Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) chairman Andrew Lee has rejected a suggestion carried in The Business Times last month that the bank should sell its Chulia Street headquarters to “rejuvenate” the central business district.
Responding to a shareholder’s question about the opinion article, which recommended that the bank sell its trio of buildings “for a handsome profit”, Lee says: “Categorically, we are not picking up the suggestion.”
Speaking at OCBC’s 88th annual general meeting on April 17, Lee says the buildings are important to the organisation, and they also have historical value; OCBC Centre at 65 Chulia Street was the late architect I. M. Pei’s first big project in Singapore. Standing at 197.7m, it was Southeast Asia’s tallest skyscraper when it was completed in 1976.
Aside from OCBC Centre, the complex also comprises the seven-storey OCBC Centre South at 18 Church Street and the 15-storey OCBC Centre East at 63 Chulia Street.
While the OCBC Centre sits on freehold land, the “two ancillary buildings”, as Lee calls them, are located on leasehold land with 42 years remaining. “Over time, of course, we have to top up the lease, but we still have time; we still have 40 over years left,” says Lee.
The questions come after an apparent U-turn by management sometime in the previous year. OCBC announced in a bourse filing on April 3, 2024 it was “exploring the redevelopment” of the trio of buildings. Less than a year later, however, CEO Helen Wong said the plans had been “deferred”.
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Speaking on Feb 26 at the release of the bank's results for FY2024 ended Dec 31, 2024, Wong said that after “further assessment”, management had decided to “delay that planning for a while” with “no exact timetable” ahead. “We explored it and we came to a conclusion: We still have a very iconic building here. Our buildings, our presence [and] our use of it [are] still very important to us, and we [have] now decided that we can delay that for a while.”
According to Lee, OCBC’s board of directors ordered a study two years ago on possible redevelopment options for the buildings. “It’s the duty of the board to look at all major assets, where things are, where things can be improved. So, two years ago, yes, we told management: ‘Let’s see what can be done to the surrounding land where the two leasehold buildings are located.’”
In addition to the study, Lee says management even contacted “some notable architects” to suggest designs for consideration.
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Lee thinks it is not the right time to undertake such a redevelopment, which can amount to “something like $4 billion to $5 billion” after accounting for lease top-ups and construction. He adds that such a decision will “strain the balance sheet of the bank”.
Notably, Lee adds that “nowhere in the exercise was a suggestion that we sell the building”. “So, I don’t know where that report came [from] or where the idea came from,” he adds, referring to the March 31 opinion article.
As the “oldest continuing bank in Singapore”, an institution like OCBC “must have a place”, says Lee, calling the Chulia Street headquarters the group’s “anchor”. “You can’t buy and sell everything.”
Lee notes that aside from the trio of buildings, OCBC also owns the Bank of Singapore Centre at 63 Market Street and Great Eastern Centre at 1 Pickering Street. “As a group, we own quite a few buildings in town,” he adds.
Further northeast, OCBC announced in September 2024 its $500 million investment into Punggol Digital District for the 430,000 sq ft OCBC Punggol. When completed in 1Q2027, it will become the bank’s second-largest office premises after its head office in Chulia Street.
Up to 4,000 OCBC employees — mostly tech staff — will be housed across eight floors of a 12-storey mixed-use tower. OCBC will occupy the fourth to 11th levels of the tower, and fit-out works are expected to be completed in early 2027.
