For most regional headquarters in Singapore, the shortlist comes down to two neighbouring districts: Raffles Place, the traditional financial core, and Marina Bay, the newer waterfront district around the Marina Bay Financial Centre. They sit minutes apart, and the best towers in each are Grade A. The choice is about floor plates, building age, MRT access, rent and where your clients and colleagues are.
This guide compares the two districts using the towers listed on our site. It covers Grade A conventional leases only.
Research reviewed 17 October 2026. Building facts and starting rents come from our building pages and, for CapitaSpring, the owner’s figures. Rents change and are not quotations.
What each team needs to decide
- Regional lead or MD: the address your clients and regulators expect, and how far it is from the people you meet most.
- Finance: the starting rent, what it includes, the term and the cost of fitting out and handing back the floor.
- Real estate and facilities: the floor-plate size and shape, and how much space is available when you need it.
- IT: building specification, resilience and connectivity for your equipment.
- People and talent: the walk from the MRT station and what surrounds the building.
Raffles Place and Marina Bay at a glance
| Raffles Place | Marina Bay | |
|---|---|---|
| Character | The traditional financial core, with a mix of older and newer towers | A newer waterfront district around the Marina Bay Financial Centre |
| Towers on our site (examples) | CapitaSpring, CapitaGreen, Ocean Financial Centre, Republic Plaza, One Raffles Place | Asia Square Towers 1 and 2, Marina Bay Financial Centre, Marina One, IOI Central Boulevard Towers |
| Completed | 1986 to 2021 | 2010 to 2024 |
| Typical floor plates | About 9,000 to 31,000 sq ft | About 20,000 to 40,000 sq ft |
| Main MRT | Raffles Place interchange (East-West and North-South lines), Telok Ayer | Downtown, Shenton Way and Marina Bay stations |
| Starting rents on our pages | S$11.00 to S$14.00 per sq ft per month | S$13.50 to S$16.00 per sq ft per month |
| Often suits | Teams that want the financial core, direct interchange access and a wide choice of rents and floor sizes | Teams that want large, regular floors in newer buildings |
Starting rents are the “from” figures on our building pages in October 2026, for the eleven towers listed below. They are not like-for-like: dates and inclusions differ, so ask each landlord for a quotation on the floor you want.
Raffles Place
Raffles Place has the widest range of towers. Older towers have smaller floors and lower starting rents; the newer ones compete with Marina Bay on specification.
| Tower | Completed | Typical floor plate | MRT | Starting rent (S$ psf per month) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapitaSpring | 2021 | 21,800 to 23,500 sq ft, column-free (owner’s figures) | Sheltered link to Raffles Place MRT | 14.00 |
| CapitaGreen | 2014 | About 22,000 to 31,000 sq ft, column-free | Sheltered access to Raffles Place and Telok Ayer | 13.00 |
| Ocean Financial Centre | 2011 | About 20,000 to 25,000 sq ft, column-free | Direct underground link to Raffles Place; Downtown via walkways | 14.00 |
| Republic Plaza | 1996 | About 9,500 to 15,000 sq ft, column-free | Direct underground link to Raffles Place | 11.50 |
| One Raffles Place Tower 1 | 1986 | About 9,000 sq ft, column-free | Direct underground connection to Raffles Place | 11.00 |
Raffles Place suits teams that want to be at the centre of the financial core, with direct access to the Raffles Place interchange, and teams whose headcount fits smaller floors. See our Raffles Place district page for the full list.
