Duo Galleria makes a comeback as a day-to-night destination

The retail tenants at Duo Galleria are beneficiaries of the pedestrian traffic flow from the neighbouring development Guoco Midtown, which opened progressively since 2023. One of them is the coffee and matcha bar Calligraph Coffee, which has taken up 400 sq ft of retail space at Duo Galleria. The store opened last month. “I chose to lease a space here because of the healthy human traffic,” says the owner, Mr Tan. “My shop is directly in front of the traffic lights, and many office workers come from that direction. Most customers are office workers from around the area. Wherever you do business, it’s important to have good foot traffic.” Duo Galleria is a 56,000 sq ft retail podium that occupies the ground level and basement level three of the Duo mixed-use development. It is linked directly to the Bugis MRT Station, an interchange for the Downtown and East-West Lines. Read also: Low interest rates and high foreign capital bright spots in property capital markets: CBRE Advertisement Advertisement

Foot traffic underground

Guoco Midtown is linked underground to the Bugis Station via a pedestrian walkway through Duo Galleria’s basement level. Hence, the retail, F&B, and lifestyle tenants at Duo Galleria have reported higher footfalls in recent months. One of the tenants at Duo Galleria since the beginning is the French restaurant and gourmet store So France. It opened its 5,000 sq ft multi-concept store in 2018. In recent months, So France has seen an increase in its lunch crowd. “We see many office workers from Guoco Midtown and also from the office tower here [at Duo],” says So France’s restaurant manager, who only wants to be known as Ms Amu. However, the evening crowd is less predictable. “Sometimes it’s busy, and sometimes not,” she adds. Besides So France, other existing F&B tenants at Duo Galleria include the Michelin-starred Seroja restaurant serving Malay-inspired cuisine and the ChaoNiu Teochew Beef Hotpot restaurant. A prime beneficiary of Guoco Midtown’s opening is Skin D’fine beauty salon, which has a 1,044 sq ft space in Basement 3, directly in front of the connecting underpass to Guoco Midtown. The beauty salon opened in October 2023, and the business had initially depended primarily on the office workers at Duo Tower, the tourists staying at Andaz Singapore hotel, the residents at Duo Residences, referrals and those from its online marketing programmes. “With more people passing by the tunnel, the number of walk-in customers and awareness of our company has also increased,” says the manager of Skin D’fine, who only wants to be known as Jonathan.

‘Grab-and-go’

“Since the underground connection to Guoco Midtown opened, Duo Galleria’s underground retail has seen strong interest from grab-and-go eateries, coffee joints and a wide range of beauty services,” says Sulian Tan-Wijaya, executive director, retail and lifestyle at Savills Singapore. Read also: DC rates dip 0.2% for non-landed residential; unchanged for other sectors Advertisement Advertisement She adds: “Duo is also strategically located within the cultural Bugis district and close to the hip and trendy Haji Lane and Arab Street.” Its location within the Bugis area drew former sommelier turned entrepreneur Gary Low to open his new business, a French bistro and wine bar, Vitis, at Duo. “Duo is at the intersection of arts, education, heritage, and culture,” he says. Low has taken up nearly 1,500 sq ft on the first level of Duo Galleria. Vitis Wine Bar & Bistro is expected to open sometime in mid-September. Low chose Duo Galleria because it is part of the mixed-use development designed by internationally acclaimed German architect Ole Scheeren.

