Prime CBD Land Is Usually For the Rich. Marina South Is About to Break the Rule.

In Singapore, "wellness" usually comes with a price tag: country club memberships, $200-an-hour Sentosa spa sessions, exclusive private retreats. For most people working in the Central Business District, a real place to decompress within walking distance simply doesn't exist, unless they're willing to pay for it.

We live in a concrete jungle where every square foot is optimized for commercial value. The result: high burnout rates and nowhere accessible to recharge without spending a fortune. Until now.

That's about to change. The Singapore Tourism Board has awarded a 4-hectare waterfront site in Marina South, next to Marina Barrage and Gardens by the Bay, to Therme Group for a S$1 billion wellness attraction. And unlike almost every other piece of prime land this close to Raffles Place, it isn't being positioned as an exclusive playground for the wealthy.

Where exactly is Marina South?

Marina South sits just south of the Central Business District and Raffles Place MRT, wedged between Marina Boulevard, Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay and East Coast Parkway. It's some of the most valuable waterfront land in the country, the kind of site that would typically be reserved for luxury residences, hotels, or corporate headquarters.

Affordable, not free, and that's the point

The Singapore Tourism Board announced on 4 November 2025 that Therme Group had won the tender to build and run the attraction, targeted to open by 2030. Therme Group Asia and Therme Singapore are chaired by Mah Bow Tan, a former Cabinet minister, who has said the goal is to "democratise wellness": tickets won't be free, but they'll be priced closer to a spa or water park visit than a five-star retreat, with reports benchmarking full-day access at other Therme sites around S$56.

Not just another park

This isn't a matter of planting a few extra trees along a walking path. The plans call for a dedicated attraction integrating:

• Therapeutic, nature-based landscapes designed for healing and recovery
• Public wellness facilities positioned directly next to the financial district
• Green, low-commercialization space in one of the most commercially valuable pockets of Singapore

What this means if you're planning your next home or investment

Marina South is setting a new benchmark for how prime, CBD-adjacent land in Singapore gets used. For decades, proximity to the CBD has been sold purely as proximity to work — shorter commutes, walkable offices, city-fringe convenience. This project reframes that value proposition entirely: living near the CBD may soon also mean living near one of the most significant public wellness spaces in the country.

For buyers and investors evaluating property near the city centre, that's a meaningful shift in what "prime location" delivers — beyond just rental yield and MRT distance.

Read the full vision

The tender was announced by the Singapore Tourism Board and Therme Group on 4 November 2025, and covered by local outlets including The Straits Times, AsiaOne, Mothership and The Edge Singapore. Search "Marina South Therme wellness attraction" to see the full coverage.

Sources: Singapore Tourism Board announcement, 4 November 2025; local media coverage including The Straits Times, AsiaOne and Mothership.