What One Comcentre Could Mean for Orchard Road Businesses
Orchard Road serves more than shoppers. Office workers can support a different trading pattern, with demand for breakfast, weekday lunches and meetings over coffee. For an F&B operator considering the precinct, the mix of customers matters as much as the total number passing through.
Singtel and Lendlease announced the start of leasing at One Comcentre on 30 September. The redevelopment of Singtel's Comcentre site at Somerset is planned to include more than one million square feet of office and retail space, including twin 20-storey office towers, with completion targeted for the end of 2028. Singtel will occupy about 30% of the space, with the balance available to other tenants.
The announcement describes dining and wellness amenities alongside the office accommodation, and fully sheltered access to Somerset MRT station. That creates potential demand for surrounding businesses and competition from within the development itself. Both belong in an assessment of Orchard Road F&B leasing.
Work out which part of the day your concept serves
A weekday lunch business needs customers to reach it, eat and return to work within their available break. A concept suited to informal client meetings has a different brief. An evening restaurant needs to establish how much of its trade is likely to come from people staying after work.
I would be cautious about treating office floor area as a direct forecast of covers. The number of employees, attendance patterns and the eventual tenant mix will influence demand. Those details become clearer as occupiers are confirmed and the building approaches operation.
For now, the proposal is a reason to investigate suitable concepts and locations. Any projected sales should distinguish the customers already in the area from those expected to arrive later. I made a similar point about office moves to Paya Lebar and Tai Seng: a large employer changes a neighbourhood's weekday rhythm, but a pin on a map is not a customer route.
Walk the route from the office
An outlet can be close to a new office on a map while sitting away from the route people naturally take. Entrances, crossings and sheltered connections affect where someone buys a quick lunch. Visibility can matter especially for a customer who has never considered the shop before.
Once access arrangements are clear, I would walk from the likely office exit to a shortlisted unit. What other food options come first? Is the shop obvious from that approach? Does reaching it require a detour? A convenient outlet within the development may capture demand before neighbouring businesses see much benefit.
The landlord's proposed tenant mix is therefore worth examining alongside the neighbourhood's existing offer. A gap in the market needs to be specific enough to explain why a customer would choose the incoming restaurant. I have written before about Orchard Road's retail trust problem, and how new office space sits alongside the street's retail character is part of that story.
Keep the completion date beside the rent budget
End-2028 is the targeted completion date, and office occupation will have its own timing. A restaurant signing a lease today has to pay its bills using the customer base available during the intervening period.
For illustration, paying S$2,000 more each month in anticipation of future trade adds S$48,000 over two years. The business needs enough existing demand to justify that expenditure, even if the new office catchment arrives on schedule.
For landlords, there is a similar distinction between a useful future location story and rental evidence today. A credible leasing proposal explains the present catchment and identifies what is expected to change, with the timing made clear.
The office component may also encourage companies to compare Orchard with their traditional CBD options. JLL's latest update noted that some large occupiers are already looking at Orchard as CBD options tighten. I looked at what that tightening means for office tenants in when Singapore office tenants should start renewal discussions. Accessibility and staff amenities can enter that discussion, together with rent, fit-out cost and the practical requirements of the team.
I would follow One Comcentre's leasing progress closely. For an operator evaluating a nearby outlet now, the immediate task is to establish whether the premises work on today's trade. Future office demand can then be considered as additional potential, with the development's own dining offer included in the comparison.
Sources
Cover image: artist's impression of One Comcentre. Image: Singtel and Lendlease. The development is targeted for completion at the end of 2028.
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