Raffles City

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莱佛士城 Raffles City

Alternative name	Raffles International Centre (initial name)
Location	North Bridge Road, Downtown Core, Singapore
Construction period	1980 - 1985
Primary usage	Office Hotel Shopping mall
Opening date	1986
Structural height	158m, 518 ft (tower)
Floor count	42 (tower), 4 floors and 3 basements (mall)
Floor area	35,000 (tower) 27,600 (mall)
Elevator count	79 lifts, 26 escalators
Owner	CapitaCommercial Trust CapitaMall Trust
Management	CapitaLand
Developer	Tincel Properties
Architect	I. M. Pei with Architects 61
Main contractor	SsangYong Group
Website	www.rafflescity.com

Interior view of Raffles City Shopping Centre

Raffles City (Chinese: 莱佛士城) is a large complex located in the Civic District within the Downtown Core of the city-state of Singapore. Occupying an entire city block bounded by Stamford Road, Beach Road, Bras Basah Road and North Bridge Road, it houses two hotels and an office tower over a podium which contains a shopping mall and a convention centre. The mall is managed by CapitaCommercial Trust and CapitaMall Trust.

History

Groundbreaking on the site took place on 14 August 1980. The complex was designed by I. M. Pei in one of his earliest works in the city state. Built on the former site of Raffles Institution, the first school in Singapore, and located beside the historic Raffles Hotel, its aluminium-finish and simple geometric designs gave a stark, modernist contrast to Victorian architecture and classical architecture which used to characterise architecture in that district. The design includes the world's sixth tallest hotel, the 73-storey Westin Stamford, as well as a 26 storey high-end twin-tower hotel, the Westin Plaza. The three blocks are complemented by the rectangular 42-storey Raffles City Tower, an office block.

Renovations

In the 1990s the shopping mall went under a major renovation, with a different look. In June 2005, the management announced that the basement section of the mall will be expanded, with 30 to 50 more shops and was completed in July 2006 with MPH Bookstores, renowned food and beverage outlets and numerous fashion shops occupying the extention. Gloria Jean's Coffee has also made a return to the country after exiting the country a few years ago. It will also have a connection to the new Esplanade Station on the Circle Line in 2010. The mall is currently directly connected to City Hall Station by escalators from the building.

Rebranding

On 1 January 2002, the two hotels were rebranded as the Swissôtel The Stamford and Raffles The Plaza when Raffles International took over the hotels' management.

CapitaLand REITs takeover

On 19 March 2006, CapitaLand's Real Estate Investment Trusts, CapitaCommercial Trust and CapitaMall Trust jointly acquired the development from Raffles Holdings for S$2.09 billion. The former will take up a 60 percent stake in the complex and the latter taking the remainder 40 percent. ^[1] The trusts' shareholders approved of the purchase of the complex in July 2006. The deal has been completed in August 2006 and the complex is owned by the two trusts.

Expansion

On 20 August 2006, the new owners announced their plans to expand the retail space between 150,000 to 200,000 ft² from its current 356,000 ft², by using the space on the carpark floors on basements two and three. The two CapitaLand property trusts will spend S$86 million on the expansion. There are plans to create underground links to future Esplanade MRT Station and the current City Hall MRT Station. The expansion is expected to be completed by the end of 2008. ^[2]

Tenants

The mall has several anchor tenants, with the Dairy Farm Group having a higher end supermarket, Jason's Market Place and a Guardian pharmacy, both located in the basement. A renowned local department store, Robinsons, together with Marks & Spencer has opened since 2001, when Sogo vacated the space and the supermarket (now occupied by Jason's) in 2000 after the company had financial problems. There is a Food Junction food court on the third floor. The complex is home to Asia's largest spa, RafflesAmrita Spa on Level 6 in the hotel section.

Events

117 IOC Session, Singapore

Main article: 117th IOC Session

The 117th IOC Session in Singapore, was held from July 2 to July 9 2005 at the Raffles City Convention Centre on the fourth floor. Security at the complex was extremely tight during the event.

Murder

On 10 March 2007, there was a murder in the Soup Spoon restaurant in the basement of the mall. The victim was a twenty-five year old Singaporean supervisor of the restaurant who was murdered by his colleague, a kitchen assistant from China. The two had a fight earlier on and the police was notified at about 1905 (SST). By the time the police arrived, the supervisor was found stabbed in his back with his face facing the floor. The diners were asked to leave the restaurant as a result. ^[3]