The Pasir Panjang Power District is set to be transformed into a waterfront lifestyle district, with public spaces for all to enjoy and where the power station buildings will be repurposed to house new uses.
By 2027, the container terminals at Keppel, Tanjong Pagar and Brani will move out, and various development works will begin. But prior to that, the first project in the Greater Southern Waterfront will be the area around Labrador Park.
One key parcel is the Pasir Panjang Power District. It is 15ha of prime waterfront land which consists of two disused power station buildings – Power Station ‘A’ and Power Station ‘B’.
By the mid-2020s, Singapore's Pasir Panjang Power District could host concepts such as a drone race course, a hobby factory run by seniors, a hotel, residences, giant slides or even a floating pool perched along the coast.
It will be one of the first few sites to be developed along the Greater Southern Waterfront, a stretch from Marina East to Pasir Panjang that will be transformed for residential and leisure use as the port shifts to Tuas.
OUE Limited and OUE Commercial REIT Management Pte. Ltd., in its capacity as manager of OUE Commercial Real Estate Investment Trust have collaborated to re-brand the landmark Mandarin Orchard Singapore to Hilton Singapore Orchard, following a comprehensive and strategic review.
Mandarin Orchard Singapore will relaunch as Hilton Singapore Orchard - Hilton’s flagship in Singapore and the largest Hilton hotel in Asia-Pacific - with product and service offerings aligned with Hilton’s brand standards. Hilton will have the exclusive authority to operate the property upon the opening of Hilton Singapore Orchard.
Asset enhancement works to add new meeting facilities as well as refreshed food & beverage offerings to cater to the growing demand for regional and global meetings, incentives, conference and exhibition (“MICE”) events have also been planned. The planned refurbishment will be conducted in phases and will commence in 2Q 2020 to capitalise on the current challenges facing the hospitality industry due to COVID-19. The refurbishment is scheduled to be completed by end-2021. During the refurbishment period, Mandarin Orchard Singapore will continue to operate under the management of Meritus Hotels & Resorts, the hotel management company under the Hospitality Division of OUE.
Upon its relaunch in 2022, the hotel will feature 1,080 well-appointed rooms and five restaurants and bars including an all-day dining restaurant. The hotel will also boast meeting and function spaces spanning a total of 3,765 sqm, including three ballrooms.
More than 300 historical images and artefacts are featured in the revamped gallery. The gallery has 45 new artefacts which were contributed by both the National Collection and the community.
Admission to Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall is free for Singaporeans and permanent residents.
Changi Airport Group (CAG) has made official announcement that expansion and renovation works at Terminal 2 (T2) will commence after the Chinese New Year holidays, beginning with check-in rows 9 to 12 in the Departure Hall. This marks the beginning of a multi-year expansion project which will increase T2’s handling capacity, as well as to replace facilities and amenities which are nearing the end of their shelf lives.
The expansion project will add 15,500 square metres to the terminal building and increase Changi Airport’s capacity by five million passengers per annum (mppa). This brings Changi’s total capacity to 90 mppa when the works are completed around 2024.
Last refurbished in 2006, the refreshed T2 will sport even more greenery and natural elements at every turn, in keeping with Changi’s signature garden theme in its terminals. There will also be space added in the Departure and Arrival Halls, giving more room to airport operations such as check-in and immigration clearance. Additional retail and F&B outlets will be introduced in both the public and transit areas, providing passengers and visitors with wider and refreshed options. At the same time, passenger touchpoints will be enhanced for a smoother and more seamless experience.
The refurbished T2 Departure Hall will feature a spacious common-use central Fast And Seamless Travel (FAST) zone, with more automated check-in kiosks and bag drop machines. With this, more passengers will be able to use these self-service options to check-in early. Concurrently, the existing rows of check-in counters in the Departure Hall will be transformed to better serve passengers. All in all, the passenger handling capacity in the hall will be increased by as much as 20%.
To facilitate the expansion works, some airlines operating in T2 will be shifted to alternative check-in rows within the terminal during the course of works. The two flight information display flip boards will be retired, with the one between Check-in Rows 9 and 10 to be decommissioned next month.
A duplex F&B concept will be introduced at the north end of T2’s landside leading to Jewel Changi Airport, to provide visitors with a fresh dining experience, while transforming this gateway to Jewel.
