Phase 5 of Fusionopolis Kicks Off!

INDUSTRIAL MARKET

Fusionopolis Phase 5 project kicks off

Ascendas Land Pte Ltd and its joint venture partner, Mitsui & Co Ltd, yesterday broke ground for Fusionopolis Phase 5, a $370 million project touted as the first development to introduce a "work office home office" (Woho) concept.

The new development in the heart of Fusionopolis in one-north is a 75:25 venture between Ascendas and Mitsui. The venture, Ascendas Fusion 5, was established as a special-purpose company (SPC) under Japanese law.

Fusionopolis Phase 5 comprises a 17-storey building with 59,300 square metres of business space, a separate five-storey office block featuring 2,690 sq m of "Woho concept" units, and 5,500 sq m of retail space. Its gross floor area totals 67,490 sq m.

"The Woho units range between 32 and 96 sq m, and provide a live-in component for two to six employees comfortably," said Ascendas.

It said that it "has not commenced marketing for the spaces, but (envisions) that the Woho concept will appeal greatly to the infocommunication technology and media start-up companies and SMEs (small and medium enterprises), in line with (its) overall marketing strategy to craft out a media infocomm enclave."

BT earlier reported that Ascendas would work closely with Mitsui on a pipeline of potential tenants for the new development, especially Japanese companies looking for business space in Asia.

Woho tenants have the flexibility to customise and configure these spaces for their work and living needs, and thus can enjoy a work environment that nurtures creativity and innovation, Ascendas said.

Ascendas has also taken care to incorporate optimal energy-efficiency and environmentally friendly features into the design of Fusionopolis Phase 5, and hopes that it will meet the criteria of the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Green Mark Platinum certification.

Such features include water-efficient sanitary ware and fittings, efficient light fittings, an efficient chiller plant, good thermal performance of its building envelope, an efficient air distribution system, motion sensors for staircases and toilets, and equipment and materials.

In addition, Fusionopolis Phase 5 has wide open green spaces and an observation deck, both of which "seamlessly (integrate) quality business space with natural landscape and lifestyle conveniences", said Ascendas.

Said Ascendas president and CEO Chong Siak Ching: "Fusionopolis Phase 5 is the sixth project that the Ascendas Group will undertake in one-north, totalling our stable of quality business space here to close to 210,000 sq m. We will have three buildings in Biopolis, one in Mediapolis and two in Fusionopolis."

She added that with these spaces, Ascendas would be able to cater to customers across various industries, such as life sciences, information technology, and media.

The project is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Ascendas wants to leverage on Mitsui's strong network, owing to the latter's diversified investments in various industries, including in the development of major international infrastructure.

Mitsui's pan-Asia footprint in 33 cities across 10 countries will also help Ascendas reach out to regional companies seeking to expand their business activities here, it said.