IDA, SLA To Vacate Downtown Offices

Source : The Straits Times, Feb 18, 2008

MORE help is on the way to ease the Singapore office shortage that has sent rents soaring.

At least two government agencies will give up downtown offices to make room for private sector businesses needing more space.

The Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) will relinquish about a third of its 11,300 sq m of office space in Suntec City by moving some divisions to the Mica building in Hill Street. This will take place by the end of this year.

Although IDA will still be close to town, it plans to move again in a few years to a 'more appropriate location outside the central business area' that can accommodate all headquarters staff.

The Singapore Land Authority is also planning to give up its seven floors at 8 Shenton Way, formerly Temasek Tower, although it has not yet found a new home.

Other state departments may follow suit, after Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said on Friday that the Government will move several agencies out of the central area by the first quarter of next year.

This will free up 20,000 sq m of precious prime office space for the private sector - equivalent to about 20 floors of a Suntec City office tower, Mr Tharman said in his Budget speech.

He said although office space here is still cheaper on average than in Hong Kong or Tokyo, the rate at which rents have risen has been 'rapid and unsettling for businesses'.

Read the full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.