Meta Singapore will not be not renewing its lease for seven office floors at South Beach Tower, The Business Times reported.

The seven floors total 115,000 square feet or over 20 per cent of the 507,395 square feet of offices within the 34-storey tower.

They are located in the upper zone of the building, and Meta Singapore's lease on them is set to expire in September 2024.

Meta Singapore confirmed it would not be renewing lease after layoffs in 2023

Samantha Tan, the general manager of South Beach Consortium which manages the building, was quoted by The Business Times as saying that Meta Singapore had confirmed in June 2023 it would not be renewing the lease.

The confirmation followed several rounds of layoffs at the tech company, which ran from March to May 2023.

The tech company reportedly began moving its staff out of South Beach Tower in the first half of 2023 to consolidate manpower at Marina One.

It was one of the building's "pioneer tenants" when it first moved in in 2015, after obtaining a Temporary Occupation Permit.

The firm is also South Beach Tower's biggest tenant.

What will happen to the seven floors?

Tan added that a deal has since been negotiated with a prospective new tenant to take over two of the seven floors Meta Singapore is giving up, although a lease agreement has not yet been signed.

However, she did not reveal the identity of the new tenant.

Two other floors will be subdivided to cater to tenants who do not require big spaces, such as firms within the consumer and private wealth sectors.

As for the remaining three floors, Tan said South Beach Consortium will look at market demand to determine if they should be rented out on a "full-floor basis" or subdivided into smaller units.

The asking rent at South Beach Tower ranges from S$12.50 per square foot to S$13.50 per square foot.

Tan added that South Beach Consortium anticipates market sentiment to pick up in the second half of 2024, as interest rates and inflationary pressures ease, and for companies to embark on expansion plans.

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