Downtown dining: Discover how much restaurateurs are paying for prime space in the CBD

Rooftop restaurants are cheaper than expected.

Food and beverage businesses are booming in the CBD, thanks to the surge in office working population, the increasing number of live-in residents, and larger numbers of business travellers and business tourists.. But the before you tuck into your next meal in the country’s business core, it’s time to consider just how much F&B operators are paying for such prime space.

A report released today by Colliers revealed a disparity of rents in the CBD. The report noted that the existing supply of non-shop space – comprising F&B, entertainment, as well as health and lifestyle outlets – grew by 10% from 1Q 2011 to 2Q 2014, an expansion of 3 million sq ft to 3.3 million sq ft, based on newly-available data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).

Though rooftop restaurants are offer commanding views and are a staple of fine dining, Collier’s reveals that the lack of physical visibility among busy pedestrian traffic flow at street level makes for space that is comparatively less expensive to occupy.

“Rooftop F&B space, or F&B spaces in high floors with the CBD’s skyscrapers, command rents that typically range from $9 to $14 per sq ft per month,” noted the report.

The costliest spaces to occupy are ground floor F&B spaces in office buildings. “Top dollar is often associated with the rental of ground floor F&B space in office buildings, especially if the attached office building is modern and has the capacity to house a working population of substantial size. Ground floor F&B space in office buildings would have rents generally ranging from $14 to $25 per sq ft per month,” Colliers revealed.

Meanwhile, the cheapest rates can be found for eateries within shophouses . According to the report, “Rental rates for eateries that reside in shophouses, where the ambience is a blend of nostalgia and contemporary, range from $8 to $12 per sq ft per month for those in Boat Quay; while in the Tanjong Pagar area, F&B outlets incur rents of between $9 and $12 per sq ft per month.”