![](\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Tanjong_Pagar_Railway_Station_Singapore_-_20100619-02-1024x697.jpg?fit=1024%2C697\")
\nHistorical shophouses and modern skyscrapers make up the precinct, including the new Tanjong Pagar Centre. At 290m tall, it is currently the tallest building in Singapore. (Photo: GuoccoLand)
\nLocated in the heart of the city, Tanjong Pagar has evolved over time to become a hip and trendy place. Today, the area is home to an interesting mix of offices, hotels, eateries and clubs, making it an exciting place to live in.
\nBy Joanne Poh
\nEach morning, thousands of people in Singapore head to work in Tanjong Pagar. As part of the Central Business District (CBD), the Tanjong Pagar area has its fair share of modern skyscrapers and lunchtime crowds.
\nBut when evening falls, Tanjong Pagar morphs into a hip dining and nightlife district, home to some of the country\u2019s most stylish hotels, bars, restaurants and clubs.
\nWhat is more, as the availability of homes in the area rises, more people are seizing the chance to live in the very heart of the city.
\nThe making of a business centre
\nMore than a century ago, Tanjong Pagar played a key role in Singapore\u2019s transformation into a cosmopolitan business centre.
\nThe area was previously a humble fishing village. Its transformation began in the 19th century, when Keppel Harbour was built to maximise Singapore\u2019s strategic location as a trading post, since the estuary of the Singapore River, where trading activities were carried out prior, could no longer cope with the volume of trade.
\nAs the harbour off Tanjong Pagar was endowed with naturally deep waters, it was selected as the site of New Harbour, the construction of which was completed in 1886. It was later renamed Keppel Harbour in 1900.
\nTanjong Pagar became home to the many Chinese and Indian workers who came to Singapore to work on the docks. The Chinese and Indian temples in the Chinatown area, still in use today, are a living testament to these early immigrants.
\nWhile the opium dens and brothels of the late 19th and early 20th century are long gone, many of the area\u2019s original shophouses remain.
\nSee and be seen
\nToday, you are more likely to visit Tanjong Pagar to sip on an artisanal cocktail than to watch coolies labouring on the docks.
\nThe area is now one of Singapore\u2019s most fashionable districts. The colourful shophouses of yesteryear have been impeccably restored and are now home to businesses whose mission is to indulge a chic, trendy clientele determined to enjoy their after-work hours in style.
\nOne of the most notable entertainment zones in Tanjong Pagar is Duxton Hill, extremely popular with well-heeled professionals who work in the CBD. Luca Loco, a Mexican bar and restaurant, is one of the most popular joints of the moment thanks to its festive al fresco terrace.
\nJust a stone\u2019s throw away, Tras Street is a more low-key area where many excellent examples of prewar shophouses can be found. The stretch has its fair share of fashionable F&B establishments, including the evocatively-named Jekyll and Hyde, a broody cocktail bar.
\nIn proud defiance of Singapore\u2019s stuffy image, Tanjong Pagar also has the distinction of being the biggest gay nightlife hub in the country. Some of the longest-standing gay bars here are located on Neil Road.
\nTantric Bar is one of the more popular LGBT-friendly establishments on Neil Road and known for its party vibe. Those looking for respite from the raucous crowd can nip upstairs to the down-tempo May Wong\u2019s Cafe. The grand dame of the Tanjong Pagar LGBT scene is Taboo, one of Singapore\u2019s oldest gay clubs, with broad mainstream appeal.
\nThe proliferation of chi chi eateries in the area doesn\u2019t force those on a budget to leave with empty stomachs. Maxwell Food Centre has a legendary reputation in Singapore for its many storied stalls such as Tian Tian Chicken Rice, which has been endorsed by Anthony Bourdain himself.
\nWhile the interior is anything but fancy, the hawker centre, which was renovated in 2001, is a lunchtime favourite of the office crowd, and brings relief to clubbers looking for late-night supper options.
\nThe entertainment scene isn\u2019t the only thing that\u2019s noteworthy about Tanjong Pagar. The area is situated right beside the Chinatown district, the original ethnic Chinese enclave occupied by immigrants to Singapore in the years after Sir Stamford Raffles landed.
\nToday, historic shophouses lining both sides of Hokkien Street and Telok Ayer Street have been developed into stylish lunch hotspots for the CBD crowd, while further south on Temple Street, Mosque Street and Pagoda Street, the Chinatown district bustles with tourists.
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\nThe former Tanjong Pagar Railway Station is now a national monument, and is considered one of the most famous examples of art deco architecture in Singapore. (Photo: alicereneztay, Wikimedia Commons)
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\nOne of the best-loved historic sites in Tanjong Pagar is the now-closed Tanjong Pagar Railway Station, which served as the terminus of the Keretapi Tanah Melayu, linking Singapore to Peninsular Malaysia.
\nThe art deco-style main building has been gazetted as a national monument.\u00a0The upcoming Cantonment station on the MRT network\u2019s Circle Line will be constructed below the railway station, and there are also plans to integrate the latter into the Rail Corridor, so the site is likely to undergo significant transformation in the coming years.
\nThe future of Tanjong Pagar
\nTanjong Pagar continues to undergo transformation at a dizzying pace.
\nOne of the area\u2019s most hotly anticipated new developments is Tanjong Pagar Centre, an integrated development by GuocoLand.
\nDuncan White, Head of Office Services at Colliers International, Singapore, said: \u201cWith a successful leasing position and occupancy takeup of Guoco Tower at Tanjong Pagar Centre, the Tanjong Pagar micro market now has a leader in terms of high quality and high spec development.\u201d
\nWhite thinks Guoco Tower will be a game-changer. \u201cWith a mixed basket of occupiers in Guoco Tower, we may well see the Tanjong Pagar area become a market for all industries. We expect to see most of the new demand to come from the Tech, Media, Advertising and IT (TAMI) sector.
\n\u201cWith proximity to residential property, historical shophouses, up-and-coming F&B businesses and ever-expanding amenities and transportation links, Tanjong Pagar will attract corporations with innovation and differentiation at the forefront of their growth initiatives,\u201d he said.
\nOne major change that Tanjong Pagar will undergo in the coming years is the transition to not just a business and commercial hub, but a residential one as well, in line with the government\u2019s \u201cLive, Work and Play\u201d vision.
\nTricia Song, Head of Research at Colliers International, Singapore, said: \u201cIn the last few years, substantial transformation has been seen in the Tanjong Pagar precinct due to the refurbishment of 100 AM, completion of Orchid Hotel and the rejuvenation of interesting independent restaurants and bars along Tanjong Pagar Road and Club Street.
\n\u201cAs the precinct continues to see an influx of new retail spaces, the government\u2019s plan to transform the Tanjong Pagar precinct into a Greater Southern Waterfront area with a Live, Work and Play concept will come to fruition.\u201d
\nIndeed, it is Tanjong Pagar\u2019s proximity to not just the CBD but a range of lifestyle options that ensures the area will continue to be one of Singapore\u2019s most highly sought-after residential and commercial areas.
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