CapitaLand wins tender to manage Bugis Village and Bugis Street

REAL estate behemoth CapitaLand has won the tender to manage Bugis Village and Bugis Street for up to a decade, it said in a bourse filing on Thursday.

It will take over the integrated management of the area on April 1, 2020 with an initial three-year tenancy, which may be renewed for two further terms of three years each and a final tenancy term not extending beyond March 30, 2030.

Existing tenants at both sites can continue their business operations under CapitaLand for a year at the prevailing rent, until March 31, 2021.

Currently, CapitaLand Commercial Trust manages Bugis Village, while Bugis Street Development manages Bugis Street. Their leases will expire on March 31, 2020.

The joint tender was issued by the Singapore Land Authority, Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Urban Redevelopment Authority to appoint a single operator for both locations.

The bid was evaluated using the price-quality method, which considers criteria such as the quality of the proposal in enhancing the vibrancy of the Bras Basah/Bugis precinct, the price, and the bidder's experience and track record.

The integrated Bugis Village and Bugis Street is located next to the Bugis+ mall and opposite Bugis Junction mall, served by the Bugis MRT interchange station. Both of these malls are under the CapitaLand group, owned by CapitaLand Mall Trust.

The Bugis Village and Bugis Street area has a total proposed retail net lettable area (NLA) of about 195,000 square feet (sq ft).

With the addition of the two locations, CapitaLand's retail NLA in the Bras Basah/Bugis precinct will increase to over 800,000 sq ft, enabling the company to scale up cross-marketing opportunities, said Ronald Tay, chief executive officer of CapitaLand Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, residential and retail.

CapitaLand said it is exploring several retail concepts, subject to approval from the authorities, for Bugis Village and Bugis Street that will complement existing offerings in the area. These concepts include a day-to-night market, a retail incubator and shared economy spaces such as co-living and co-working areas.

The company is also considering building a new link bridge connecting Bugis Street to Bugis+.

Keith Tan, STB chief executive said CapitaLand's new ideas and concepts for the two sites will support the government's ongoing efforts to rejuvenate various areas in Singapore.

Shares of CapitaLand closed down S$0.03 or 0.8 per cent to S$3.91 on Wednesday.