Paya Lebar is located in the east part of Singapore. The Paya Lebar MRT is an interchange station for the East-West MRT and Circle MRT lines. Singapore is divided into 28 districts and Paya Lebar is in District 14 which also comprise of neighbouring towns like Eunos, Geylang and Kembangan. The town is in between Serangoon and Marine Parade and enjoys a rich vein of road network with Paya Lebar Road, Sims Avenue and Geylang Road been the major roads serving residents in the town.

In 2014, the Urban Redevelopment Authority which is a statutory body task with the urban planning of Singapore released the plan to turn Paya Lebar into a regional centre. A Regional Centre in Singapore is a second-tier commercial zone after the main CBD (Central Business District) in the Central Area. This is about 15 times the size of a normal town centre in the Housing Development Board (HDB) towns.

Views are mixed on the ambition to turn this part of Singapore into a regional centre because Paya Lebar is a short distance from Geylang which is known to be a red light district in Singapore. Man on the street started to see change is coming when the government released 2 plots of land to be amalgamated for public tender in October 2014. More significantly, the plan is to have a multi-mixed development comprising commercial, residential and retail to be constructed on this enlarge plot of land measuring 3.9 hectare in area. The land has a maximum gross floor area of 1.78 million square feet. The opportunity to develop such a sizable project attracted attention from local and overseas developers and conglomerates. By the close of tender, 6 bidders put in their offers and the consortium of Land Lease and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority was the highest bidder at $1,671,688,888 which translate into $942.55 psf ppr.

Landlease is an international property developer and infrastructure company with portfolio in Europe, UK, Australia, Asia including Singapore. Founded in 1958, Landlease’s headquarter is in Australia and is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. In Singapore, the company manages shopping malls like 313@Somerset, JEM (Jurong East Mall).

This major development at Paya Lebar Central, known as Paya Lebar Quarter on its website will be the biggest development by value that the developer will undertake in Singapore. Work has already started on the 3 office towers and is anticipated to complete in 2018. There will also be a retail mall with more than 340,000 square feet offering shopping, dining and entertainment choices to executives and professionals working around the development. In addition, there will be 3 residential towers with a total of 429 residential units. With a direct link to the Paya Lebar MRT, the development is primed to be a place for work, live and play for professionals in Singapore.