Marina Bay
Marina Bay’s towers are newer and their floors are larger, which suits a team that wants to sit together on one regular floor.
| Tower | Completed | Typical floor plate | MRT | Starting rent (S$ psf per month) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 1 | 2010 | About 20,000 to 21,000 sq ft, column-free | Direct basement connection to Downtown | 14.50 |
| Asia Square Tower 1 | 2011 | About 32,000 to 35,000 sq ft, column-free | Direct connections to Downtown and Shenton Way; Raffles Place a short walk | 15.50 |
| Asia Square Tower 2 | 2013 | About 31,000 sq ft, column-free | Direct connection to Downtown; Shenton Way adjacent | 14.50 |
| Marina One East Tower | 2017 | About 34,000 to 40,000 sq ft; up to 100,000 sq ft on shared floors bridging both towers | About a 3-minute walk to Marina Bay MRT; about 10 minutes to Downtown | 13.50 |
| Marina One West Tower | 2017 | 34,000 to 40,000 sq ft; up to 100,000 sq ft on the largest floors | Sheltered route to Marina Bay MRT | 15.00 |
| IOI Central Boulevard Towers, West Tower | 2024 | About 21,000 to 23,500 sq ft | Direct underground MRT access | 16.00 |
Marina One East and West Towers were completed in 2017; the development officially opened on 15 January 2018.
Marina Bay suits teams that need large regular floors, want a newer building, or prefer the waterfront setting. See our Marina Bay Financial District and Marina Bay Financial Centre pages for the full list.
The market you are entering
JLL reported that CBD Grade A rents rose 1.0% in the third quarter of 2026, and that CBD vacancy reached a near three-year low (JLL, 28 September 2026). Availability in the best buildings can be limited at any one time, so ask for current availability early.
How to choose
- Start with where your clients and colleagues are. If your regular meetings are in the financial core, Raffles Place is closer. If they are around the bay or you want a waterfront address, Marina Bay is.
- Test your floor plate. Count your headcount and layout, then check the floors actually available. Our office space calculator gives a starting figure.
- Compare like with like. Ask each landlord for rent, service charge, rent-free period and fit-out terms for the same floor and term. See our Tenant’s Resources page for the terms and the conventional office guide for what to negotiate.
- Walk the route from the MRT. A “direct” link and a “sheltered” walk are different. Try the journey your team will make.
- Do not treat the boundary as a wall. Towers such as Ocean Financial Centre connect to both Raffles Place and Downtown, and viewing one tower in each district is quick.
For two of the best-known towers side by side, see our Guoco Tower vs CapitaSpring comparison. To understand the grades, see our guide to office building grades in Singapore. For the wider office decisions for an overseas company, see our guide to setting up a Singapore regional headquarters. Or browse all Grade A office space for rent in Singapore.
Common questions
- Which is better for a regional headquarters, Raffles Place or Marina Bay? Neither is better in general. Raffles Place suits teams that want the financial core, the Raffles Place interchange and a wide range of floor sizes and rents. Marina Bay suits teams that want large regular floors in newer buildings. Visit one tower in each before you decide.
- Is Marina Bay more expensive than Raffles Place? On our building pages, the starting rents for the Marina Bay towers above run from S$13.50 to S$16.00 per sq ft per month, against S$11.00 to S$14.00 for the Raffles Place towers above. The figures are not like-for-like, so ask for a quotation on your floor.
- Which district has the larger floors? Marina Bay’s towers above have larger typical floors, up to 34,000 to 40,000 sq ft at Marina One and up to 100,000 sq ft on its largest floors. Raffles Place’s newer towers have floors of about 20,000 to 31,000 sq ft, and its older towers have floors of about 9,000 to 15,000 sq ft.
- Which MRT stations serve each district? Raffles Place is served by the Raffles Place interchange (East-West and North-South lines) and Telok Ayer. Marina Bay is served by Downtown, Shenton Way and Marina Bay stations. Each building page says which stations connect to it.
- Does Find Your Next Office charge tenants an advisory fee? In most transactions, no tenant advisory fee is payable for our office-search service because we are paid by landlords or operators. Confirm the fee arrangements for your specific engagement when you enquire.
Request an office shortlist
Tell us your headcount, preferred start date and the districts you are considering, and we will check current availability and send a shortlist across both, then arrange viewings.
