Singapore wants to liven up CBD with more hotels and residential property, according to urban plan

Living where you work and play may not seem like the ideal balance in terms of escaping the grind, but it is a key plank of Singapore’s vision for its central business district.

Like many cities’ financial centres, Singapore’s is bustling by day and close to deserted on a weekend. The government hopes to change that and laid out details of how it aims to go about it in an urban draft plan released last month.

Chief among the proposals is increasing the number of residential developments and hotels by encouraging firms to convert existing office space. One suggestion involves boosting buildings’ so-called plot ratios – the higher the plot ratio, the more subdivisions of floor space that are allowed.

These incentives will specifically target older-style buildings in central areas such as Anson Road, Cecil Street, Shenton Way and Tanjong Pagar.

That could prove a boon for some developers, especially those with low debt. They will be in a prime position to participate in any auctions for land in the central business district, according to Jonathan Koh, an analyst at UOB Kay Hian. His top picks are CapitaLand and City Developments, whose building known as The Arcade is particularly old and in need of restoration.

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“Urban regeneration is a journey that Singapore needs to take to emulate the success of cosmopolitan hubs like Manhattan, London and Shanghai,” said Moray Armstrong, managing director of CBRE Group in Singapore. “We’re excited that some of the older buildings are now part of the plans to revitalise the central business district.” It could unlock a lot of value by allowing developers to breathe new life into their obsolete office stock, he said.