Ho Bee Land wins S$223.6m tender for biomedical sciences facility at one-north

MAINBOARD-LISTED Ho Bee Land's subsidiary, HB Universal, has been awarded the concept and price tender to build, own and operate Biopolis Phase 6 at one-north by JTC Corporation, said Ho Bee in a statement on Monday.

Ho Bee's S$223.6 million tender to JTC was the winning bid among four submissions. The tender closed on Dec 4, 2019. 

Biopolis Phase 6 will be the latest development in the Biopolis precinct, to be completed in 2022. The  12-storey mixed-used facility will add another 35,000 square metres (sq m) of business park space for biomedical sciences (BMS) research and supporting activities, and 6,000 sq m for office and retail use, said Ho Bee, adding that the new building will be home to a community of researchers and entrepreneurs. 

With an increasing number of BMS startups and demand for semi or fully-furnished laboratories, 2,000 sq m of the business park space will be set aside for fitted-out laboratory spaces to address a current market gap for mature BMS startups that have graduated from incubator or accelerator spaces, said Ho Bee. 

The laboratory will be fitted out with lab benches, waste drainage and exhaust provisions, which help to reduce startups' upfront expenditure costs and speed up their time to market. 

To add, the co-location of mature startups with multinational corporations, local enterprises and research institutes will provide a "conducive and collaborative" environment for research partnerships, while improving their market access and success rate in the longer term, said Ho Bee.

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The Buona Vista activity node, next to Buona Vista MRT interchange, will be integrated with the new facility, and transformed into a new community space for the public. 

Ho Bee has commissioned architecture design firm, Skidmore Owings & Merill, as the lead design architect. It has partnered local architect firm DCA Architects to conceptualise the landmark building. 

The new building is designed to achieve the Green Mark Platinum Award standard set by the Building and Construction Authority. It will enjoy optimum energy efficiency while providing ample access to daylight and views of the surrounding community, said Ho Bee. 

Nicholas Chua, deputy chief executive of Ho Bee, said: "We are very pleased to have won the tender for this site. The intent of the development is to spearhead the creation of a new generation of labs that help foster research and discovery.

"This is timely as the government hopes to incubate more biotech startups in Singapore as part of its drive to transform Singapore into the BMS hub of Asia."

Ho Bee shares closed down 16 Singapore cents - or 7.62 per cent - to S$1.94 on Monday.