A consortium led by Frasers Property and Frasers Centrepoint Trust has won the government tender for the Bayshore Drive site with a $2.13 billion bid, and FCT will own half of the retail part. The mall alone is expected to cost about $613 million on a 100 percent basis.
It is the first development project in FCT’s history. The trust, which manages an $8.4 billion portfolio of nine heartland malls, said on July 27 that it expects the mall to finish around the end of 2030. FCT puts the yield on cost at roughly 5 percent.
What is being built
The Urban Redevelopment Authority awarded the 99-year leasehold site to the highest bidder. The consortium also includes Sunway MCL, Sekisui House and Lum Chang. The site covers 57,460.6 sqm, with a maximum gross floor area of 149,398 sqm. The retail mall takes 22,100 sqm of that, or 160,000 to 180,000 sq ft of lettable space. The residential portion could add up to 1,280 homes.
The mall will connect directly to Bedok South MRT Station on the Thomson-East Coast Line and to a new bus interchange. FCT said the project will have “significant control over the design development and management of the new retail mall.”
The trust sees room in the area. Bedok, with about 274,360 residents, has the second-largest population in Singapore, but retail space per person there is below the national average. Around 10,000 new homes are planned along the East Coast over time.
Paying for it
FCT said it will finance its share progressively from internal funds and external borrowings. Part of the money will come from the proposed $467 million sale of White Sands in Pasir Ris. The buyer is Growth Capital, linked to Jack Investment, which is headed by Han Chee Juan.
Existing malls
FCT also reported that Hougang Mall and NEX are on track. Hougang’s second phase finishes in September, with more than 98 percent of the revamped space committed. FairPrice Finest opens there on Aug 1. At NEX in Serangoon, FCT is spending $90 million to add 44,000 sq ft of lettable space by the fourth quarter of 2028, and about 87 percent of the first phase is pre-leased.
Occupancy across the malls was 99.6 percent for the April-June quarter, with more shopper traffic than a year earlier. Food and beverage tenants brought in 39.4 percent of gross rental income as of June 30. FCT signed 69 tenants new to its portfolio in the nine months to June.
Sources
- $613 mil retail mall in Bayshore Drive GLS site marks Frasers Centrepoint Trust's maiden development project
- FCT heartland mall revamps include FairPrice Finest at Hougang Mall, kids concepts at NEX
