First, let’s talk about the amazing transformation of Keppel South Central. The highly anticipated redevelopment of the former Keppel Towers has been completed, and it is now known as Keppel South Central – the flagship commercial tower of Keppel. The 33-storey building, located along Hoe Chiang Road in Tanjong Pagar, offers approximately 650,000 square feet of office, retail and event space. This project marks a significant pivot for Keppel as it looks to focus on other brownfield redevelopment projects following the completion of Keppel South Central.President of Keppel’s real estate division in Singapore, Samuel Ng, said, “The redevelopment of Keppel South Central is our showpiece. But now that it has been completed, we will be shifting our focus to other brownfield projects.” This move is part of Keppel’s Sustainable Urban Renewal (SUR) strategy, which aims to replicate the success of Keppel South Central in other locations across the Asia-Pacific region. According to Ng, the company is already looking at several projects in the region and will be pivoting towards more green and sustainable developments in the future.
Keppel, a homegrown global asset manager and operator, has announced that it will shift its focus to other brownfield redevelopment projects following the completion of its flagship 33-storey commercial tower, Keppel South Central. Samuel Ng, president of Keppel’s real estate division in Singapore, refers to the redevelopment of Keppel South Central as “our showpiece”.
The former Keppel Towers, now known as Keppel South Central, is a 27-storey office tower completed in 1991, and Keppel Towers 2 (formerly known as GE Tower), a 13-storey building completed in 1993. The completion of the tower last month marks a significant pivot for Keppel, as it looks to focus on other brownfield redevelopment projects.
Nearly 50% of the office space and retail units in the commercial tower are either leased or in active negotiations. A leading financial services group has been secured as the first anchor tenant, leasing two whole floors. Office occupants are expected to begin moving in from June. The tower also offers retail and event spaces on the ground floor, with typical office floor plates ranging between 20,000 and 22,000 sq ft.
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The newly renovated property features a suite of technological improvements, including facial recognition access, 5G Wi-Fi, and an indoor air-quality management system. The office space has also been adapted to support the needs of modern tenants, with designated floors fitted with micro ACUs (air conditioning units) for after-hours operations.
In addition to the technological improvements, the tower also introduces retail and event spaces on the ground floor, health and wellness spaces on the fifth and sixth floors, a landscaped terrace on the 18th floor, and end-of-trip facilities on Basement 1. These new facilities bring the development in line with the standards of Grade-A office spaces.
Keppel South Central has been certified by BCA as a Green Mark Platinum Super Low Energy building, with estimated energy savings of about 6.2 million kilowatt hours (kWh) a year. This translates to savings of approximately $1.8 million annually. To achieve this, Keppel incorporated several green solutions that were tested at another ageing property, Keppel Bay Tower, which became Singapore’s first zero-energy commercial building in 2020.
Keppel is looking to replicate the success of Keppel South Central across the region as part of its Sustainable Urban Renewal (SUR) strategy. Ng says, “The challenge, however, is that for every 5 sq ft of demand across Apac, 2 two sq ft of low-carbon space is projected for development from now until 2028. With limited new office supply expected, this presents a significant opportunity for sustainability-focused retrofits.”
In Singapore, ageing office buildings typically undergo redevelopment to recycle prime commercial land in the CBD. Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore, adds, “The completion of projects like Keppel South Central provides fresh office supply at a time when there are no available sites for an office tower development in the core CBD area.”
To fund the redevelopment of brownfield projects across the region, Keppel announced the first close of its flagship Keppel Sustainable Urban Renewal Fund (KSURF), with total funds under management of over $2.3 billion in April. The fund will target properties across the commercial, living, life sciences, hospitality, and logistics segments in Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Australia, and first-tier cities in China.
Ng says, “Keppel’s in-house capability to execute the renewal works ourselves helps us stand out from other asset managers. Whether it’s an industrial, office, or data centre asset, our operational knowledge helps us to streamline the process of selecting which new technologies to implement, thereby saving in capex cost if the projected savings aren’t produced.”
After the fund acquires the asset, Keppel will be able to complete the asset enhancement works, stabilise occupancy, and divest it within the fund’s life of seven years. To date, Keppel has applied its SUR initiative to eight projects across five countries, with three projects still in progress.…