Wanted: Season parking MBFC

[alff]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

Thanks for all your suggestions. Will take all that into advisement.

Right now my options are:
1. Park at the Sail (most ideal: thanks to a kind offer from fellow forum member -- need to confirm nearer the date)
2. Park & walk from RP - still on waitlist, so no guarantee
3. Park & cycle from Marina Sq - last resort

Thanks to all again!

There's a Wilson parking just opposite MB residences. Heard they are charging $300 a month for season. Only downside is open air car park if you don't mind.

 

[Deadkookaburra]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

1 more option - Join Marina Sands membership...platinum and diamond class gets free parking

There's no parking for Marina Link Mall. Its a concept similar to the subterrenean mall linking City Hall and Marina Sq. Lots of F&B and retails shops. Give it a try one day and see how it is. You'll be surprised how pleasant it is to walk from Raffles Place to MBFC.

there's parking at MBLink Mall B1-B2...but unsure if season is available.

 

[DriveAllDay]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

I beg to differ on the poor transport planning around mbfc. You can go on marina boulevard towards aye/ecp and avoid the congestion along Shenton way and robinson. Plus no erp. Parking is an issue, but I think the new ura bayfront parking will help alleviate the situation.

Happy to agree to disagree on this

Let's just say that I have a little inside knowledge that the transport planning was a bit of an oversight...

The exits you highlighted are useful only if that's where you are heading to.

The jams along Shenton Way and the Raffles Boulevard are already very real. Time will tell if it gets better or worse over time. I am only too happy to stand corrected then As far as I can see, once the tenants start moving in, situation will get worse.

 

[epong]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

Actually when the tenants start to come in, the situation might not be bad as envisaged given that there are not enough parking lots at MBFC for drivers. You probably see a rush towards the MRT!

But really, the bad traffic around Marina Bay stems from the jams at Shenton and Raffles Boulevard, with or without MBFC. I park at Market Street and find that I spend more time getting out of the carpark and the immediate roads around Market Street, then on the roads outside CBD. Although I mentioned that URA Bayfront Ave is open for prepaid ("season"), I wouldn't want my car to be subjected to the natural elements.

 

[ricleong]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

There are ample season parking lots available to the public at The Sail @ $400 / month. Call management office at 65090970.

 

[DriveAllDay]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

There are ample season parking lots available to the public at The Sail @ $400 / month. Call management office at 65090970.

Thanks!

#17 on The Sail waiting list
#47 (moved from #55) on the MBFC waiting list


Grrrr.....

 

[epong]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

Actually if you are keen, call up the RQAM office and request for parking at the shopping mall's carpark.

 

[DriveAllDay]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

Actually if you are keen, call up the RQAM office and request for parking at the shopping mall's carpark.

Thanks.

Just checked -- the shopping mall carpark waitlist is the same as that of MBFC -- currently running to 140+!!!

Any kind souls in the Sail with an extra lot ? Would be so grateful to sublet the lot from you. Many thanks in advance.

 

[henry2703]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

don't say i say one...

a friend of mine, from SCB, wrote 4 emails to the mgt office of the mall... complain like shit...

she got a lot. no need to queue...

In her email, she basically justify them to release more lots, given the shopper traffic are not that great on weekdays.... blah blah blah...

 

[epong]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

There are about 2 levels of parking at MBFC. In recent days, I have saw one floor almost completely taken up. Looks like management might be reserving one floor for shoppers while releasing the other.

 

[DriveAllDay]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

Thanks Henry -- would be interesting to note who the lady is ... sure is persuasive. I have never been the "bang-table-till-you-get-it" sort; perhaps that's why I lose out.

Epong -- there's no daily parking at MBFC -- it's all season parking, and reserved for top management only. The other floor is for rest of SCB management moving in next month...

Was with colleagues checking MBFC out Friday afternoon, and decided to cab-pool on our way back. 30 min just to get a cab booking. By the time the cab made a long turn to opposite side of the street 30m away, the cab fare is already $10. Seriously, something is really messed up with the logistics planning.

 

[wt_know]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

poor planning and inadequate needs analysis .....