In the Departure Transit Hall, the Orchid Garden, which has provided calm reprieve to many passengers with its elegant orchids since 1997, will be closed to make way for a new garden. This new garden will showcase a revolutionary landscape design, incorporating a plethora of new plant species for the enjoyment of passengers when it re-opens.
To cater for more retail and F&B offerings for passengers, the commercial spaces within the Departure Transit Hall will be increased. In particular, the food street areas along the length of the Departure Transit Hall and overlooking the tarmac will undergo refurbishment. Designed to provide passengers with a garden dining experience, this area will incorporate dramatic green walls, hanging plants and soft lighting. More F&B kiosks options will be brought in, along with additional seating and a newly curated tenant mix for an enhanced dining experience.
In addition, all passengers, whether transferring, transiting or departing, can also look forward to refreshed waiting areas with more comfortable seating, relaxation zones and a new play area for children. New experiential zones will be introduced at various locations within the Departure Transit Hall to keep passengers entertained during their time at Changi.
To cater to higher passenger traffic passing through T2, the Departure and Arrival Immigration Halls will be expanded. Specifically, the Immigration Halls will be reconfigured to support additional automated immigration lanes. The Immigration Halls will similarly incorporate lush greenery, extending a warm welcome to our passengers.
To handle a higher volume of bags at T2, two existing baggage belts will be lengthened and another two new belts will be added, bringing the total number of baggage belts to 10. The Early Baggage Storage system will also be upgraded from semi-automated to fully-automated, allowing some 2,300 bags to be stored at any time.
In the Arrival Hall, a garden-like lounge will be created, where meeters and greeters can wait comfortably for their friends and families to arrive.
For the dining outlets in the public area of the airport, McDonald’s in the Arrival Hall will close on 31 January 2020, while Starbucks in the Departure Hall will cease operations in April 2020. The remaining F&B outlets in T2’s public areas will remain open for passengers and visitors until the later phases of the expansion works. With the refurbishment, a new cluster of F&B kiosks will offer additional quick bites options at the south end of the Arrival Hall.
Punggol Digital District will be Singapore’s mini Silicon Valley with new amenities, business park, university, MRT station and even a new car-free Heritage Trail.
The 50 hectares land in Punggol North will be transformed into the heart of digital and cyber-security industries. The district is expected to create 28,000 jobs in different sectors in the digital economy when it’s open progressively from 2023.
Besides being a car-lite district, smart innovations are used at Punggol Digital District to reduce carbon emission and make buildings 30% more energy-efficient.
Food waste and wastewater are recycled along with rainwater and put to good use. Perhaps most impressively, a smart energy grid manages power consumption of the whole estate in real time, so everyone can optimise usage while minimising wastage. Read more about Punggol Digital District here.
The 43km Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL) is Singapore’s sixth MRT line, adding 32 new stations to the existing rail network, with seven interchange stations linking the TEL to all five existing MRT lines. TEL will open in stages from end of January 2020, starting with the opening of 3 stations which are Woodlands North Station, Woodlands Station and Woodlands South Station. When fully operational by 2024, the TEL is expected to serve approximately 500,000 commuters daily in the initial years, with the figure rising to about one million commuters in the longer term.
Besides enhancing connectivity between the north, central and eastern parts of Singapore, the TEL will strengthen the resilience of the nation's rail network by providing alternative travel routes for commuters on other lines.
The TEL1 comprises one depot at Mandai and three stations, including an interchange station at Woodlands that links to the North-South Line (NSL), providing commuters in Woodlands greater accessibility and shortening their travelling time. Woodlands Station is also equipped with a Civil Defence shelter.
Passengers can look forward to new five-door, four-car trains for TEL. Trains will be running along TEL1 stations from Woodlands North to Woodlands South at frequencies of 10 minutes during peak hours and 15 minutes during off-peak hours, at the commencement of passenger service for TEL1. As ridership on TEL1 increases, the frequencies for both peak and off-peak hours will be reviewed and adjusted.
The second stage of the TEL comprises six stations from Springleaf to Caldecott, with two interchange stations at Bright Hill and Caldecott. Bright Hill station will link to the future Cross Island Line, while Caldecott station will link to the existing Circle Line.
Following their succesful debut outlet at Jewel Changi Airport, Shake Shack is now preparing for their 2nd branch on Neil Road, targeting to open some time 1st quarter of year 2020.
Shake Shack is a modern day “roadside” burger stand known for its 100% all-natural Angus beef burgers, flat-top beef dogs (no hormones or antibiotics – ever), frozen custard, crinkle cut fries, craft beer and more.
