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The URA Centre Review

The URA Centre Review
Commercial & Office Property Review — District 01

The URA Centre

A CBD-fringe institutional landmark on Maxwell Road with strata office space alongside the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s own headquarters.

SGCPI Research Desk Updated August 2026 45 Maxwell Road, Singapore 069118 ≈99-YR LEASEHOLD (STATE LAND, C.1996)

Street-level view of The URA Centre, 45 Maxwell Road. Imagery: Google Street View (user-contributed imagery), accessed August 2026.

Project Overview

Building NameThe URA Centre
Address45 Maxwell Road, Singapore 069118
DistrictDistrict 01 — Boat Quay / Raffles Place / Marina
Tenure≈99-year leasehold, State land (from ≈1996)
Zoning / UseCommercial — Office, Central Area
Built FormTwin-block tower + East Wing annex over a public exhibition podium
Land Area / GFA≈1.5 ha site; ≈650,000 sq ft GFA
Completion Year≈1998
Nearest MRTTanjong Pagar (EW15), Chinatown (NE4/DT19), Telok Ayer (DT18)
Key Road AccessMaxwell Road, Neil Road, Kampong Bahru Road; AYE/CTE via Kampong Bahru Flyover
Transacted PSF Range≈S$1,800 – S$2,400 psf (strata office)
Sale Price Range≈S$1.5M – S$8M, size-dependent
Asking Rent Range≈S$5.50 – S$7.50 psf/month
Occupier BaseURA headquarters, professional and built-environment services firms, ground-floor F&B/retail

Location & Connectivity

The URA Centre sits at the southern fringe of the Central Business District, on Maxwell Road at the edge of the Tanjong Pagar conservation belt. The immediate surrounds blend heritage shophouses, dispute-resolution and legal-services buildings such as Maxwell Chambers, and mixed office towers, giving the location a quieter, low-rise character than the Raffles Place core a short walk to the north. As the seat of Singapore’s national planning authority, the building enjoys a well-tended civic frontage and generous public realm at street level, including the Singapore City Gallery podium that draws a steady flow of visitors and students.

Public transport access is strong for a District 01 address. Tanjong Pagar MRT (East-West Line) and Chinatown MRT (North East and Downtown Lines) are both within a comfortable walk, and Telok Ayer MRT on the Downtown Line adds a third interchange option for tenants heading toward Marina Bay or the western corridor. Bus services along Maxwell Road and Neil Road connect directly into Shenton Way, Robinson Road and the broader CBD without needing to transfer. For drivers, the building is close to on-ramps feeding the Ayer Rajah Expressway and Central Expressway via the Kampong Bahru Flyover, useful for occupiers with regular runs to the airport, the western industrial belt, or the northern corridors.

The Maxwell food centre precinct, China Square Central, and the retail cluster around Amoy Street and Club Street sit within a five-to-ten-minute walk, giving staff and visiting clients a dense choice of lunch and after-work options without leaving the neighbourhood. The Tanjong Pagar and Duxton conservation districts, both undergoing steady rejuvenation, add a distinctive streetscape that differentiates this pocket from the glass-tower uniformity further north.

Location of The URA Centre. Map data: Google Maps, accessed August 2026.

Building & Facilities

The development is arranged as two connected blocks — the main tower, which anchors the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s own headquarters, and the East Wing annex, which carries a larger floor plate and has historically hosted a mix of URA divisions and leasable office space for outside occupiers. Floor-to-floor heights and lift provisioning were specified to institutional-office standards rather than speculative-developer minimums, which shows in the wider corridors and more generous lobby areas than is typical of comparable-vintage CBD-fringe stock.

Ground-floor common facilities are unusually public-facing for a commercial building: the Singapore City Gallery occupies a multi-storey exhibition space with rotating displays on national planning and urban heritage, and the podium regularly hosts talks, resource-centre access on an upper floor, and community programming. This gives the address a civic-institution identity that is distinct from a typical multi-tenanted office block, useful for occupiers who value a well-maintained, high-footfall front-of-house without the retail-mall atmosphere of larger CBD towers. Car park provision and loading facilities are geared primarily to office-hours traffic and event days tied to gallery programming.

