What will happen to the experimental transitional office sites?

TRANSITIONAL offices were an experimental property type minted by the authorities here about a decade ago, to quickly resolve a shortage of office space before the Global Financial Crisis.

Initially, the plan was to sell sites on 10-year leases for development into transitional office projects by the private sector. In the end, these sites were sold on 15-year leases in response to feedback that most developers/investors would prefer a longer lease duration in terms of meeting tenants' needs and recouping their investments.

The first such site, along Scotts Road, next to Newton MRT Station, was awarded at a state tender in 2007. In all, the Urban Redevelopment Authority awarded seven transitional office sites between 2007 and 2011, which have yielded about a million square feet. These include two sites in the Scotts Road/Anthony Road locale, one in Mohamed Sultan Road, two in Mountbatten Road and one in Tampines.