Government acts on CBD office space crunch: Mr Mah Bow Tan
The government will move to solve the office space crunch in the Central Business District, said National Development Minister Mr Mah Bow Tan on 30th March.
Acknowledging an “imbalance” between supply and demand, he said the authorities will likely step up the pace of government land sales in the CBD.
For the near term, the business community may tap on state buildings vacated by the government as a source of supply.
“It may not be used for MNC head offices, but it can certainly be used for back-end office for financial institutions,” said Mr Mah.
However, the government will be stepping up the release of more plots to deal with the current tight supply of office space.
Meanwhile, the government has set an ambitious target for further development of Marina Bay and Marine South areas to turn the waterfront into a lively new downtown area.
He said the government will be requesting concepts from interested parties for the construction of an international cruise terminal this year. This will also be done for the proposed hotel site next to the planned 54ha botanical garden in Marina South as well as the waterfront promontory site.
Mr Mah was speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony for a new bridge that will span the mouth of Marina Bay.
The as-yet named bridge, costing $82.9 million, will provide direct road access between Marina Centre and the new Bayfront at Marina South. The bridge is part of $2 billion that will be spent on infrastructure developments there, including the critical common services tunnel. To-date the area has attracted $10 billion worth of investments.
With the pace of construction likely to be maintained or stepped-up, Mr Mah reiterated that sand supplies are not a concern because authorities are finding new sources. He explained that price of sand will not affect the building of the integrated resorts, and he does not expect any delay to the opening dates.
|