Because a meaningful share of the building continues to be occupied and maintained by a statutory board rather than a private developer or strata council, prospective buyers or tenants of any leasable portions should verify current maintenance arrangements, common-property upkeep responsibilities, and any building-specific restrictions directly with the managing agent before committing, as these can differ from a standard MCST-run strata development.

Unit Types & Floor Plan Notes

Leasable space at The URA Centre is concentrated in the East Wing annex, where floor plates are notably large for the district, supporting a range of fit-outs from single-tenant floors to subdivided suites. The figures below are indicative and should be confirmed against the current strata/leasing schedule for any specific floor.

Compact Suite

≈600 – 1,000 sq ft

Suits small professional practices, satellite teams, or consultancies needing a District 01 address without a full-floor commitment.

Mid-Tier Office

≈1,500 – 3,000 sq ft

The most commonly transacted band; fits 15–30 workstations depending on layout density and meeting-room allocation.

Large Floor Plate

≈15,000 sq ft (main block)

Whole-floor take-up in the main building, suited to institutional or government-adjacent occupiers requiring contiguous space.

East Wing Floor Plate

≈22,000 sq ft

The largest contiguous floor option in the development; typically split across several occupiers where not taken as a single tenancy.

Ceiling Height: ≈2.7m raised floor to false ceiling, typical of late-1990s institutional office fit-out
Lift Provision: Dedicated passenger lift banks serving main block and East Wing separately
Car Park: Basement and multi-storey parking, weighted toward office-hours demand
Fit-Out Condition: Predominantly shell-and-core to warm-shell handover for leasable floors
Loading Bay: Rear service access off Maxwell Road/Neil Road corridor

Investment Case

The URA Centre occupies an unusual position in the District 01 office market: it is neither a pure speculative office tower nor a purely institutional building, but a hybrid that draws stability from its anchor occupier while offering a smaller pool of leasable and, on occasion, strata space to the open market. That mix shapes both its appeal and its constraints for an investor or tenant evaluating the address.

What Works

  • Prime District 01 address with triple-MRT-line access within walking distance
  • Anchor occupier (URA) supports consistent building upkeep and a well-maintained common area
  • Distinctive civic frontage and public gallery draw steady footfall and a strong sense of address
  • Large East Wing floor plates suit occupiers wanting contiguous, flexible space
  • Positioned within the ongoing Tanjong Pagar/Duxton rejuvenation corridor

What to Weigh Carefully

  • Building age (≈27 years) means M&E systems and fit-out will trail newer Grade A stock
  • Leasable/strata inventory is limited relative to purely private developments, which can constrain liquidity
  • Institutional anchor tenancy limits how much of the building genuinely trades hands on the open market
  • Remaining lease term should be checked carefully against financing tenure assumptions
  • Car park and loading capacity are sized for office-hours use, not high-intensity retail or F&B

