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Raffles City Chongqing Topping Out

CapitaLand Marks Topping Out of Raffles City Chongqing with Structural Completion of One of the World’s Highest Sky Bridges

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CapitaLand has successfully topped out the eighth and final skyscraper of Raffles City Chongqing as the Group enters the final lap of preparation works to open the highly anticipated 1.12-million-square-metre megastructure in the second half of 2019. This achievement follows the structural completion of the development’s 250-metre-high sky bridge – The Crystal, which enjoys the distinction as the world’s highest sky bridge linking six of Raffles City Chongqing’s eight skyscrapers.

Raffles City Chongqing Topping OutMr Lucas Loh, President (China & Investment Management), CapitaLand Group, said: “The successful topping out of Raffles City Chongqing represents a new milestone in CapitaLand’s track record of building well-designed integrated spaces. Upon Raffles City Chongqing’s structural completion, we are now focusing on the interior fit-out works, including transplanting trees to enliven The Crystal sky bridge, which will feature the tallest observation deck across Western China. Positioned as a must-visit destination for local residents as well as domestic and overseas travellers, Raffles City Chongqing has been garnering strong response from our customers.”

To date, Raffles City Chongqing has launched three residential towers with a total of 772 units, out of which 72 percent have been sold. The development’s five-storey shopping mall will house some 450 retailers offering a great variety of fashion, dining, lifestyle and entertainment options. We will continue to engage homebuyers, retailers and companies who are keen to be a part of this prestigious development.”

Anchor retail tenants committed to date include Chinese electric vehicle company NIO, which will open its largest NIO House in Chongqing at Raffles City. More than just a showroom, the 1,500-sq m NIO House also serves as an exclusive clubhouse for NIO car owners. Leading movie theatre chain CGV will operate its national flagship at Raffles City Chongqing. Spanning a massive 5,600 square metres, the multiplex will feature state-of-the-art screens with superior sound quality.

Popular bookstore chain Yanjiyou will open a regional flagship at the mall, packed with a lifestyle café and other creative and experiential offerings catering to bibliophiles. In addition, well-known purveyor of fine foods Ole’ will operate a gourmet supermarket with a food hall serving a wide range of fresh produce and international specialties.Raffles City Chongqing Topping Out

Fulfilling its role as an advocate of Chongqing’s rich local culture with more than 3,000 years of history, the mall will feature a dedicated zone to promote authentic Made in Chongqing products such as local delicacies, handicrafts and souvenirs. This is in line with the wishes of local residents, who provided enthusiastic feedback about the development during the popular preview tours conducted by the Raffles City Chongqing project team.

Occupying 9.2 hectares of site area, Raffles City Chongqing brings together a 235,000-square-metres shopping mall, 150,000 square metres of Grade A office space, about 1,400 residential apartments, Ascott Raffles City Chongqing serviced residence and InterContinental Raffles City Chongqing hotel. It has a total construction floor area of 1.12 million sq m and gross floor area (excluding car park) of about 817,000 square metres. The development is strategically located on Chaotianmen at the confluence of Yangtze and Jialing rivers in Yuzhong District. It is also sited at the nexus of three Central Business Districts, namely Jiefangbei, Jiangbeizui and Danzishi.

Raffles City Chongqing comprises eight skyscrapers. Two of these are 350-metre-high supertall skyscrapers known as Chongqing’s tallest buildings; one of which also holds the honour of China’s tallest residential tower. The other six skyscrapers are about 250 metres tall each. Known as Raffles City Chongqing’s ninth “horizontal skyscraper”, The Crystal is an enclosed sky bridge nestled above four of the 250-metres-tall skyscrapers and links two adjacent skyscrapers by cantilevered bridges. Measuring 300 metres in length, 32.5 metres in width and 26.5 metres in height, it is the world’s highest sky bridge linking the most number of towers. Designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie, Raffles City Chongqing’s form is inspired by the historic images of great Chinese sailing vessels and pays tribute to Chongqing’s noble past as a trading centre.

