Office Space for Rent
CBD Fringe / Edge of Central Business District
1. Commercial Space For Rent in Lavender / Kallang
This area has developed significantly over the past 6 years and has become an important fringe CBD hub, particularly for commercial offices for rent that are classified as B1 / Business space buildings. Aperia, close to Lavender MRT, is one the most important schemes to be established in this location recently and is the home of many large MNCs. Other established buildings in the area include BS Bendemeer Centre, Pico Creative Centre, 80 Bendemeer Road fka Hyfux Innovation centre and the recently completed ‘state of the art’ scheme at 30A Kallang Avenue.
Read more about this district Lavender / KallangThe Offices
This area developed significantly over the past 6 years and has become an important fringe CBD hub, particularly for commercial offices for rent that are classified as B1 / Business space buildings. Aperia, close to Lavender MRT, is one the most important schemes to be established in this location recently and is the home of many large MNCs. Built in 2014, the scheme comprises twin towers, with an annex block combined with a retail mall. Each tower is 14-storeys high, providing a total lettable area of approximately 700,000 sq ft of top quality B1 office space for rent. Other established buildings in the area include BS Bendemeer Centre, Pico Creative Centre, CT Hub, 80 Bendemeer Road, fka Hyflux Innovation Centre and the recently completed ‘state of the art’ business space scheme at 30A Kallang Place. ARC 380 is the only pure office multi-storey development in the area and was developed by the Tong Eng Group completed in 2017 but is in strata ownership.
The Amenities
The location is served by several MRT stations including Lavender MRT, Bendemeer MRT and Kallang MRT. There are multiple bus routes running through this area, as many of the main roads are principle feeder routes into the CBD from the East & North. There are many budget hotels in this district and the mainstream hotels include V Hotel Lavender and Hotel Boss, both close to Lavender MRT station. There area has many local eateries. Residential wise, Citylights is probably the largest condominium complex in the area with other condos including Southbank and The Riverine.
The History
Initially, the area was largely a swampland. The area near Lavender Street was dotted with vegetable farms. In 1858, Lavender Street was named as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the stink of the nightsoil (human excreta from latrines contained in pails) used as fertilizers by the many vegetable farms in the area. Urbanization in the area took off after World War I in the form of ribbon-developments where agricultural land gave way to shophouses. Ribbon developments involve the building of houses along communication routes such as roads and railway lines. New roads, such as Kitchener Road, Jellicoe Road and Flanders Square, were laid and named after key personalities and battle sites of World War I.
In the area, there were many rubber processing and pineapple canning factories. The most notable ones were owned by Rubber & Pineapple King and well-known philanthropist, Lee Kong Chian (1893-1967). Perhaps due to the area’s then-expanding industrial sector, numerous engineering workshops were also established, many of which still remain today. A prominent landmark to the north of Kitchener Road was the New World Amusement Park which offered an exciting array of entertainment options. It opened in 1923 and was built by Ong Sam Leong’s two sons, Boon Tat and Peng Hock. Although it closed down in 1987, many continue to associate it with the area. Today, the site has been redeveloped into a condominium, public park and shopping mall. As a reminder of its vibrant past, the original gate to the former New World Amusement Park has been reconstructed at the entrance to the public park.
The area of what is now Kallang first appeared in an 1830 survey map of Singapore as "Kilang". By 1838, the place name was spelled as "Kelang". The modern-day "Kallang" is in use since 1842, even though the alternative spelling "Kalang" is also utilised in some instances. There are other possible origins for this particular place name. "Kallang" may also be a corruption of the Malay word kilang, meaning "mill" or "factory". There were sawmills and rice hullers here. Another explanation for the origin of "Kallang" is that it is derived from galang, which means "to put a boat on wooden stocks or rollers", an appropriate term as the Kallang area sits on the confluence of multiple waterways.
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2. Offices for Rent in Novena / Thomson / Bukit Timah
This location is a popular choice when looking decentralized offices for rent that are close to Orchard Road and within easy access to the core of the CBD districts such as Raffles Place. The office rental rates in this area are very competitive and offer superb value for money. The many amenities in the area, along with close proximity high-end residential developments, make this an attractive choice for those firms that don’t need to rent prime CBD offices but need family amenities.
Read more about this district Thomson / NovenaThe Offices
This district has become a well-established de-centralized office location close to the edge of the CBD. The oldest office building in this area is Goldhill Plaza built in 1977 and comprises a 24-storey office building with a circular floor plate, providing cheap low cost offices for rent. The large mixed use scheme next door that is United Square, was developed in 1982 and comprises a 3-storey retail podium with a 33-storey office tower above. The Singapore Inland Revenue moved into their own building called Revenue House in 1996. Novena Square is a sizeable mixed use scheme comprising a 3-storey retail mall and twin offices towers, built 2000. Tower A is the larger 25-storey tower with an average floor plate of 18-22,000 sq ft and Tower B is an 18-story office tower with a typical floor plate of 12,000 sq ft. The other boutique office building in the area is Newton 200, a 10-storey property with an average floor plate of 4,000 sq ft. Further up Thomson Road, SLF Building (Singapore Labour Foundation) provides efficient affordable office space in a 19-story office tower, with an average floor plate of 9,400 sq ft
The Amenities
The district is served by Novena MRT station on the North South line and is just one stop away from the interchange with downtown line at Newton and 2 stops from Orchard Road. There are many bus routes through is this location, as it is on a feeder route to the core of CBD. The location has 2 significant shopping centers, namely United Square and the larger Velocity@Novena directly above the MRT station. There are many eateries in the area particularly around Novena Square, United Square and Goldhill Centre. There are several affordable hotels in the vicinity including The Hotel Royal and ST Residence Novena. The Courtyard by Marriott is next to Novena Square and The Sheraton Hotel is located in nearby Newton. There are serviced apartments at Commontown Novena Regency. This district is also well-known for having the many medical centers in the vicinity.