Who This Suits

The URA Centre is best suited to professional-services firms, built-environment consultancies, legal and arbitration-adjacent practices (given the proximity to Maxwell Chambers), and organisations that value a quieter, heritage-adjacent CBD-fringe address over the density of Raffles Place or Marina Bay. Occupiers who want triple-MRT connectivity without paying full Raffles Place rents, or who benefit from being near URA’s planning and development-control functions, will find the location logical. It is less suited to retail-intensive or high-footfall consumer businesses, given the office-hours orientation of the building’s facilities, and buyers seeking maximum strata liquidity may find the pool of tradeable units narrower than in a fully private-sector development.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the permitted use for space at The URA Centre?
The building sits within a Commercial zoning under the Central Area, and leasable floors are approved for office use, consistent with professional-services, corporate, and institutional occupation. Any change of use — for example, introducing a clinic, education centre, or retail concept beyond permitted ancillary use — requires checking against URA’s own Development Control guidelines and, where applicable, formal approval before fit-out works begin. Because the building’s own landlord functions are tied to the planning authority, prospective tenants should expect a relatively disciplined approach to use-class compliance compared with a purely commercial landlord. Always confirm current zoning parameters and any unit-specific use restrictions with the managing agent or URA’s e-Services portal before signing a lease or purchase agreement, since planning parameters can be revisited over a long holding period.
Can foreigners buy or lease space here?
Commercial and office property in Singapore, including strata or leasable space at The URA Centre, is generally open to foreign individual and corporate buyers without the restrictions that apply to residential land under the Residential Property Act. Foreign entities can typically purchase office strata units or take up commercial leases directly, subject to standard conveyancing, stamp duty, and any building-specific transfer conditions. That said, because a portion of this building remains under institutional occupation, any available strata lots should be checked for specific title conditions, use covenants, or first-refusal arrangements that may apply given the building’s origin as a government-linked development, rather than assuming a fully standard private strata transaction.
Does Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) apply to a purchase here?
ABSD applies to residential property purchases in Singapore and does not apply to commercial or office property such as strata space at The URA Centre. Buyers, whether Singapore citizens, permanent residents, foreigners, or entities, pay standard Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD) on the purchase price or market value, whichever is higher, without the additional residential-specific ABSD layer. This is one of the structural attractions of commercial real estate for investors seeking to diversify away from residential cooling measures. However, GST may apply separately if the seller is GST-registered, and buyers should still budget for standard legal, valuation, and financing costs on top of BSD when underwriting a purchase.
How does Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) affect a resale?
Commercial property, including office strata space, is not subject to Seller’s Stamp Duty in the way certain residential property has been at various points, so owners at The URA Centre generally have flexibility to sell within a shorter holding period without an SSD penalty. This gives commercial investors more exit timing flexibility than residential owners typically have. That said, actual liquidity depends heavily on genuine buyer demand for this specific building given its limited leasable inventory, so a short holding period does not guarantee a quick or full-value sale. Investors should still budget for agent commissions, legal conveyancing fees, and potential holding costs if a sale takes longer than anticipated in a thinner secondary market.
Is GST payable on a purchase at The URA Centre?
Goods and Services Tax can apply to commercial property transactions where the seller is GST-registered, typically adding the prevailing GST rate on top of the purchase price for the property (though not on the underlying land component in certain structures). Buyers purchasing through a GST-registered corporate vehicle may be able to claim input tax credits, which changes the effective cost calculation compared with an individual buyer who cannot. Given the complexity, prospective buyers should have their conveyancing lawyer and accountant confirm the GST treatment of any specific unit before finalising an Offer to Purchase, as the treatment can vary depending on the seller’s registration status and the deal structure.
How does the remaining lease affect financing?
With a tenure estimated at 99 years from the mid-1990s, remaining lease at The URA Centre currently sits at roughly 68–70 years, which is comfortably within the range banks will lend against for commercial property, though loan tenure and quantum are typically capped so the loan matures well before the lease itself runs out. Lenders generally assess commercial financing case-by-case based on the borrower’s income or business cash flow, the property’s income-generating potential if leased out, and the remaining lease relative to the loan tenure requested. Buyers planning a long hold or eventual resale to a younger buyer should factor in that lease decay will gradually narrow the pool of future financing-eligible purchasers as decades pass.
What kind of rental yield can an investor expect?