Raffles City Chongqing has received an Honourable Distinction for the China Tall Building Innovation Award. It is also Chongqing city’s largest development to be accorded the LEED-CS pre-certification (Gold Level) by the United States Green Building Council, which recognises best-in-class building strategies and practices.

Raffles City Chongqing to Open in Phases from Q2 in 2019

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CapitaLand recently welcomed the visit by Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean to the development site of Raffles City Chongqing located on the historic Chaotianmen, known as the crown jewel of Chongqing in southwest China.

In a progress report to Mr Teo, CapitaLand updated that construction on Raffles City Chongqing is about 80 percent completed and the 1.12-million-square-metre megastructure is on track to open in phases from 2Q next year.

Recognised as a symbol of strong ties between China and Singapore, Raffles City Chongqing will be home to the Sino-Singapore Collaboration Centre, an initiative by CapitaLand and Chongqing’s Yuzhong District government aimed at bridging companies pursuing cross-border expansion to the immense growth opportunities in Chongqing.

Mr Lim Ming Yan, President & Group CEO of CapitaLand Group, said: “Raffles City Chongqing is a landmark urban renewal project that expresses and shapes Chongqing’s global city aspirations. As the investor and master developer of this historical site, our goal is to create a vibrant riverfront urban district that serves as a dynamic city gateway befitting of Chongqing’s growing economic influence. Bringing this megastructure to life requires not just astute project and capital management on CapitaLand’s part, but also the strong support from the government, our partners and the local residents. We are heartened that the residential component of Raffles City Chongqing has been well received by the market, selling 90 percent of the 500 apartments launched to date.”

Singapore’s largest single development in China at RMB24 billion (about S$4.9 billion), Raffles City Chongqing began construction more than five years ago. It comprises a retail podium and eight skyscrapers for residential, office, serviced residence and hotel use, of which the tallest two measure 350 metres in height.

A distinctive design feature of the development is The Conservatory, a 250-metre-high sky bridge housing a rich array of amenities – including a viewing gallery, sky gardens, an infinity pool and restaurants – that sits above four of the skyscrapers and is linked to two other skyscrapers by cantilever bridges.

Featuring a host of architectural and engineering breakthroughs, Raffles City Chongqing boasts the world’s highest sky bridge linking the most number of towers, China’s tallest residential tower and Chongqing’s tallest building. To date, six out of the eight skyscrapers have topped out.

Occupying 9.2 hectares of site area, Raffles City Chongqing brings together a 230,000-sq m shopping mall, 160,000-sq m of Grade A office space, 1,400 residential apartments, Ascott Raffles City Chongqing serviced residence and a luxury hotel – with a total construction floor area of 1.12 million sq m and gross floor area (excluding car park) of about 817,000 sq m.

The development is strategically located on Chaotianmen at the confluence of Yangtze and Jialing rivers in Yuzhong District, next to the traditional Jiefangbei central business district.

Raffles City Chongqing is CapitaLand’s eighth Raffles City development in China. The seven others in Beijing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Shanghai (with two Raffles City developments) and Shenzhen are operational.

Including Raffles City Singapore, the nine Raffles City developments in Singapore and China span about 4 million sq m and will be worth about S$15.0 billion (about RMB72.7 billion) when fully completed.

CapitaGreen TOP and secures leasing for 50% of total NLA

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Singapore – CapitaGreen, the new landmark in Singapore’s Central Business District (CBD) has obtained its Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) on 18 December 2014. CapitaLand, CapitaCommercial Trust and Mitsubishi Estate Asia, the joint venture partners for the development of CapitaGreen are also pleased to announce that the 40-storey Grade A office building has secured leases for 50.4% or 352,800 square feet of its net lettable area as at December 2014, up from the 40% leasing commitment announced in 3Q 2014.CapitaGreen with red & white sculptural funnel on rooftop

Designed by Pritzker laureate Toyo Ito, CapitaGreen was constructed using the efficient top-down construction method which allows for the building’s basement and superstructure to be built concurrently. Innovations such as the ingenious hybrid of steel and precast construction technology further shortened the construction timeline to 36 months from the industry average minimum of 40 months it would take to complete a building of this scale using conventional construction methods. Its signature double-skin green façade, the rooftop sky forest and three lush green sky terraces make CapitaGreen one of the greenest buildings in the CBD.

