Republic Plaza reopens after S$70m revamp

Singapore

CITY Developments Limited (CDL) on Wednesday unveiled the revamped Republic Plaza, its flagship property in Raffles Place, following an extensive S$70 million asset enhancement initiative (AEI) which started in April 2018.

Although the building had previously undergone several enhancements, this was its first major facelift since it was completed in 1996. At 280 m tall, the 66-storey skyscraper stands as a Grade A office landmark in the central business district.

The 999-year leasehold property now has a gross floor area of 1.1 million square feet and total net lettable area of around 780,000 sq ft.

Its AEI included a makeover of the main lobby, arrival frontage, individual lift lobbies as well as lift modernisation and interior enhancements to improve space efficiency.

The retail podium has also been expanded by 3,400 sq ft of lettable retail space, which was created from partial conversion of the carpark area.

Public area layouts were reworked to improve pedestrian traffic, and technical specifications were upgraded to allow a larger variety of food and beverage (F&B) offerings.

Republic Plaza now has a 24,100 sq ft retail enclave spanning three levels, housing close to 40 F&B and retail outlets. Over 80 per cent of the retail tenants are new to the building, while some returning tenants include TWG Tea, The Herbal Bar and Bose.

Beyond infrastructure and space efficiency upgrades, CDL has also created a proprietary smart building mobile app CityNexus for all tenants. With this app, tenants can access value-added services such as building access, meeting room booking, air-conditioning extension request and building feedback submission.

For a smooth visitor experience, tenants can provide their guests with direct turnstile entry and book dedicated VIP parking lots.

There is also an "order-pay-collect" function for office tenants to pre-order their meals from the building's F&B outlets and pick up when they are ready.

United Overseas Bank (UOB) is also providing the F&B tenants with financial and digital solutions through the app. UOB's solutions complement the F&B pre-order function by streamlining end-to-end transaction workflows.

More value-added services will be progressively added to the CityNexus digital platform, CDL said, and there is a possibility that it could be rolled out across other CDL buildings.

The app is meant to transform Republic Plaza into a "smart workplace of the future", said CDL group CEO Sherman Kwek.

The building also has a platform to support aspiring social innovators. A basement unit has been converted into an incubator and co-working space for startups and social enterprises.

This initiative is in partnership with the Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise, United Nations Development Programme, and Social Collider.

"Post-AEI, we have seen positive rental reversions at Republic Plaza and achieved strong committed occupancy of over 90 per cent, with the retail space fully leased," Mr Kwek said.

CDL shares closed at S$9.67 on Wednesday, down nine Singapore cents or 0.92 per cent.