Singapore beats Shenzhen as second best office location for tech tenants

Tanjong Pagar and Raffles Place New Downtown are popular areas.

Singapore beat Chinese tech powerhouses to rank as the second best location in Asia for technology, media and telecoms (TMT) tenants seeking office space, according to a report from property consulting firm Colliers. 

With an index score of 62.6%, Singapore performed strongly on the three of the four metrics used by the study, including the existence of a tech cluster, availability of office stock and accessibility, which more than outweighed its poor performance in the property metric due to the high office rents in the city. In the overall rankings, the Lion City ranks behind Bangalore (68%) which holds the top place. Singapore ranks ahead of Shenzhen (60.9%), Beijing (60.3%), Shanghai (60.1%) and Seoul (59.5%).

Shenton Way/Tanjong Pagar emerged as the top location for TMT tenants, with TMT occupancy standing at 21%. The area stands to benefit greatly from the CBD Incentive Scheme, with two new Grade A buildings rejuvenated since 2017 and a few more in the pipeline for 2020-2021. Monthly rent stands at US$75.8 per sqm.

City Hall is also another location for TMT tenants, with 17% TMT occupancy given its excellent accessibility to MRT and bus routes. Monthly rent is estimated at US$76.8 psm.

Although Raffles Place New Downtown holds the distinction as the city’s premier financial district, it still cannot be called a tech cluster at the present as technology occupancy only stands at 12% of the total. Rents go for US$90.6 psm/month.