With fresh, high-quality food at a great value, Shake Shack is a fun and lively community gathering place with widespread appeal.
Dyson has chosen the iconic St James Power Station to be the address for its new global headquarters in Singapore. The new HQ will include research laboratories and enable the company to double its pool of engineers and scientists in Singapore over the next five years.
Dyson has announced earlier this year that it will be moving its HQ out of the United Kingdom to Asia.
Located near VivoCity, St James Power Station is most remembered as a nightlife hot spot until it ceased operations in September last year. Mapletree will work in partnership with Dyson for restoration of St James Power Station and upgrading of facilities.
By 2027, the National Environment Agency (NEA) will complete the building of 20 new hawker centres, located in different parts of Singapore to serve the needs of residents. To date, seven of these new hawker centres have been completed and have started operations. Experience from the last four years shows that new hawker centres largely take time to establish themselves. As more hawker centres are built in the coming years, a new Staggered Rent Scheme will be introduced to support stallholders’ businesses in the initial years of the new hawker centres’ operations.
After a hiatus of almost 30 years, the new hawker centre building programme started from 2011 to ensure that residents have continued access to affordable food in a hygienic environment. To date, seven new hawker centres have been built and are managed by socially-conscious enterprises, of which two have gone on to their second term of operation. In their regular review of hawker centres, a key learning point is that new hawker centres take time to establish themselves. Time is generally needed to raise potential patrons’ awareness of these new centres and for the stallholders at the centres to build up a regular clientle and stabilise their businesses.
13 more new hawker centres will be completed by 2027. With the Staggered Rent Scheme, stallholders of these new hawker centres will benefit from lower rentals in the first two years of the centres’ operations, at 80% and 90% of stall rentals respectively. The upcoming hawker centre at Bukit Canberra, targeted to be operational in the second half of 2020, will be the first new hawker centre to benefit from the implementation of the Staggered Rent Scheme.
UFIT Health and Fitness has announced the takeover of a new site at 21 Club Street, in central Singapore, where they will launch the first-ever UFIT Hub. This move aims to unite UFIT’s core offerings of Personal Training, Group Exercise, Physiotherapy and Nutrition under one roof, and is 1 of the 3 planned Hubs for the business.
The first UFIT Health and Fitness Hub will open at 21 Club Street in December 2019 and will become the CBD Flagship. A one-stop destination for Health and Fitness, the Hub will offer a high-quality, holistic service for a personalised fitness experience.
Dean Ahmad, UFIT co-Founder and COO added, “This Hub will showcase the very best of everything UFIT has to offer. The integration of all our services under one roof allows our clients access to world class professionals, working in collaboration to help them achieve incredible results – no matter what their starting point is on their health and fitness journey."
2 further Hubs will be created at UFIT's existing sites at Orchard, linking up UFIT Orchard and UFIT Clinic Orchard, and in the west with UFIT one-north and UFIT Clinic one-north.
The CBD site sits within the traditional shophouses in Singapore, and its bold location is a statement to the Singapore fitness industry of UFIT’s ambitious plans for this next phase. Alongside the existing Personal and Group Training, Physiotherapy and Nutrition that UFIT offers, the UFIT Hubs will also provide clients with access to Sports Medicine through an on-site sports doctor, an indoor open-floor studio, access to their very best trainers wherever you are in the world via its new Online Coaching platform, as well as carefully-curated retail and food and beverage services to enhance the overall omnichannel customer experience. This will all be underpinned by fully-integrated tech solutions essentially granting consumers with access to trusted professionals, from need-realisation and diagnosis through to holistic treatment.
Earlier this year, UFIT launched its new brand proposition “Igniting Greatness”. “This was the first part of our 5-year plan,” says UFIT CEO Will Skinner, “We simply want to get the very best out of everyone we work with, whether it be a member of the team or a member of our community, it’s all about creating the very best environment for people to achieve the goals they have always had their sights on.”
The next phase is bringing this to life in our Hubs and creating a place where we can focus on our 3 pillars of Goals, Community and People in one incredible and inspiring destination.”
Skinner continues, “The next 12 months are critical for us. UFIT has had an exciting journey getting to this point in 2019, by harnessing a strong and loyal community. For this next stage our Goal is to build on this amazing Community and deliver an authentic brand that truly matches the quality of our People."
