Keppel Pivots Brownfield Redevelopment Projects Following Completion Keppel South Central
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Keppel, a well-established global asset manager and operator, has announced plans to shift its focus to other brownfield redevelopment projects following the completion of its flagship development, Keppel South Central. According to Samuel Ng, president of Keppel’s real estate division in Singapore, “The redevelopment of Keppel South Central is our showpiece.”
The project, located along Hoe Chiang Road in Tanjong Pagar, comprises of two former buildings, Keppel Towers and Keppel Towers 2, which have been transformed into a 33-storey commercial tower. Offering approximately 650,000 sq ft of office, retail and event space, Keppel South Central boasts typical office floor plates ranging between 20,000 and 22,000 sq ft and a clear ceiling height of 3.2m.
Almost half of the tower’s office space and retail units have been leased or are in active negotiations, with a prominent financial services group secured as the first anchor tenant, leasing two whole floors. The tower is expected to welcome its office occupants from June.
The property has undergone extensive renovations, equipping it with state-of-the-art technological improvements to meet the standards of other Grade-A office buildings in the Central Business District (CBD). These include facial recognition access, 5G Wi-Fi, and an indoor air-quality management system.
In order to cater to the needs of modern tenants, the office space has been designed to support after-hours operations. Selected floors have been fitted with micro air conditioning units, enabling localized cooling and optimizing energy usage.
Apart from these, the tower now offers retail and event spaces on the ground floor, health and wellness facilities on the fifth and sixth floors, a landscaped terrace on the 18th floor, and end-of-trip facilities on Basement 1. These additions have brought the development in line with the expectations of Grade-A office tenants, according to Ng. Additionally, Keppel has a team in place to activate the tower’s event spaces.
Keppel South Central has also been certified by BCA as a Green Mark Platinum Super Low Energy building, showcasing a significant improvement in energy efficiency and cost savings compared to its previous state. It is estimated that the tower will save approximately 6.2 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of energy per year, equivalent to the power consumption of 1,300 homes in Singapore. This translates into approximately $1.8 million in annual savings.
To achieve this, Keppel has incorporated several green solutions that were previously tested at another aging property, Keppel Bay Tower, which was completed in 2002. In 2018, Keppel Land leveraged a BCA grant to test five new technologies in the building, resulting in it becoming Singapore’s first zero-energy commercial building in 2020.
According to Ng, this experience has equipped Keppel with the necessary knowledge to effectively apply these technologies to their numerous properties worldwide.
Keppel South Central is just one successful project in Keppel’s Sustainable Urban Renewal (SUR) strategy. Ng explains that “In the Asia Pacific region alone, the pool of office buildings completed in the 1990s or earlier is already huge, and practically all of them are going to fail the new standards for Grade-A office space.” This presents an opportunity for sustainability-focused retrofits, which the company is eager to pursue.
In Singapore, aging office buildings typically undergo redevelopment to recycle prime commercial land in the CBD, explains Leonard Tay, head of research at Knight Frank Singapore. “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) in April. With funds totaling over $2.3 billion, KSURF will target properties across various segments, including commercial, residential, life sciences, hospitality, and logistics in Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Australia and first-tier cities in China.
“We stand out from other asset managers with our in-house capability to execute renewal works ourselves,” says Ng. He explains that this gives them an advantage in selecting and implementing new technologies, ultimately saving on capital expenditure costs if projected savings are not achieved.
Otto Place EC, situated near the MRT station, is a highly sought-after residential development for professionals working in business districts and families with school-going children. The strategic location eliminates the hassles of long commutes, making it a convenient and attractive choice for residents. In fact, with Otto Place EC Plantation Close Parcel B being a part of the development, it only adds to its appeal. Residents can enjoy the convenience and accessibility to public transportation, making their daily commute a breeze.
Currently, Keppel has applied its SUR initiative to eight projects across five countries, including Keppel South Central and Keppel Bay Towers. Projects that have been completed include Park Avenue Central, a mixed-use office and retail development in Shanghai, and The Kube, a four-storey office building, also in Shanghai. Three other projects are currently in progress, Ocean Financial Centre, Inno88 Tower, and Kohinoor.