CapitaLand announced yesterday that it will build its first Raffles City integrated development in Shenzhen. Named Raffles City Shenzhen, it is located in the commercial district of Shenzhen City’s Nanshan District.

Raffles City Shenzhen will be a one-stop dining, shopping and lifestyle destination. With this latest addition, CapitaLand’s ‘Raffles City’ branded portfolio now totals eight properties internationally, with six across China, one in Singapore and another in Bahrain.

Raffles City Shenzhen, designed by international architectural and design firm Benoy, is an integrated development that will comprise a Grade A office tower, a shopping mall, and a hotel or serviced residence component.

Raffles City Shenzhen is situated on a site that was acquired by CapitaLand in 2008. The site is one of the largest commercial sites in Shenzhen, at 53,725 sqm in size and with a gross floor area of 237,500 sqm. In addition to the Raffles City Shenzhen complex, CapitaLand will also be developing for strata sale an office tower, residential apartments, small-office-home-office (SOHO) units, and retail space. The entire project, comprising Raffles City Shenzhen and the strata-sale components, is estimated to have a project development estimate (PDE) of approximately RMB 6 billion or $1.25 billion. Planning and development works for the entire development are underway and it is slated to be completed in phases from 2014.

Liew Mun Leong, President and CEO of CapitaLand Group said, “With 15 years of successful track record in China, CapitaLand is in a strategic position to benefit from China’s strong economic growth. Raffles City is essentially an integrated mixed development of shopping malls, offices, hotel or serviced apartments located in strategically heavy human traffic locations and designed by world-class architects. The first project, Raffles City Singapore, was designed by world-renowned architect I.M. Pei and has operated very successfully for the last 23 years. It is now a well sought-after franchise development under CapitaLand Group.”