Raffles City Singapore

The development, initially called the Raffles International Centre, was announced in 1969. It was planned to cover an area stretching from the then-site of Raffles Institution up to the Cathay Building.[1] Due to soaring costs and a shortage of skilled workers, the plans were put on hold from 1973 to 1975[2] and approval for construction was not given until 1979.[3] That same year, the development was renamed Raffles City,[4] and the site was shrunken to only the old Raffles Institution location.[5]

Groundbreaking on the site took place on 14 August 1980 and it officially opened to the public on 3 October 1986.[6] The complex was designed by I. M. Pei in one of his earliest works in the city state. The complex contained The Westin Stamford Hotel, then the tallest in the world; The Westin Plaza, its smaller sister hotel; an office tower; a convention center and a shopping mall.

In the 1990s the shopping complex went under a major renovation, with a different look. In June 2005, the management announced that the basement section of the complex will be expanded, with 30 to 50 more shops and was completed in July 2006 with MPH Bookstores, food and beverage outlets and fashion shops occupying the extension. Gloria Jean's Coffees has also made a return to the country after exiting the country a few years ago. The complex is directly connected to City Hall MRT (Exit 'A") station by escalators from the building entrance and to Esplanade MRT station (Exit 'G') from Basement 2, which leads to the Esplanade Xchange and then to Marina Square.

At the conclusion of Westin's 15-year management contract with Raffles Holdings,[7] the hotels were both renamed on 1 January 2002, with The Westin Stamford becoming Swissôtel The Stamford and The Westin Plaza becoming Raffles The Plaza.[8] When Raffles Hotels was acquired by Fairmont in 2006, Raffles The Plaza was again renamed, becoming the Fairmont Singapore on 12 December 2007.[9]

On 19 March 2006, CapitaLand's real estate investment trust (REIT), CapitaCommercial Trust and CapitaMall Trust jointly acquired the development from Raffles Holdings for S$2.09 billion. The former will take up a 60 percent stake in the complex and the latter taking the remainder 40 percent.[10] The trusts' shareholders approved of the purchase of the complex in July 2006. The deal has been completed in August 2006 and the complex is owned by the two trusts.

On 20 August 2006, the new owners announced their plans to expand the retail space between 150,000 and 200,000 sq ft (19,000 m²) from its current 356,000 sq ft (33,100 m²), by using the space on the carpark floors on basements two and three. The two CapitaLand property trusts will spend S$86 million on the expansion. An underground link linking Esplanade and City Hall MRT stations opened on 15 July 2010.[11]

On 20 December 2021, CapitaLand announced the reconfiguration of 111,000 sq ft (10,300 m²) located on levels 1 to 3 to attract more specialty shops with new escalators installed to increase accessibility for shoppers, replacing the space currently occupied by department store One Assembly and previously Robinsons & Co., which will shut on 3 January 2022. The reconfiguration will feature new shop concepts and brands as part of an asset enhancement initiative, which will be completed by the fourth quarter of 2022.[12]

The 117th IOC Session in Singapore, was held from 2 to 9 July 2005 at the Raffles City Convention Centre on the fourth floor. Security at the complex was extremely tight during the event. At the IOC Session, London was awarded the 2012 Summer Olympics.