A case of putting the car before the horse
Until Singapore's world-class transport system is ready, allow for more parking lots in the CBD

04:46 AM Mar 25, 2011
by Conrad Raj
Looking for a car park in the Central Business District (CBD), especially at places like the Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) and other buildings in the bay area, can be very frustrating, especially for those working there.
For the 8,000-odd people working at the MBFC, there are only about 438 lots in the two office towers for tenants' use and approximately 248 lots at Central Park, or the development's retail centre, for the public.
As a senior manager at Standard Chartered Bank, which employs some 4,000 people at the MBFC, noted in exasperation: "We have to spend quite a considerable amount of time each month to ensure that we allot the 100-odd lots that we were given fairly and to the right people."
Why is this so?
This is because a few years ago, the Government felt that it had been over-generous in providing for parking lots in the CBD and decided that it was time to discourage people from driving into the city.
Things will get worse for car owners in the CBD when CapitaCommercial Trust, which owns the Market Street Car Park, decides to redevelop it into another office building later in the year. This means even fewer lots than the 700 lots available at the existing site.
Some three years ago, the Land Transport Authority decided that buildings had to adhere to regulations that had been tightened in 2002. As a result, buildings that came up after April 2008 were able to provide for fewer car parks and maximise on their other economic space.
So now new buildings in the CBD have to provide only one car lot per 425 sq m of office space compared with twice that previously. Building more car lots will mean eating into the space than can be rented out and obviously developers think that parking lots bring in less returns than other rentable or saleable space.
And I understand that even residential buildings - the Government is trying to encourage greater buzz in the CBD by having more residential units there - now need to provide less than the one space per apartment unit than was previously the case.
The reason for the restriction: The authorities wanted fewer cars in the CBD area to prevent road congestion. And that is like closing the stable doors after the horses have bolted because some years ago the Government, rightly or wrongly, decided to ease on car ownership and allowed more cars on the road than it now thinks is viable.
There had been previous attempts to restrict car park space in the CBD. Decades ago, buildings like Shaw Chambers and Moscow Narodny Bank Building, near Lau Pa Sat, were allowed to have very few car parks. Things became so bad that the Market Street Car Park and the Golden Shoe Car Park had to be built to ease the parking situation in the area.
Now, it looks like the authorities are out to restrict parking lots again.
Although I am not a car owner (I don't even have a licence to drive), I think the restrictions should have come after we have brought about a world-class transport system. For the MBFC, the Downtown Extension of the Circle Line is a few years away.
At present, the nearest subway stations are at least 15 minutes away at Tanjong Pagar or Raffles Place. And try getting a cab during peak hours - even calling for one is far from easy.
Why then the attempt to bring the buzz into the CBD area if you are going to make it harder for people to come into the city?
For sure, parking charges here in the CBD area are much lower than in cities like New York, London, Hong Kong and Tokyo, but then aren't we unique in trying to be better than these cities?
Why not allow buildings to provide for more parking lots until our world-class transport system is ready?
The current restrictions appear to be a case of putting the car before the horse.

Conrad Raj is editor-at-large at Today.

 

[totoseow]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

your vote is precious. speak with your votes.if u vote me. i will demolish the casinos too. use the debris fill up the bay front n build the biggest car park in asia. there will b spots for cars who wanna run lion too.

 

[epong]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

Bro, the first two floors - I meant the retail space when the shoppers can park. It is for both season and pay-per-hour.

Thanks Henry -- would be interesting to note who the lady is ... sure is persuasive. I have never been the "bang-table-till-you-get-it" sort; perhaps that's why I lose out.

Epong -- there's no daily parking at MBFC -- it's all season parking, and reserved for top management only. The other floor is for rest of SCB management moving in next month...

Was with colleagues checking MBFC out Friday afternoon, and decided to cab-pool on our way back. 30 min just to get a cab booking. By the time the cab made a long turn to opposite side of the street 30m away, the cab fare is already $10. Seriously, something is really messed up with the logistics planning.

 

[skeptikos]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

Hi,

Are you guys still looking for season parking in marina bay area?

Have a spare lot at One Shenton and looking to sell to anyone who needs it to park around the area. Was told by a colleague that Sail is charging $400 p/m for the public so looking at a slight discount at $380 p/m. If you need the lot please pm me your interest. Thanks!

 

[gr8golf88]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

Hi,

Are you guys still looking for season parking in marina bay area?

Have a spare lot at One Shenton and looking to sell to anyone who needs it to park around the area. Was told by a colleague that Sail is charging $400 p/m for the public so looking at a slight discount at $380 p/m. If you need the lot please pm me your interest. Thanks!

Parking at MBFC is $350 per month. Just FYI.