Skyports and Volocopter have announced a cooperation to build the first mobile Volo-Port for air taxis. UK-based global vertiport owner and operator Skyports and air taxi pioneer Volocopter unveiled plans for the Volo-Port – the physical landing pads for so-called eVTOL (electric take-off and landing) – through stunning designs produced by internationally renowned agency Brandlab.
Ground-based vertiport infrastructure is critical to the success of future urban air mobility (UAM), including air taxi operations in congested cities. Construction of the first Volo-Port will be completed later this year. The partners plan to build it in Singapore for the scheduled public flight trials in the second half of 2019. A full-scale Volocopter vehicle is on display at the Greentech festival.
The Volo-Port prototype will:
Enable real-life testing of the full customer journey to perfect the passenger experience;
Showcase planned customer services, including pre-flight checks, passenger lounges and boarding procedures;
Allow practical testing of ground operations and services, including battery swaps and charging, maintenance, safety and security;
Provide the opportunity for authorities and industry regulators to interact with the infrastructure and provide feedback before they are asked to approve the final design.
Vertiports are the only physical infrastructure required for air taxis to commence operations in cities in the near future. Volo-Ports are designed to provide passengers with a seamless air taxi experience that is safe, secure, and relaxing. They will merge with their surroundings, allowing passengers and passers-by to see through the whole structure.
In year 2022, residents of Bidadari estate will be able to enjoy a new regional park. This announcement was made by the Housing and Development Board (HDB). Bidadari Park is a multi-agency collaboration between HDB, national water agency PUB and the National Heritage Board (NHB).
The 10-hectare Bidadari Park will feature a lake, a 700 metre heritage walk, a 6-km experiential trails and a play area for children.
Apart from retaining of more than 350 mature trees in the area, the park will also be welcoming more than 2,000 new trees.
“At strategic locations, observation decks, viewing sheds, and pavilions will serve as tranquil rest spots for visitors, offering different views of nature in a rustic and naturalised setting,” said HDB.
Located next to East Coast Park with existing public and private housings in the surrounding, the 60-ha Bayshore Precinct will be a new lifestyle waterfront urban village for about 12,500 dwelling units of public and private housing when ready. A 1 km-long main street will anchor the precinct, which will have wider pavements to make a more pleasant walking and cycling experience for you.
Imagine a vibrant neighbourhood where the main street is lined with shops, cafes, grocery stores, childcare and elderly facilities within a short walk or bicycle ride from home. Residents can enjoy tree-lined walkways, or cycle along dedicated cycling paths to the nearby Bayshore MRT station and Bedok South MRT station.
Bayshore Precinct is also being planned as a future-ready community, which is sustainable, people-centric and car-lite with flexibility to accommodate change over time. In the future, the use of Autonomous Vehicles may present opportunities to free up space for parks, community facilities and other uses. The master plan will anticipate changes in technology in phases, providing resiliency to adapt to the changing needs.
Enjoy a whole new experience at Jewel Changi Airport! Set to open in early 2019, the mixed-use development located in front of Changi Airport’s Terminal 1, features a hotel, exciting attractions, aviation facilities as well as retail and dining offerings - all across a 10-storey complex.
Offering a sneak peek into the lifestyle and recreation attractions at Jewel, Changi Airport on Wednesday (June 7) shared plans to create lush indoor gardens, mazes, slides and walking trails to complement a 130-room hotel and 300 retail and dining outlets.
The newly-unveiled elements of Canopy Park on level five of Jewel, spanning about 14,000 sqm feature three iconic play attractions – Sky Nets, Canopy Mazes, and Discovery Slides.
Don Quijote is a Japanese discount chain with over 300 stores in Japan and Hawaii. Its revenue and operating profit have increased for 27 consecutive years.
The Don Quijote Group announced on June 5 that its holding company for overseas operations, Pan Pacific International Holdings Pte. Ltd. based in Singapore, will develop its first Southeast Asian Don Quijote store in Orchard area of Singapore. The opening date and other details will be announced in further notice.
Outside Japan, the Group has been operating three Don Quijote USA stores in Hawaii since 2006. In July 2013, Pan Pacific International Holdings Pte. Ltd. was established in Singapore as the headquarters of the Don Quijote Group’s overseas operations. In September of the same year, Marukai Corporation, which operates nine stores in California and two stores in Hawaii, came under the umbrella of the Group.
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