, and Chip Eng Seng, in addition to Alibaba and Perennial, had earlier in the year and offered to acquire a share in 8 Shenton Way.