Catlin Asia Pacific, a member of the Catlin Group Limited, an international specialty property/ casualty insurer and reinsurer is the latest tenant to join the growing list of established multinationals at CapitaGreen. To-date, that list includes Cargill, Bordier & Cie (Singapore), Jardine Lloyd Thompson, Jones Day and Fitness First who will be unveiling a new concept – a world-first exclusive wellness facility tailored to executive lifestyles. The committed tenants are from diverse business sectors including Financial Services, Insurance, Commodities, Legal, Technology, Real Estate, Health & Fitness and Food & Beverage.

One of the first tenants to move into CapitaGreen will be Jardine Lloyd Thompson, another global insurance player, which is scheduled to begin operations in the building in 1Q 2015.

Mr Goh Chye Huat, Managing Director of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Pte Ltd commented, “CapitaGreen stands out with its distinctive architectural design, and it is probably a first for a major commercial office development within the CBD to incorporate a ‘green’ façade. It meets our requirements of a high-specs Grade A office space and generous floor plate size exceeding 20,000 square feet. Given the combination of elegantly designed interiors together and the ‘green’ concept, I am sure that CapitaGreen will provide a conducive working environment for our employees. Its central location is particularly attractive; its close proximity to the MRT nodes; and the fact that there may be a larger insurance community that could already have picked CapitaGreen as their next office destination.

Mr Goh added, “We are up against a very tight schedule, where we would need to execute our office move by 1Q 2015 against CapitaGreen’s TOP date of end December 2014. To this end, we have found the management team of CapitaGreen to be professional, responsive and accommodating – keeping us regularly abreast of the progress of completion and facilitating the early commencement of our office renovation works.”

Mr Wen Khai Meng, Chief Executive Officer of CapitaLand Singapore said, “With its iconic design and distinctive red and white sculptural funnel, CapitaGreen truly lights up our CBD skyline. As the newest gem in our portfolio of premium office properties, we are delighted to welcome the organisations who have chosen to make this their new office address. We are also very pleased to have achieved our 50% leasing target and are in advanced negotiations with several prospective tenants which we expect to complete in the next few weeks.”

About CapitaGreen
CapitaGreen is a 40-storey Grade A landmark office building, jointly developed by CapitaLand, CapitaCommercial Trust and Mitsubishi Estate Asia. The building’s innovative and stunning façade design has a 55% green ratio, meaning that over half of the perimeter of its façade will be covered by living plants. This energy-efficient double-skin façade comprising a primary curtain wall of glass and secondary layer of teeming planters cuts solar heat gain by up to 26%. With a net lettable area of about 700,000 square feet, CapitaGreen has one of the largest and most efficient, truly column-free floor plates (22,000 square feet) and the tallest raised floor-to-ceiling height of 3.2 metres in any CBD office building.

While a skin of lush greenery scales the 245 metres of CapitaGreen, denser pockets of terrace gardens offer breathing spaces on the 5th, 14th, and 26th floors. Acting as a lung for the building, the Sky Forest atop the skyscraper is marked by a distinctive crown of tropical trees and a sculptural petalled funnel. These “petals” have been designed as wind scoops to take advantage of the prevailing wind direction to draw in the cooler, cleaner air from above. They will work together with the funnel’s hollow stem that penetrates all 40 storeys of the building to deliver fresh air to tenants via the efficiently designed air-conditioning system. This innovative circulatory system maintains a comfortable temperature in the indoor office environment.

For its efficient and environmentally-sustainable design, CapitaGreen has been awarded the Green Mark Platinum Award in 2012 and Universal Design GoldPLUS in 2013 by the Building and Construction Authority in Singapore.