Based on indicative asking rents of roughly S$5.50 to S$7.50 psf per month against transacted prices in the S$1,800 to S$2,400 psf range, gross rental yields for strata office space at The URA Centre would work out to approximately 3.0% to 4.5% per annum before accounting for maintenance, property tax, and vacancy periods. This sits broadly in line with typical CBD-fringe office yields in Singapore, which tend to be moderate rather than high given strong capital values. Net yields after costs are usually one to one-and-a-half percentage points lower. Investors should stress-test these figures against actual comparable transactions and current market asking rents rather than relying solely on estimates, since achievable rents vary by floor, fit-out, and tenant covenant strength.
How does the building’s age affect the investment case?
Completed in the late 1990s, The URA Centre is now approaching thirty years old, which means mechanical, electrical, and lift systems are past their original design life in some respects, even where well-maintained. Buyers and tenants should ask for records of major upgrading works, lift modernisation, and air-conditioning system replacement cycles, since these affect both near-term capital expenditure exposure and the building’s competitiveness against newer Grade A office stock nearby. On the positive side, sustained institutional occupation by URA has generally correlated with disciplined upkeep of common areas and building services compared with buildings left to a purely commercial landlord seeking to minimise costs, which is a genuine point in its favour despite the building’s age.
What are the odds of an en-bloc or redevelopment sale?
En-bloc potential at The URA Centre is considerably lower than for a typical ageing strata development, primarily because a significant portion of the building continues to be occupied by its anchor institutional tenant rather than held purely as investment stock by dispersed strata owners. Collective sale processes require a defined majority of strata share consent, and with government-linked occupation anchoring much of the building, achieving that threshold is a materially different proposition than in a fully privately-owned office block. Investors purchasing here should treat en-bloc upside as a low-probability, long-horizon scenario rather than a near-term catalyst, and instead base their investment case primarily on rental income and steady capital preservation.
What are typical parking and loading arrangements?
The URA Centre provides basement and multi-storey car parking sized primarily for office-hours demand from staff and visitors, alongside a rear loading bay accessed off the Maxwell Road/Neil Road corridor for deliveries and building servicing. Parking allocation for tenants is typically managed through the building’s car park operator on a season-parking or hourly basis rather than bundled automatically with every lease, so occupiers with heavy staff-parking needs should confirm availability and season-parking rates before committing to a floor. Loading capacity is adequate for standard office document and equipment deliveries but is not configured for high-frequency freight or retail restocking, which is a relevant consideration for any occupier with logistics-heavy operations.
What are the maintenance or MCST-equivalent fees like?
Because a substantial share of The URA Centre remains under institutional management rather than a conventional privately elected MCST council, the maintenance fee structure and governance for any leasable or strata portions can differ from a standard private office development. Fees typically cover common-area upkeep, security, lift maintenance, cleaning, and building insurance, and prospective buyers or tenants should request the latest maintenance fee schedule and sinking fund position directly from the managing agent rather than assuming a market-average rate. Given the civic, high-footfall ground floor tied to the Singapore City Gallery, common-area upkeep costs may run somewhat higher than a purely private office block of comparable size, which is worth budgeting for.
How liquid is the resale market for space here?
Resale liquidity at The URA Centre is inherently more limited than at larger, fully private strata office developments in the CBD, simply because the pool of tradeable units is smaller given the anchor institutional occupation of much of the building. Transactions do occur, particularly for East Wing space, but buyers should expect a longer marketing period and a narrower pool of comparable transactions to benchmark pricing against than they would find at a development with hundreds of strata lots. This makes the address better suited to investors with a medium-to-long holding horizon and a genuine use case for the location, rather than those seeking to trade units frequently for short-term capital gains.
What kinds of businesses are best suited to this address?
Professional-services firms, built-environment and planning consultancies, legal and arbitration-related practices given the proximity to Maxwell Chambers, and organisations that benefit from association with a well-regarded civic address tend to be the best fit for The URA Centre. The building’s office-hours-oriented facilities and institutional anchor tenant make it less suited to high-footfall retail, F&B-led concepts, or logistics-heavy operations that need flexible after-hours loading access. Tenants who value a distinctive, heritage-adjacent CBD-fringe setting over the density and prestige signalling of a Raffles Place tower, and who can work within the building’s more measured, institutionally-managed environment, are likely to find the fit most natural and durable over a multi-year lease term.

This article is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Figures marked with “≈” are reasonable estimates and should be independently verified against current URA, IRAS, and transaction-record data before making any purchase, leasing, or financing decision. Property values, rental rates, and policy settings referenced herein are subject to change without notice. Readers should conduct their own due diligence and consult qualified professionals before proceeding with any transaction.

© 2026 SG Commercial Property Insights. All rights reserved.

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