Lendlease Global Commercial REIT has won a tender to transform, and manage the car park at Grange Road as a dedicated ‘plug-and-play’ event space.
The site features an area of 42,800 square feet, and is situated just metres away from the REIT’s property in Singapore, 313@Somerset.
It is located along the prime Orchard Road shopping belt.
The Singapore Land Authority, Singapore Tourism Board and Urban Redevelopment Authority launched a tender in October 2019 to convert the site into an event space with complementary commercial offerings.
The price-quality tender was launched on a 3+3+3 years tenure basis, and has been initiated as part of efforts to rejuvenate the Orchard Road shopping district.
Lendlease Global Commercial REIT has been selected due to the “innovative lifestyle concepts and strong pipeline of programmes and events” presented, said a joint statement from the three government agencies.
The event space is expected to be completed in 2Q 2022.
The space is designed by DP Architects and offerings include an independent cinema, hawker stalls, and a food and beverage attraction.
The REIT is collaborating with Live Nation and The Projector to create a calendar of concerts, films and events for the space.
The development project cost is estimated to be approximately SGD10 million and will be funded via the REIT's working capital, which is spread throughout the development phase.
The development cost accounts for less than 1% of the REIT’s total deposited property value and is within the 10% regulatory limit on property development for REITs.
There is no impact on gearing, and the REIT’s leverage was approximately 36% as at 31 March 2020.
“We envision this space to provide a differentiated lifestyle experience for locals and tourists alike", said Kelvin Chow, CEO of the REIT's manager.
"A well-curated space will have complementary effects on 313@Somerset, which also seeks to continue to improve its experiential and omni-channel retail offerings", he added.
The Grange Road car park will cease operations later in the year to facilitate preparation works before Lendlease Global Commercial REIT takes over the site for construction.
Once completed, the event space could serve as a feeder of human traffic into 313@Somerset, which contributes the majority of income for the REIT.
With the inclusion of the Grange Road event space, 313@Somerset’s net lettable area will expand to approximately 330,000 square feet.
Lendlease Global Commercial REIT is a Singapore-listed REIT with two properties - 313@Somerset, and Sky Complex in Milan, Italy.
It was last done on the Singapore Exchange at SGD0.68, with a distribution yield of about 7.5% as compiled in the Singapore REITs table.