Capitol Theatre to reopen next year

SINGAPORE - The iconic Capitol Theatre will open its doors again in the second quarter of next year, almost 17 years after it screened its last movie in 1998.

The theatre is part of the 542,000 sq ft Capitol Singapore integrated project in North Bridge Road, which will start welcoming visitors slightly earlier at the end of this year.

Its developer, Capitol Investment Holdings, a joint venture between Perennial Real Estate Holdings' Pua Seck Guan, Pontiac Land Group's Kwee Liong Seen and Osim's Ron Sim, said the project's building structure has been completed after 21/2 years.

"By the end of this year, a majority of these components will be operational. This brings us a step closer to achieving our vision of creating an unparalleled first-class integrated development that will drastically change the landscape of Singapore's civic and cultural district," said Mr Pua at a topping-out ceremony at Capitol Singapore yesterday.

When completed, Capitol Theatre's opening act, Singapura The Musical, will be staged by The 4th Wall Theatre Company.

The act will centre on former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew's journey as he built Singapore.

As for Capitol Singapore's retail mall, luxury hotel The Patina and residential component Eden Residences Capitol, they will be ready by the end of this year.

Mr Pua told reporters that shoppers can expect new-to-market retail and food and beverage brands, but declined to comment on how much rental rates would be for retailers leasing space at the development.

On the residential front, Mr Pua let on that one more unit had been sold to a "business associate". The 3,400 sq ft unit was transacted at "over $11 million".

He said that the firm was "not really" holding back sales of its residential units following the multiple rounds of property cooling measures.

"Our main business is not the residential component," he said.

This article by The Straits Times was published in MyPaper, a free, bilingual newspaper published by Singapore Press Holdings.

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