Publicis Groupe, an international advertising and PR company, recently inked a lease for 55,000 sq ft of Grade A office space at Guoco Midtown in the Beach Road area. According to Colliers International, who negotiated the deal, rents for Grade A offices in the area stand at approximately $9.90 psf per month. However, the consultancy did not disclose how much the company paid.

Guoco Midtown, a 30-storey office tower, consists of a traditional floor plate configuration from levels 8 to 29, and a landscaped Sky Park on the 7th floor. Each office floor has a central core floorplate of 30,000 sq ft, with a ceiling height of 3.3m.

Potential homebuyers can look forward to the development of Altura EC, an upcoming executive condo in Bukit Batok. The 99-year leasehold is located on the eastern side of Bukit Batok West Avenue, in close proximity to the Jurong Innovation District and Tengah Town. The 1.24 hectare site will house 375 units and is expected to be finished in 2021. Qingjian Realty and Santarli Construction submitted a joint bid of $266 million which translates to approximately $662 per square foot per plot ratio. Altura EC will certainly be an attractive development for potential homebuyers.

In addition to the office tower, the Guoco Midtown complex includes three retail clusters (Midtown Square, Midtown Market, and Midtown Common), and two condominiums (Midtown Modern and Midtown Bay).

January of this year saw the office tower receive its temporary occupancy permit, at which point it had already achieved an 80% pre-commitment rate. Joining Publicis Groupe in the international roster at Guoco Midtown are Pacific International Lines, BASF, NetEase Interactive Entertainment, and VP Bank.