DP Architects, PSB Academy to exit Marina Square ahead of revamp

[SINGAPORE] Ahead of plans for a partial redevelopment of Marina Square, at least two major tenants have already put into action plans to relocate out of the complex’s shopping mall.

DP Architects, which occupies about 45,000 sq ft on the second level of the mall, is said to have leased a similar sized space at SingPost Centre next to Paya Lebar MRT station.

PSB Academy, which occupies a total of about 136,000 sq ft in Marina Square shopping mall, is relocating to SingPost Centre and two ESR Reit-owned buildings at 29 Tai Seng Street and 16 Tai Seng Street.

The private educational institution announced earlier this week that it is establishing new campuses spanning over 220,000 sq ft at the three buildings.

Movements at SingPost Centre

Market watchers estimated that out of this figure, about 116,000 sq ft is at SingPost Centre. The space PSB Academy has leased is likely to comprise two full floors – levels 10 and 11 – and part of level 9.

This space is part of the 192,000 sq ft in the 14-storey building currently leased to Visa, which is moving to new premises at the nearby Paya Lebar Green.

Visa’s lease is said to end in December 2026. Its existing lease at SingPost Centre also includes parts of levels 7 and 8.

Both DP Architects and PSB Academy are expected to exit Marina Square in first-half 2027.

Market watchers surmise that PSB Academy, being an educational institution, was probably the first tenant in Marina Square mall to have been served a notice of early lease termination by landlord Marina Centre Holdings (MCH), ahead of the envisaged redevelopment plan for the Marina Square complex.

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MCH is owned by Singapore Land Group (SingLand) and UOL Group.

Retail tenants in Marina Square mall do not seem to have been served notifications by the landlord so far.

Notable retail tenants include Gain City, Daiso, Mothercare, Kiztopia, Pororo Park Singapore and Haidilao.

Flexible workspace operator JustCo leases about 57,000 sq ft on the third level of the mall.

Marina Square mall, with about 800,000 sq ft of net lettable area, is part of the Marina Square complex, which also includes three hotels. The complex is on a total site area of about 992,400 sq ft with a 99-year leasehold tenure that began on Sep 9, 1980.

SingLand and its parent UOL intend to transform the Marina Square complex by adding three new buildings.

These will comprise a for-sale residential tower, a serviced apartment block and a mixed-use tower with hospitality, office and performing arts spaces.

The proposed redevelopment scheme will tap incentives under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Strategic Development Incentive Scheme.

Market watchers expect SingLand to provide an update on the project when it releases its first-half results next week.

Marina Square mall and the Pan Pacific Singapore are fully owned by MCH, which is 77.34 per cent held by SingLand subsidiary Singland Properties and 22.66 per cent by UOL.

UOL owns about 50.35 per cent of SingLand.

MCH jointly owns (together with UOL) the Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay hotel.

The third hotel in the complex – Mandarin Oriental, Singapore – is equally owned by MCH and Mandarin Oriental International.

The partial redevelopment plans for the Marina Square complex is expected to minimise disruptions to the operations of the three hotels.