 

[lyrad]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

Hi all, sorry to highjack this thread, but have a season parking lot available for someone to take over at far east square. $265/mth, payable quarterly and have paid till end-August. Giving it up as managed to get a lot at my office.

PM me if interested. Thanks.

 

[jaskin]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

Oh man!!

I need a lot at One Shenton or MBFC... any one with a lot please sms me @ 9295- 48 six 5

 

[aleksandr]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

^ The Sail still have lots last I checked (last week of June). Office was moving to OUE Bayfront so I enquired around the area but was fortunate to get one in my building.

 

[inception]

Re: Wanted: Season parking MBFC

I think you'd find quite a few volunteers. Mind telling us which paper/publication you write for?

ST Reports: CBD carpark crunch looms
By Cheryl Lim and Esther Teo & Mark Tay
Friday, June 17, 2011

Drivers are scrambling to lock in alternative parking spaces in the Central Business District (CBD) as demolition day looms for the landmark Market Street Carpark.

The carpark, including its food court and all its shops, will be closed on June 30 and eventually torn down, CapitaCommercial Trust (CCT) said yesterday.

A towering $1.4 billion office building of up to 40 storeys will be built in its place, with its completion due by 2014.

All that is of no comfort to drivers. Waiting lists for downtown parking spots already run up to more than 400 names in some buildings, so the loss of the 704 spaces in Singapore's oldest multistorey carpark will add severely to the crisis.

CCT said existing season parking space holders - who buy their spaces on a monthly basis - were told in April that they needed to find alternative spaces.

There were 685 season parking holders in April, but that number has since been whittled down to 170, said a spokesman for CapitaCommercial Trust Management (CCTML), which manages CCT.

A list of alternative carparks in surrounding commercial buildings has also been given to the season parking holders.

These include those in China Square Central, Far East Square, One Fullerton and Fullerton Hotel in the Raffles Place and Collyer Quay areas, as well as in GB Building, AXA Tower and 80 Robinson Road around Shenton Way.

CCTML told The Straits Times yesterday that there were as many as 90 season carpark spaces in total still available in these buildings when it checked last week.

The company added that up to 250 parking spaces reserved at the Esplanade could be taken by the 170 season parking holders still at Market Street Carpark.

'When we first announced the news, there were some calls from the season carparkers, who asked for assistance in finding alternative parking,' the spokesman said. 'We have provided them the list of alternative carparking and advised them to contact the respective owners.'

Many drivers are increasingly worried over the carpark crunch, with long waiting lists and high season parking costs.

Lawyer Daniel Lim said the waiting list at Parliament House, near the Boat Quay area, is three to four months. With the spaces in the Market Street Carpark gone, the parking situation in the area is only going to be worse, he added.

Mr William See, a Market Street season parking holder, said he has tried to get a parking space in the area near Lau Pa Sat, where he works, but was turned down because he was not a tenant in those buildings.

'I have to park all the way at the Golden Shoe Carpark and walk to Lau Pa Sat now. It is very inconvenient as it is a 10-minute walk away,' he added.

A check with the management offices of some CBD buildings found that season parking remains in high demand.

Workers at the Marina Bay Financial Centre, One Raffles Quay and those displaced from the Market Street Carpark have been making inquiries, they added.

The Golden Shoe Carpark, which has a monthly season parking fee of $305, has a waiting list of about 400 names, while The Sail, at $400 a month, has about 40 on its list.

Only Fullerton Hotel, with a fee that will rise to $450 next month, still has spaces available for season parking.

Experts reckon the dire parking situation is unlikely to ease up.

New buildings in the CBD will have tighter limits imposed on the maximum number of carpark spaces allowed, said Mr Nicholas Mak, head of research at SLP International.

'Building more lots is unlikely, because it means less space available for offices, which are deemed to be more valuable,' he added.

Other analysts noted that unlike in Hong Kong, Singapore's CBD does not have sufficient infrastructure or transport and pedestrian links to support those who do not drive. The increased demand would also lead to a rise in season parking rates, they said.

Mr Ku Swee Yong, chief executive of property consultancy International Property Advisor, said some simple improvements could help ease the problem.

'Singapore could start building more above-ground linkways to connect the various buildings. We could also put in more covered walkways,' he noted.

The Market Street Carpark was built in 1964. Its redevelopment plans have been on the drawing board for more than 15 years, but it was only in 2008 that the authorities granted permission for the move. The redevelopment was deferred in 2009, owing to the financial crisis.

See also Cheryl Lim | LinkedIn