http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/arch...arity-20130815

Published August 15, 2013

Mixed projects growing in popularity

They are a rational answer to higher-density living as urban populations surge, reports MINDY TAN


WITH the rise of burgeoning cities in Asia has come a boom in urban populations and an accompanying strain on transport networks.

It is perhaps inevitable that mixed-use developments have become increasingly popular in Asia, including in Singapore.

Mixed developments are a rational answer to higher-density living, says Cheng Hsing Yao, the chief operating officer in GuocoLand (Singapore).

Seating residential, office and retail components in a single development reduces the need to travel, as people will live nearer where they work, shop or find recreation. And with other amenities also nearby, people will rely more on public transport networks that are the hallmark of well-planned cities, he said.

Data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) indicate that five mixed-use sites were sold in 2010, seven in 2011 and three last year. Among recent mixed-use development projects are Watertown, sited above the Waterway Point mall; Bedok Residences, integrated with Bedok Mall; and Dorsett Residences, which has a retail component and the Dorsett Regency Hotel.

A URA spokesman said: "As part of our planning for a vibrant and distinctive global city, we consciously plan for the sale and implementation of mixed-use developments as they promote a live-work-play environment."

The spokesman added that the URA has encouraged more mixed-use developments through the introduction of "white sites", on which a range of uses is allowed on certain land parcels sold by the State. Developers of such sites have the flexibility to decide on the mix of uses and how much floor space to allot to each use, as long as they adhere to the total permissible Gross Floor Area (GFA) for the whole development.

There is now an ongoing government land tender for a commercial and residential site in Yishun Central; the Meyappa Chettiar area has a site for commercial-residential development, and a white site in Marina View is on the Government Land Sales Programme in H2 this year.

The URA spokesman noted that mixed-use developments are generally sited within the city centre, in regional centres and other major commercial nodes to bring jobs and amenities closer to where people live.

A prime example is Marina Bay Financial Centre, which comprises three towers of Grade A office space, two residential towers and retail space.

Beyond the urban planning benefits, mixed-use developments offer a range of opportunities to developers. GuocoLand's Mr Cheng, referring to his company's Tanjong Pagar Centre project, spoke of its design flexibility: "At Tanjong Pagar Centre, we stack the residential component on top of the office. The outcome is that the lowest residential floor is 180 metres above ground, equivalent to a 50 storey-residential block. Also, because the office footprint is larger, there is space for us to build a garden space for residents."

Tanjong Pagar Centre, which will comprise Grade A offices, residential apartments, a luxury business hotel, retail space and a sheltered event space in Tanjong Pagar City Park, is located above the Tanjong Pagar MRT station.

The flipside of this flexibility in design, however, is that the requirements of the different users of the development - residents, shoppers, hotel guests and office workers - have to be balanced.

Mr Cheng said that as such developments tend to be of higher density, a lot more needs to be squeezed onto the site. Take for example, lifts. Architects will have to factor in lifts for residents that are not accessible by the office workers, hotel guests or shoppers in the same development. "The upfront planning and thinking of how the different users interact is key," he said.

Mr Cheng said that in some early mixed developments, the same lifts serviced the shopping mall, the offices and the apartments. Privacy and security issues arose.

"We have to be mindful of these things - the privacy of residents, how to service offices, how to provide (delivery) dropoff points and ensure it does not get overly congested."

Chia Boon Kuah, the chief operating officer of property sales at Far East Organization, said that ensuring that the living environment and value proposition of such mixed developments remain relevant and attractive over time is also a key consideration for developers.

Far East, as the developer behind mixed developments such as The Tennery/Junction 10, The Greenwich/GreenwichV, The Hillier/ HillV2 and Watertown/Waterway Point, manages the malls in these projects. This creates a higher level of operational consistency and oversight, ranging from traffic management to a coherent retail mix and promotional activities.

Mr Chia said: "This ensures a collective offering that would serve the needs of its residents and households in the neighbourhood.

"In this sense, the success of mixed-use developments depends largely on how well each component can be managed and sustained in the long run." He added: "Property is still seen as an important asset for home-owners and investors. They will continue to look at it as a secure long-term investment and lifestyle progression."

Indeed, mixed developments have attracted a wide range of investors, in part for their appeal, but also because such developments tend to be integrated with, or located near transport nodes.

Lim Ming Yan, the president and group chief executive officer at CapitaLand Limited, said: "Large-scale mixed developments are highly complex and require significant upfront investment. Hence, it is very important for us to have a strong location with a good population catchment that can support the various components - retail, office, serviced residences and residential. The transportation network must also be able to support the level of economic and social activities."

It helps that such developments offer the "work, live and play" opportunity all within one location.

"With an ever-increasingly busy lifestyle, there is a preference towards the convenience of having everything under one roof," said Mr Lim. "Based on the experience of our Raffles City mixed developments in Singapore and in key cities in China such as Shanghai and Beijing, having a well designed mix of shopping mall, offices, serviced residences and/or hotels under one roof is a very attractive proposition to our customers."

Besides Raffles City Singapore, CapitaLand has four operating Raffles City projects in China; four more are on the way.