Singapore’s Vision Exchange shaping the Jurong Gateway landcape

Vision Exchange, a stunning new 25-storey commercial tower, will shape the landscape of the Jurong Gateway, as Singapore’s new western commercial hub, is known. The tower will offer 740 units comprising 640 offices, 53 medical suites and 47 restaurants, and it is ready for occupation now.

Part of the government’s 2008 plan to identify sites for public and commercial development, Vision Exchange is part of an effort to modernise Jurong by developing a second central business district (CBD) in which government and commercial entities can establish a presence and allow residents to be nearer their workplaces.

Developer Sim Lian Holdings was quick to bid for the site when the government first put it on sale.

“The site went on sale at a time when the area was in its early days of reaching maturity,” says Lim Song Hai, head of investments for Sim Lian Holdings. “The site presented an excellent opportunity, due to its location and its large size, and offers the flexibility to develop a signature project and to tap into the government’s efforts to create a second CBD.

“At that time, Jurong was also considered a plausible location as [a] train station for the high-speed rail line to Kuala Lumpur. Once realised, the site could be a major exchange for local transport and cross-border transport.

“Growth after independence started in Jurong as a pivotal industrial estate launching Singapore’s growth into a first world economy. Fifty years on, Jurong was again selected as the launch pad for Singapore’s thrust into the future, as its second CBD, recognising the transformative requirements of business of the future.”