Marina Square’s Biggest Transformation In 40 Years Includes A 49-Storey Luxury Condo And A Major Mall Overhaul

I’m willing to bet that most of our readers don’t realise that four iconic buildings in the Marina Bay area are part of a sprawling integrated complex. I’m talking about the Marina Square shopping mall and its three connected hotels – the Pan Pacific Singapore; PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay, Singapore; and the Mandarin Oriental, Singapore.

The entire complex – which is named Marina Centre – is owned by Singapore property group Singapore Land (SingLand) and its parent company mainboard-listed UOL Group, through their subsidies.

But on Sept 1, SingLand unveiled the most extensive development plans that the complex has seen in over four decades. As a result, Marina Square will close its doors for about four years from March 31, 2027 and new luxury residences, serviced apartments, and Grade A offices will be developed.

Since its completion in 1986, the buildings that make up Marina Centre helped to anchor the development of that part of Marina Bay. Alongside other landmark developments like the five-tower Suntec City and Convention Centre as well as the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, it brought offices, hotels, retail and lifestyle offerings to the area.

The three hotels, all owned by Pan Pacific Hotels Group and a member of UOL Group, remain iconic buildings in Singapore for their John Portman architecture. Since the Covid-19 pandemic, Pan Pacific has spent considerable capital to elevate the offerings at Pan Pacific Singapore and the Mandarin Oriental. Meanwhile, the former Marina Mandarin Singapore was rebranded as PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay, Singapore in 2020.

For years, UOL Group and SingLand have been quizzed about their future development (or redevelopment plans) for Marina Centre, especially since the site had the capacity to increase its overall gross floor area (GFA).

Now, together with UK-based PLP Architecture and local firm DP Architects, it plans to capitalise on a recently approved GFA uplift, which was filed under the government’s Strategic Development incentive (SDI) scheme.

All eyes will likely be on a new 49-storey residential tower (visualised in the picture above) that will house 204 large-format luxury homes, ranging from three- to five-bedroom units as well as penthouses.

“As Marina Bay enters its next phase, we have an opportunity to reimagine Marina Square as a more connected and compelling destination,” says Jonathan Eu, CEO of SingLand.

He adds that adding residences, serviced apartments and workplaces alongside the existing hotels – while repositioning the mall around experience-led retail, sports, wellness and community – it opens the door for the developers to create a more integrated live-work-play ecosystem there.

“This hyper-mixed approach is about more than placing different uses together. It is about designing them to reinforce one another, with the mall and public realm serving as shared platforms for activity throughout the day,” says Eu.

The development plans will see a new continuous sheltered walkway and an elevated botanical loop that will strengthen pedestrian links to One Raffles Link, Millenia Walk, Suntec City and the upcoming NS Square.

One of the key developments is a mixed-use block that will house a 304-key hotel and a 260-key serviced apartment. This would bolster the hotel offerings already provided by the three existing hotel properties – which are unaffected by the latest changes – as well as enable the group to serve longer-stay guests.

The new hotel will occupy the fourth to tenth floors of the 19-storey mixed-use block, with shared spaces for networking, events and social interaction. Its location places guests close to the vibrant Marina Bay area. Meanwhile, the 24-storey serviced apartment block will offer panoramic views towards Marina Bay and Bay East Garden.

SingLand says that operators for both hospitality components have yet to be appointed.

But this is not the only new building set to break ground there. The 12th to 19th floors of a new 19-storey mixed-use block will inject about 139,880 sq ft of Grade A office space to that part of Marina Bay. Grade A office supply in that part of town is relatively scarce, with most corporate tenants moving into the strata offices at Suntec City or the spaces at Centennial Tower.

Meanwhile, Marina Square will shut its doors after March 31 next year, as the 817,760 sq ft building undergoes a comprehensive renovation. SingLand says that it will return with a broader mix of food and beverage, sports, wellness and lifestyle concepts, alongside landscaped and pet-friendly environments.

There are also plans to build a new first-storey through-block link between Raffles Avenue and Raffles Boulevard, as well as a sheltered connection to the upcoming NS Square.

SingLand says that these changes reflect changing consumer expectations for places that combine commerce with recreation, wellbeing and community. The developer says that by bringing complementary uses into closer physical and operational connection, the mall can support activity across different times of day and serve office workers, residents, hotel guests and visitors throughout Marina Bay.

So, what do all these development plans mean for this part of Marina Bay?

The unveiling of this massive development plan and transformation initiative, SingLand and UOL Group contribute another piece in the tapestry unfolding across Marina Bay, and the wider Central Region.

They are not the only ones breaking ground on new development projects. Work is already underway in the construction of the fourth tower of Marina Bay Sands. It will include two main components: a 570-suite luxury hotel and a podium for business and entertainment activities.

Work on the fourth tower is expected to be completed by 2031, the same year that SingLAnd and UOL expect to complete their development plans for Marina Centre.

Elsewhere in Marina South – the new waterfront precinct next to Gardens By The Bay – we expect the government will progressively release more development land through the government land sale (GLS) programme in the coming years.

The first condominium in that new CBD-adjacent neighbourhood has been launched – the 937-unit One Marina Gardens by Chinese developer Kingsford Group. And a second GLS site was launched on Aug 13, with another neighbouring site on the Reserve List.

All of this comes as bits of the Greater Southern Waterfront master plan come into fruition. Some components of this 30-km urban transformation plan have been set in stone, including a new private-public residential neighbourhood in Berlayer (the former Keppel golf course) and a doubling of the size of Sentosa Island.

So there are a lot of development plans afoot in the areas around and within Marina Bay. Overall, I think it’s timely that SingLand and UOL Group are finally committing to transform and develop Marina Centre with new luxury residences, serviced apartments, and offices, among other uses.