ABN Amro Bank's newest branch, its first in the heartland, has opened on the second level atrium of HDB Hub in Toa Payoh. (Straits Times 9 Dec 2002) (H3)

  LevelOne, a collection of 106 small retail space modelled after Japan's fashionable Shinjuku and Harajuku fashion districts, has opened in Far East Plaza. The S$8 million project, started by the building's landlord Far East Organisation (FEO), occupies some 45,000 sq ft ground-floor space vacated by department store Metro in June. (Straits Times 9 Dec 2002) (A15)

  The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will have a new HQ which will bring all of its 3,700 employees under one roof at a site next to the Buona Vista MRT station in 2006. Construction of the 120,000 sq m building will cost about S$250 million. LTA's deputy chief executive LOW Tien Sio told The Business Times earlier this week that the rental from the new HQ would offset the cost of building it. (Straits Times 11 Jul 2002) (H7)

  A new 1-km-long road linking Hougang to Sengkang opens today. Sengkang Central Road, which has two lanes on both sides, joins Buangkok Drive and Compassvale Drive in Sengkang New Town. (Straits Times 15 Jun 2002) (H11)

  Singapore's largest sports and recreation centre, costing S$6 million, is being built at Turf City in Bukit Timah. In a year's time, the 30-ha old race track at the former Bukit Timah Turf Club will be converted into eight football fields, a baseball pitch, an archery field and 14 tennis courts. The horse racing centre was closed and moved to kranji in 1999. (Straits Times 15 Jun 2002) (H1)

  A grand 23-day festival of the arts will mark the opening of The Esplanade - Singapore's newest and biggest arts landmark - starting from 12 Oct 2002. Some 20 major arts events, including performances by American opera diva Jessye Norman, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, will light up the arts scene. Also, no fewer than 600 free acts, from street theatre to tightrope walkers and acrobats, have been lined up to bring the crowds to the waterfront venue. (Straits Times 24 May 2002) (1)

  HDB's 5,000-strong workforce will move into the new HDB Centre headquarters in Toa Payoh Central on 10 Jun 2002. The centre has 26 office units and 75 retail and service units, totalling 30,000 sq m of space, for lease. HDB Centre's anchor tenants are NTUC Fairprice, Starbucks, McDonald's and Popular Bookstore. (Straits Times 9 May 2002) (A16)

  Singapore's first garden spa will open on Sentosa island in November 2002. Spa Botanica, a S$10 million facility on a site the size of a football field, will be located next to the Beaufort Hotel. It will have 14 indoor treatment rooms and six outdoor pavilions. Spa fans in Singapore spent S$120 million in treatments in 2001. (Straits Times 6 May 2002) 

  Merlion settles into new home at One Fullerton

  A new viaduct which runs above Telok Blangah Road, starting before the junction at Keppel Road and ending at Telok Blangah Street 31, will be opened tomorrow. Two surveillance cameras will be mounted along the 2.4km stretch to keep a watch-out for vehicle breakdowns and accidents. (Straits Times 26 Apr 2002) (H5)

  The new Supreme Court complex, on the site of the former Colombo Building, will be ready in 2005. Designed by British architect Norman Foster and his team from Foster & Partners, the complex will house 27 courtrooms and be linked to the existing Supreme Court by an underground tunnel. (Straits Times 22 Apr 2002) (3)

  A new heritage centre will open in Chinatown in July 2002. Called the Chinatown Heritage Centre, it occupies three restored pre-war shophouses in Pagoda Street and will help Singaporeans and tourists find out about the area's history. The centre is developed jointly by Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the National Heritage Board (NHB). It is part of the Chinatown Experience Guide Plan initiated by the Government in 1998 to revitalise the district. (Straits Times 8 Apr 2002) (H6)

  A new office building - The Atrium@Orchard , located next to Plaza Singapura, will be completed by the end of the month. The complex has two office towers - 10 storeys high and six storeys high. In all, 359,000 sq ft of office space and 16,000 sq ft of retail space will be available. The Atrium and the new Dhoby Ghaut MRT interchange which is integrated with it cost its developer, Land Transport Authority (LTA), S$268 million. (Straits Times 6 Apr 2002) (H1)

  The ground-breaking ceremony for Singapore Management University's (SMU) new city campus at Bras Basah was held yesterday. The S$400 million city campus will open in 2005. A 560-m air-conditioned underground tunnel, lined with shops and food outlets, will be opened to the public so that anyone can stroll in cool comfort from one end of Bras Basah Road to the junction of Victoria Street and Stamford Road. The walkway connects SMU's five buildings. By the time the city campus is ready, the campus population will swell from the present 900 to 3,800. SMU president Ron Frank expects 6,000 undergraduates and 400 faculty staff members by 2010. (Straits Times 28 Mar 2002) (4)

  The Ang Mo Kio bus interchange was closed yesterday to make way for redevelopment of the area. A new temporary interchange at Ang Mo Kio Ave 8, a five-minute walk away, now serves residents there. About 50,000 passengers go through the interchange each day. By 2006, an air-conditioned bus interchange will be built at the site of the 18-year old bus interchange. It will be the third here to be air-conditioned. The first one will be at Toa Payoh, which will be opened in May, and the other is the Sengkang Terminal, due to be completed by the end of the year. (Straits Times 25 Mar 2002) (H3)

  Commuters will soon be able to ride the MRT train all the way to the airport on the new 6-km long extension. The Straits Times understands that the new airport station, located between Terminal 2 and the future Terminal 3, could open in the next few days. The airport line extends from the Tanah Merah MRT station on the East-West line. (Straits Times 6 Feb 2002)(H1)