Beach Road District To Undergo Rejuvenation

The upcoming Guoco Midtown will add to the area’s ongoing rejuvenation.

The Beach Road District is set to undergo rejuvenation with the upcoming Guoco Midtown.

Spanning approximately 950,600 sq ft, the 99-year leasehold integrated project by Singapore developer GuocoLand will comprise the conserved Beach Road Police Station, 30,000 sq ft of retail and entertainment space, 770,000 sq ft of premium Grade A office space, and over 200 prime residential units.

Set to complete in the first half of 2022, the integrated development will connect the three major office micro-markets of City Hall, Marina Centre and Bugis. Connectivity-wise, it will be served by four MRT lines – the East-West, Downtown, North-South and Circle lines – and will be directly linked to the Bugis MRT interchange station.

SEE ALSO: Guoco Midtown Project In Beach Road To Feature 200 Homes

Mr Raymond Choong, Group President and Chief Executive Officer of GuocoLand likens Guoco Midtown to the group’s flagship integrated mixed-use development, Guoco Tower.

“Guoco Tower’s opening in stages between 2016 to 2017 has injected a fresh vibrancy, brought a new lease of life to Tanjong Pagar and successfully transformed the district. We envision Guoco Midtown to do the same for the Beach Road area. When completed, Guoco Midtown will be a premium, vibrant business and lifestyle destination, attracting a dynamic community that will rejuvenate and reposition Beach Road,” says Choong.

In addition, its Grade A office space aims to redefine the way landlords partner with tenants by introducing a new leasing concept to address the ‘core and flex’ needs of companies with dynamic business needs and shorter business cycles. To this, 15 percent of office net lettable area will be set aside for flexible and adaptable spaces to give tenants the flexibility to expand or contract their teams without having to move or renovate their main offices.

Meanwhile, its residential component, Midtown Bay will offer unblocked views of Marina Bay, Orchard Road and Kallang Basin. While pricing details have yet to be confirmed, based on URA data, the median transacted price for new prime district condos located in district 7 was at $2,818 per sq ft in Q1 2019. Going by this trend, we expect units at Midtown Bay to launch at a similar per sq ft pricing range or more.

The popularity of luxury projects in vicinity also serves as plausible indication of buyers’ belief in the area’s potential. To date, all 660 residential units at DUO, an integrated development located directly opposite the site of Guoco Midtown, have been taken up.

Despite challenging market conditions, South Beach Residences, located right next to the site of Guoco Midtown, sold at least 16 units from the start of the year at a median price of $3,341 per sq ft.

Viewed from a larger perspective, the healthy take-up rates for both projects suggest possible resilience in the high-end market despite the latest round of property cooling measures.

Plans to rejuvenate the area, including to transform the Ophir-Rochor Corridor as a mixed-use precinct will continue to offer much optimism in the future outlook for residential properties in the area.

For more information on the government’s Master Plans for existing and new housing estates, upcoming projects and pricing insights, check out our AreaInsider series.

Fiona Ho, Digital Content Manager at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories, email fiona@propertyguru.com.sg