REIT Financial News - 28 APR 2010: Raffles Place hasn't lost lustre as business district: CCT

Raffles Place hasn't lost lustre as business district: CapitaCommercial Trust
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Key Points

• CCT believes that Raffles Place has not lost its attraction as a business district.  
• The new Marina Bay Financial Centre has been attracting many financial institutions to relocate from the Central Business District. But existing tenants are making use of that to potentially expand their offices located in CCT's buildings such as Capital Tower and One George Street.
• CCT said it is also reviewing its plans for StarHub Centre. It is looking to allocate up to 80 per cent of Starhub Centre's gross floor area for residential use, while the rest will remain for commercial purposes.
• The trust said going forward, the office market is bottoming out and remains confident of the overall office market.
• There are encouraging signs that the office demand has recovered and office market rentals may have reached a bottom. However, there is still 4.5 million square feet of new office space coming onstream in the next two years that is largely uncommitted.

Author's Note
The above were revealed on the sidelines of the CCT's AGM on Apr 28. Another piece of news that is injecting confidence into the office market. If the office market really bottoms out, office Reits like CCT and K-Reit will be the main beneficiaries.

Related article:
REIT Financial News - 5 APR 2010: S'pore offices attractive due to cheaper rents