The History
Previously known as Seletar Road, this road was subsequently renamed "Thomson Road" named after John Turnbull Thomson, a government surveyor who also helped to lay this road. In 1935, a group of Redemptorist priests - part of a Catholic order founded in the 18th century in Naples, Italy - travelled to Singapore from Australia to carry out mission work. After renting various properties including units at 339 and 418 Thomson Road, they settled down at No. 300 in 1948 - the site of Novena Church today.
The first property there, featuring a two-storey building was converted into a chapel, and was purchased from wealthy Chinese towkay Wee Kah Kiat for $120,000. The premises were bought over by the Redemptorist priests in 1948 where a small church dedicated to Our Mother of Perpetual Help named the Church of Saint Alphonsus was built in May 1950. According to tradition, the novenas to Our Lady of Perpetual Help began in January 1949 and instantaneously became widespread in 1951 as intended by Pope Pius XI. Balestier Road was named after Joseph Balestier, an American diplomat who served in Singapore in the 1800s.
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3. Offices for Lease - Chinatown / River Valley Road
This is another location that is attractive to this companies looking to find offices for rent that are conveniently close to the CBD, without being in the core of the Financial District. The connectivity of the area is improving substantially in recent years. Before there were no MRT stations serving this area but now Fort Canning MRT station serves the lower end of River Valley Road, next year a new MRT station at Great World will serve the mid-section and Tiong Bahru will continue to serve the upper end
Read more about this district River Valley RoadThe Offices
River Valley Road is a long road that stretches from Clemenceau Avenue all the way up to almost meet Tiong Bahru. At the beginning of River Valley Road, at junction with Clemenceau Avenue, the large mixed use scheme of UE Square takes centre stage. This 18-storey inter-connected twin tower office development, built in 1997 provides high quality, column free, office space with excellent natural lighting and raised floor. The average floor plate size per wing is approximately 10,000 sq ft, so one whole floor can provide 20,000 sq ft. There is excellent basement car parking. Close by in the Martin Road / Mohamed Sultan area there is a cluster of smaller boutique office buildings including Seng Kee Building and Sultan Link.
Further up River Valley Road, the large mixed use scheme of Great World City is the major landmark of the area. Built 1996, the offices are housed in an 18-storey twin tower scheme (East and West) with an average column free floor plate of 12,000 sq ft. There is excellent basement car parking, providing over 450 spaces.
At the top end of River Valley Road, Valley Point is the landmark scheme in this vicinity. This mixed use scheme comprises a small retail mall, serviced apartment block and a 20-storey office tower at the other end. Built in 1998, the average floor plate is 12,000 sq ft, column free with flush floor trunking. This scheme is known for offering excellent value for money. Central Plaza is not exactly River valley Road but is closed to the top end at Tiong Bahru. This is also a mixed used scheme directly above an MRT station, with a retail mall on the ground floor and 10-storey office tower above, built in 1995.
The Amenities
Valley Point is not served by any MRT station but there is a regular, peak time, bus shuttle service to both Tiong Bahru and Dhoby Ghaut MRT stations. There is a small retail mall and basement car parking for 300 vehicles. The nearest hotels will be on Orchard Road and the nearest retail schemes will be either Great World City or Central Plaza. Great World City includes a mega retail mall and leisure complex as well as a residential tower at the opposite end of the scheme. There is a new MRT station under construction in this location, scheduled for completion in 2021. UE Square is another mixed use scheme including a retail mall and block of serviced apartment. It is now served by a relatively new MRT station, namely Fort Canning and there are many bus routes serving this busy junction.
The History
When the British arrived in 1819, the River Valley area was largely covered by marsh and forest. By the 1830s, gambier plantations had been established in the area. It is not known when exactly River Valley Road was constructed and named, but according to a newspaper report published in 1842, the road was in existence from as early as 1841.By 1843, the area was still predominantly made up of jungle and gambier plantations.
UE Square is the former River Valley headquarters of United Engineers, built in 1929. The old headquarters building, which initially comprised showrooms, offices and accommodation for employees, was torn down in 1993. In 2002 the National Heritage Board marked the location as a historical site.
Great World City is the redevelopment of the former Great World Amusement Park. In the 1920s, the site was originally a Chinese cemetery. In 1909, the place was actually covered with swampy marshes back then and a small canal actually run across the site, eventually meeting up with the Singapore River thereafter. The landowner, Lee Geok Kun redeveloped the site into an amusement park in the 1930s. Business within Great World did not fulfil the expectations of the owners so in 1941, the park was sold to the Shaw Brothers who took over the operations of the park.
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Leasing Options by District
Offices for rent in Raffles Place / DowntownOffice space for rent in Shenton Way / Tanjong Pagar
Offices for rent in City Hall / Marina Centre / Bugis
Office Rentals Orchard / Dhoby Ghaut
Office space for rent on Edge of Central Business District
Office space for rent Outside CBD
Singapore Office District Guide
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