Work starts on
another Jurong Lake District mega-project
THE transformation of Jurong Lake District into the largest
suburban commercial hub outside the city centre is slowly but
surely taking shape, with yet another development project moving
into the construction phase yesterday.
Developers of the mixed-development project, situated next to
both Jurong East MRT station and Jurong East bus interchange,
revealed more details about the 25-storey building at a
groundbreaking ceremony.
To be called Westgate, the 594,000 sq ft lifestyle mall will
span seven floors of retail space, said its joint developers
CapitaMalls Asia (CMA), CapitaMall Trust and CapitaLand.
It will target middle- to upper-middle-income families residing
in neighbouring districts, working professionals, visitors to the
nearby upcoming Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, and students of
nearby schools.
Mr Lim Beng Chee, chief executive of CMA, said that while they
are just starting to market the mall to retailers, the tenant mix
will include international and high-street fashion brands and IT
and electronics stores.
There is also likely to be a supermarket, a food court and
family restaurants. The mall is expected to be open for business by
the end of next year.
The development will have a 20-storey office podium, named
Westgate Tower, which is set to be completed by the end of
2014.
Employees who work at some 315,000 sq ft of office space there
will have ease of access to the shops and other facilities, such as
a childcare centre and a gymnasium.
Mr Lim added that he remains optimistic about rental rates at
Westgate remaining on the level of between $16 and $18 psf per
month - a target which CMA had when they first announced that they
had been awarded the land parcel last June.
This is despite property analysts' forecast that the gloomy
economic outlook would have a dampening impact on retail and office
rental rates, especially in the suburban parts of Singapore.
Yesterday's event also saw the developers unveiling the
architectural design of the complex.
Drawing inspiration from Jurong's original landscape of
mangroves and rivers, design consultants from Benoy said that they
want the complex to be an "urban oasis". They have laid out
numerous areas to be filled with landscaped greenery and water
features.
Semi-outdoor covered pedestrian streets will connect the complex
to the MRT station, bus interchange, hospital and other
neighbouring developments.
"Together with neighbouring malls IMM and JCube, we will have
the equivalent of a three-in-one mega-mall in Jurong," said Mr
Lim.
"This mega-mall will meet the needs of most shoppers in the
western part of Singapore - IMM the value-focused mall, JCube the
entertainment hot spot with an Olympic-sized ice rink, Imax cinema
and this project, the lifestyle mall."
Minister of State for Trade and Industry and National
Development Lee Yi Shyan, who was the guest of honour at the event
yesterday, said that the Government is committed to leading the
transformation of Jurong.
"The Workforce Development Agency's Devan Nair Institute is
under construction (in the vicinity)...a new government complex
housing my ministry, and two of our statutory boards, AVA and BCA,
will also relocate here in the next few years", he said.