This comes after Perennial acquired the Big Box property for $118 million. In a release, Perennial revealed that it has obtained confirmation from JTC to change the site’s zoning from Business 1 (White) to business park.

Perennial Real Estate Holdings is set to redevelop the Big Box property located within the Jurong Lake District into a business park, to be known as Perennial Business City.

This comes after Perennial, via its fully-owned subsidiary PRE 15, had exercised the call option under the put and call option agreement signed with the receivers and managers of Big Box Pte Ltd to acquire the Big Box property for $118 million.

In a release, Perennial revealed that it has obtained confirmation from JTC to change the site’s zoning from Business 1 (White) to business park. It added that more than $70 million “will be invested to redevelop the Former Big Box for business park usage”.

It noted that the redevelopment will increase the property’s gross floor area to around 1.5 million sq ft, based on a maximum allowable gross plot ratio (GPR) of 2.5, from its current GFA of around 1.4 million sq ft, based on a GPR of 2.3. 

“Correspondingly, its net lettable area will increase from approximately 1 million sq ft to 1.1 million sq ft,” it said. 

The redeveloped property will feature a large rooftop garden with amphitheatre, large floor plates and ample car parking spaces “when redevelopment works progressively complete from Q4 2021”. Notably, Big Box’s spaces are mainly designed for warehouse retail and warehousing usage.

Strategically situated in Jurong East within the Jurong Lake District, which URA envisions to be the biggest regional centre outside the city centre, Perennial Business City is close to International Business Park as well as one-north research and business park.

It is also near retail and commercial developments such as Westgate, JEM, IMM and JCube as well as hospitality facilities like Genting Hotel Jurong.

The property is directly connected via an elevated pedestrian walkway to Jurong Community Hospital and the Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, complementing potential biomedical sciences and healthcare tenants. 

“Together with the nearby Jurong Port and the two world-class research universities, being the National University of Singapore and the Nanyang Technological University, as well the upcoming Tuas Port and Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail in the Jurong Lake District, Perennial Business City is well-positioned as an attractive option for regional businesses,” said Perennial, which will hold a majority 51% stake in Perennial Business City.

The remaining stakes will be owned by other investors, including HPRY Holdings Limited, the investment vehicle of Perennial Chairman Kuok Khoon Hong. 

“The acquisition of the Former Big Box marks a major milestone for our company with the expansion of our real estate portfolio to include business parks,” said Perennial CEO Pua Seck Guan. 

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to redevelop the asset to capitalise on the burgeoning demand for business parks, and for the new Perennial Business City to add to the vibrancy of the Jurong Lake District as it transforms to become the largest Central Business District in the West of Singapore,” 

CBRE Singapore has been appointed to market and lease Perennial Business City to potential tenants from high-value industries, including biomedical sciences, infocomm technology, financial institutions and fastmoving consumer goods.

Source: CommercialGuru, 7 Dec 2020