IN a move to ease the office space crunch, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has put up three state properties for tender. Solely for office use, these sites are a former government building, a tertiary institution and a community centre.
Last Thursday, the former office occupied by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) at 150 Cantonment Road was among the latest to be put up for tender. It has an estimated land area of about 7,100 sqm, slightly smaller than a football field.
The former ITE (Pasir Panjang) at 991 Alexandra Road was also launched on Monday, while the former Moulmein Community Centre at 3 Shan Road, the first community centre allocated for office use, will be launched for tender this week. The community centre has an estimated land area of about 1,900 sqm, roughly equivalent to the size of six and a half tennis courts, while the ex-ITE covers about 41,200 sqm, equivalent to the size of five football fields.
The properties are chosen for their good locations and ease for adaptive reuse. They come with a range of allowable tenures from three to nine years.
An analysis of market data in DTZ Debenham Tie Leung's quarterly property market report for Q1 2007 shows that office space slated to be demolished for redevelopment will exceed the supply scheduled for completion in 2007.
In addition, average annual new supply in the next four years - 928,700 square feet - will fall short of the 1.7 million sq ft average annual take-up seen in the last 10 years. This has led to an increase in rents.
In February, as part of the government's initiative to make available more office space to meet the needs of financial institutions and other business services, SLA, for the first time, announced that a list of state properties had been identified for office use. Besides the three new tenders above, SLA has let out six properties with a total estimated GFA of 46,000 sqm for dedicated office use in the first half of 2007.
The tender documents are available on www.gebiz.gov.sg
Here is a summary of the three tenders to be launched:
Property: 150 Cantonment Road, former CPIB building Land area (sqm):7,112.3 GFA (sqm): 4,533.0 Property includes: 2 blocks of 3-storey building, with covered linkways and 1 guardhouse Tenancy period: 3+3+3 years up to 2016 Tender opening date: Wed, 25 Apr Tender closing date: Fri, 18 May
Property: 991 Alexandra Road, former ITE Pasir Panjang Land area (sqm): 41,194.6 GFA (sqm): 20,335.7 Property includes: 1 block of 4 storey building, 5 blocks of 2 storey building and 2 blocks of single storey building linked by covered walkway Tenancy period: 3+3+3 years till 2016 Tender opening date: Mon, 30 Apr Tender closing date: Fri, 25 May
Property: 3 Shan Road, former Moulmein CC Land area (sqm): 1,898.0 GFA (sqm): 2,099.0 Property includes: 3-storey building Tenancy period: 3+3+3 years till 2016 Tender opening date: Fri, 4 May Tender closing date: Fri, 25 May
