City Developments Limited
City Developments Limited, also commonly referred to by its abbreviation, CDL, or as CityDev, is a Singaporean multinational real estate operating organisation. CDL has developed many types of properties from shopping malls to integrated developments.
History
City Developments Limited was founded on 7 September 1963 as a property company, initially starting with eight employees in Amber Mansions on Orchard Road. The company subsequently listed on the Malayan Stock Exchange in November the same year.When the company first started, it built its first project in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, a 200-unit bungalow development called Fresh Breezes, which was completed in 1965. With Fresh Breezes, CDL introduced the concept of "show house" as a sales technique, which was "believed to be unique in Asia". It allows prospective buyers to preview how a property would look like before committing themselves to buy the property. It proceeded to build its second project in Johor Bahru called Marine Vista, a project that has expansive views of the Straits of Johor. CDL built its first Singapore project called City Towers in Bukit Timah, which was completed in 1966. This was said to be Singapore's first high-rise project. It also built Singapore's first condo project the same year called Clementi Park.
CDL was unprofitable for its first seven years' of operations, with the race riots in 1969 and withdrawal of British troops from Singapore affecting the property markets in Malaysia and Singapore. Thus, CDL was forced to sell its properties in Johor Bahru and consolidated itself into the Singapore market. Hong Leong Group began to invest in CDL in 1969, buying a substantial stake which allowed them to place three directors on CDL's board. In 1972, Kwek Leng Beng, then an executive in Hong Leong Group, led an acquisition of a controlling stake in CDL, transforming CDL into the core publicly traded entity of Hong Leong Group. Kwek later became the managing director of CDL in 1974, and the executive chairman in 1995 after the death of his father, Kwek Hong Png. Riding on the strong economic growth which transformed Singapore into an industrialised nation, CDL grew rapidly with a market capitalisation of in 1995. Its flagship building, the Republic Plaza, was officially opened on 18 January 1998 by then Prime Minister of Singapore Goh Chok Tong.
With Hong Leong Group's investments into CDL, CDL's industrial properties was offloaded into Hong Leong Holdings, a subsidiary of Hong Leong Group. It then diversified into hospitality industry through the establishment of CDL Hotels International in 1989. CDLHI acquired hotel properties across Asia, Europe, and United States. Millennium & Copthorne Hotels was eventually floated London Stock Exchange in 1996, and more hotel properties and brands were acquired and consolidated under M&C. M&C also would come to manage hotels owned by other firms across the world. As part of a restructuring exercise in 1999, CDLHI renamed to City e-Solutions Limited in 2000 with a focus on CDL's efforts to develop hospitality related Internet businesses and other e-commerce business initiatives in various industries.
CDL weathered through a recession that Singapore slid into in 2008 as an effect of the Great Recession. Its financial performance was affected by its exposure to the Sterling Pound, as the Singapore dollar had strengthened against it, via its United Kingdom-centric M&C. However, it managed to remain one of the largest real estate development firms in Singapore post recession.
In June 2019, M&C's board agreed to recommend a takeover offer, valuing the business at £2.23 billion, from CDL for the shares it does not already own. The transaction became unconditional in September 2019. M&C was delisted from LSE on 11 October 2019, and effectively making M&C a full subsidiary of CDL.
Sustainability and social efforts
CDL formalised its sustainability efforts in 1995 with the adoption of its ethos Conversing as we Construct. In 2003, CDL established its corporate environment, health and safety policy. It then acquired ISO 14001 certification from the local governing authority, Building and Construction Authority in the same year. It subsequently acquired certifications in ISO 50001 – Energy Management System in 2014, and ISO 14064-1 – on quantification and reporting greenhouse gas inventory in 2016, ahead of its competitors in the property development industry.In 1998, CDL became the first developer to install energy saving lifts, which allowed up to 50% savings of energy usage, in a residential property project, the Florida Executive Condominium. It also installed twin-chute pneumatic refuse collection system in selected condominiums, where refuse and recyclables, disposed separately at residents' doorsteps, being transported to a central collection area.
In 2009, CDL developed the 11 Tampines Concourse, Asia's first CarbonNeutral development, and City Square Mall, Singapore's first "eco-mall" with a number of eco-friendly facilities. In 2012, CDL sought to retrofit Republic Plaza, and upgraded its BCA Green Mark category from Gold to Platinum in the process. Its retrofits included an upgraded chiller plant, energy efficient lights, and motion sensors to reduce energy wastage. In 2017, CDL issued a green bond to repay a loan for the retrofitting efforts, the first such bond in Singapore.
In 2008, CDL adopted Global Reporting Initiative's reporting framework for its sustainability report, becoming the first in Singapore to do so, which eventually was given an A+ rating in 2012's edition. In the same year, CDL also had started disclosing its carbon emissions with the Carbon Disclosure Project publicly, making it the first Singaporean company to do so. CDL would eventually score itself A grades in 2019. In 2019, according to Corporate Knights, CDL had the second highest score in terms of sustainability in Asia Pacific. In 2020, the company was ranked third. Reasons for this included increase in energy usage.
In addition, CDL was one of the first companies in Singapore to be recognised for gender equality efforts along with DBS Bank in the first Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index published in 2018.
Group structure
, CDL reported having 248 subsidiaries, 53 associated companies, 12 trusts and 6 limited partnerships.Notable subsidiaries
CBM
Established in 1971, CBM Pte Ltd provided in-house engineering, cleaning and security services for CDL's properties. In 2007, capitalising on the capabilities in relation to facilities management gained over the years, CBM began taking on contracts from external clients across different sectors, such as Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Home Affairs. CBM also had established presence in Qatar, Thailand, and Taiwan. In 2011, CBM extended itself into developing carpark equipment for commercial and government owned carparks in Singapore, then carpark management services in Taiwan in 2014.Millennium & Copthorne Hotels
CDL had diversified its property investments after being controlled by Hong Leong Group, beginning with the establishment of CDL Hotels International in 1989. Through CDLHI, CDL purchased hotels first within the Asian region, then further acquisitions in United States and Europe. With its acquired hotels being renamed to include the Millennium brand, CDLHI established the Millennium Hotels And Resorts global brand in 1995. On 8 October 1995, Aer Lingus sold the Copthorne Hotels to CDL for. Millennium & Copthorne Hotels was eventually floated London Stock Exchange in 1996 and more hotel properties and brands were acquired and consolidated under M&C. Concurrently, CDLHI became City e-Solutions Limited to focus on hospitality related Internet businesses. M&C also would come to manage hotels owned by other firms across the world. In 2019, CDL took M&C private, turning M&C a wholly owned subsidiary.Notable partnerships
In 2018, CDL and CapitaLand teamed up as a consortium for the Sengkang Central tender, which they eventually won with a top bid of S$777.8 million. Details of the development were released the following year with completion by 2022, being a 3.7-hectare mixed-use development next to Buangkok MRT station with a three-storey mall, a hawker centre and childcare centre, a community club which will be Singapore's largest and a 680-unit condominium. The condo and mall have since been named the Sengkang Grand Residences and Sengkang Grand Mall.In 2019, CDL became involved in a consortium with CapitaLand and Ascott Residence Trust to redevelop the strata titles that Liang Court shopping mall and its adjacent buildings, a hotel and a serviced apartment, are on into an integrated development of a shopping mall, hotel, serviced apartments, and private residential towers. CDL and CapitaLand came to own Liang Court after a purchase in the same year.