Changing skyline

Duo was developed by M+S, a 40:60 joint venture (JV) between two sovereign wealth funds, Singapore’s Temasek Holdings and Malaysia’s Khazanah Nasional. The mixed-use development was completed in 2017 and comprises the 39-storey Duo Tower, with 568,000 sq ft of Grade-A office space on the lower half, and the 347-key Andas Singapore hotel occupying the 25th to 39th floors. Adjacent to it is the 660-unit Duo Residences, which spans 49 floors. In July 2019, Duo’s office block and Duo Galleria retail podium were sold to real estate investment manager Allianz Real Estate and Hong Kong-based real estate private equity firm Gaw Capital Partners for $1.575 billion, or $2,570 psf on net lettable area (NLA). In October of that same year, the Andaz Singapore hotel was sold to Hoi Hup Realty for $475 million, or $1.39 million per key. At the neighbouring Guoco Midtown, its 30-storey office tower with 709,000 sq ft of Grade-A space obtained a Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) at the end of January 2023. It is almost fully leased, with occupancy close to 100%. The Network Hub, completed last November, has amenities exclusive to office tenants and the future residents of the adjacent 219-unit Midtown Bay, which obtained its TOP in 2Q2024. The 558-unit Midtown Modern is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Read also: The M moves past virus worries with 70% of units sold Advertisement Advertisement Meanwhile, next door to Guoco Midtown is the redevelopment of Shaw Tower, scheduled for completion in 2025. The new 33-storey tower will have 435,000 sq ft of Grade-A office space, a five-storey retail podium with 15,700 sq ft of retail and F&B space, and a 21,500 sq ft multi-purpose hall with auditorium, meeting and training facilities. The first of the new multi-billion dollar, mixed-use developments to be completed in the Bugis-Rochor-Beach Road neighbourhood over the past decade was South Beach in 2014. It has a 34-storey Grade-A office tower, the 634-key JW Marriott Hotel Singapore, the 190-unit South Beach Residences, and 32,000 sq ft retail space linked to the Promenade MRT Station on the Circle Line. Tan-Wijaya of Savills says these new mixed-use developments designed by renowned architects, such as South Beach (Foster + Partners), Duo (Buro Ole Scheeren), Guoco Midtown (Denton Corker Marshall), and Shaw Tower (Aedas), have changed the skyline in the Bugis-Rochor-Beach Road area. They join existing landmarks in the area, such as The Gateway (IM Pei) and Parkview Square (James Adams).

‘Breathing new life’

New residential developments in the area include the recently completed Midtown Bay, the 558-unit Midtown Modern designed by ip:li Architects in collaboration with ADDP Architects (targeted for completion by the end of 2024), and the 522-unit The M, designed by P&T Architects, completed last year. Tan-Wijaya believes that new and upcoming office developments and residences “have breathed new life into Duo Galleria.” Located at 1 Fraser Street, Duo Galleria is “unlike many retail developments”, she says. She adds that it has an open concept and faces a lush green landscaped area and water features. “The ambience is ideal for restaurants and retailers whose concepts embrace an ‘urban oasis” and greenery in their customer experience,” Tan-Wijaya adds. “This architecture and layout also have the potential to attract pet-friendly eateries, which are increasingly popular, especially on weekends.” Duo Galleria is envisioned as “a day-to-night, seven-day week destination — for office workers during the weekdays and residents, hotel guests and tourists on the weekends,” says Tan-Wijaya. Savills Singapore has been appointed the exclusive agent for the available retail units at Duo Galleria. While some original tenants have moved out, new ones are taking their place. For instance, the 9,200 sq ft space on the first level formerly occupied by Virgin Active fitness gym will soon be taken up by various tenants in F&B, lifestyle, and services, says Tan-Wijaya.

Median rents at a new high in 2Q2024

According to social media posts by Savills Singapore in June, several other ground-floor retail units ranging between 732 sq ft and 1,184 sq ft have been leased. The units are zoned for F&B, retail, wellness, and services. Based on listings by agents in the public domain, retail units in the basement level of Duo Galleria have been listed at prices from $4,388 per month ($15.08 psf per month) for a 291 sq ft unit suitable for F&B takeaway, beauty and wellness services, such as a salon or dental clinic. Retail units on the ground floor of Duo Galleria have been listed from $5,888 per month ($10.51 psf per month) for a 560 sq ft unit, to $17,888 per month ($15.11 psf per month) for a 1,184 sq ft unit. URA Realis data shows that the quarterly median rent at Duo Galleria on Fraser Street jumped to $17.06 psf per month in 2Q2024 from $11.90 psf per month in 1Q2024. The 2Q2024 median quarterly rent is the highest recorded since 4Q2022, which was $17.14 psf. Lee Siew Ling, senior director of retail at JLL, says the Bugis district “is a very lively area which has many attractions and destinations”, from Kampong Glam to Bugis Junction and Bugis Street. Lee points out that the National Library and institutes of higher learning, such as Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) and Lasalle College of the Arts, are also nearby. She views the area as attracting tourists and a younger crowd, particularly in places like Bugis Junction and the shophouses on Liang Seah Street and Tan Quee Lan Street. “These areas are still buzzing and are therefore popular among fast casual F&B operators,” Lee adds. Duo Galleria has benefited from its proximity to these areas. “Today, it’s a bustling F&B enclave with cuisines ranging from Japanese, Chinese, and French to the 1 Michelin-starred Seroja,” says Sulian-Tan of Savills. “We see great potential to further enhance Duo Galleria’s tenant mix by introducing more after-work and evening offerings to cater to the office crowd and tourists.”