Unconcerned landlords find plenty of takers for office space that banks vacate

THE trend of Singapore banks trimming office space is not spelling doom and gloom in the leasing market.

Singapore's banking sector will cut office space by 30 per cent over the next few years as office leases expire, a DBS report noted. But firms from other industries have been quick to pounce on these prime commercial units, often in prominent locations and boasting anoramic views of the city skyline. Investors, developers and real estate investment trusts (Reits) thus appear scarcely concerned, and welcome the new mix of tenants. In particular, a technology, media, real estate and corporate blitz looks to be underway.

Citi analyst Brandon Lee expects the space vacated by banks to be filled up by tech and corporate tenants. CBRE Research wrote recently large corporates will probably leverage the pullback in rents to move to higher-quality and better-located offices, fuelling a recovery in the Grade A market. At the Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) Tower 1, tech firms from the US, China and Singapore are among those expressing "very strong interest" in roughly 200,000 sq ft across nine and a half floors.