(Bloomberg) — BNP Paribas SA is set to give up space in a prime office tower in Singapore amid rising commercial rent in the financial hub, according to people familiar with the matter.
The French bank, which currently occupies six floors at Ocean Financial Centre, plans to not renew some of the space in the central business district when the lease expires at the end of the year, the people said, requesting not to be named because the matter is private. The move will help curb costs, they added.
From the fourth quarter, the bank will also move at least 300 mostly back-end staff at 20 Collyer Quay to Mapletree Business City — a business park located in the country’s south — to free up the location for those affected by the cut in floor space, the people said. The plans are not final and could change, the people added.
Companies are seeking to control costs as the city-state’s commercial rents rise on the back of an influx of wealth and family offices. Prime office space in the central business district surged in the first quarter to a 15-year high, according to data from Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.
BNP Paribas, which has about 2,000 staff in Singapore, declined to comment in an emailed statement. Keppel REIT, which has a majority stake in the 43-floor Ocean Financial Centre, also declined to comment.
The business park, which has about 2.9 million square feet (270,000 square meters) of lettable space, is owned by Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, a REIT backed by state investor Temasek Holdings Pte. The REIT declined to comment.
Asking rents at the business park range around the S$7 per square foot mark, according to public advertisements, just over half of what is typically quoted at towers in the central business district like Ocean Financial Centre.
Major banks in Singapore have long preferred to locate their back-end staff outside the city center where rents are cheaper. Venues like Changi Business Park count Standard Chartered Plc, Citigroup Inc. and DBS Group Holdings Ltd. as tenants.
Social media giant Meta Platforms Inc. is planning to give up seven floors in Singapore’s South Beach Tower later this year, the Business Times reported in February.
(Updates with rental rates in seventh paragraph)
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