SINGAPORE (July 7): As one of Singapore’s oldest companies, Boustead Singapore has cycled through numerous businesses, including commodity trading, tin smelting, shipping and the distribution of consumer goods.

The company has stayed in business since it was founded in 1828, thanks to its ability to constantly reinvent itself.

Today, it has three divisions: industrial real estate solutions, held through its 51% stake in its industrial property arm Boustead Projects; energy-related engineering; and geospatial technology.

Now, the engineers at Boustead Projects are turning their attention to designing something a little simpler than what they are used to, but with just as much promise: a multi-tenanted business park at Mediapolis, a 19ha hub in one-north created by Jurong Town Corp for the infocomm, media, physical sciences and engineering sectors.

The 12-storey building, which has yet to be named, has a gross floor area (GFA) of almost 40,000 sq m.

About 6,800 sqm will be reserved for start-ups that have graduated from the JTC LaunchPad @ one-north, which provides up to 100 sq m of space to Singapore-based start-ups that are five years old or younger.300 sq m will be also allocated for collaborative spaces, with 1,500 sq m for a shared media facility.

Boustead Projects’ involvement in Mediapolis is more than an opportunistic bet on this segment of Singapore’s growth.

It is part of a much larger transformation at its parent company, which has expanded its mandate to acquire or invest in “innovation-driven companies and start-ups”.

Wills the 189-year-old company’s efforts to lure start-ups give the staid stock a fillip?

Find out what we think in this week’s cover story of The Edge Singapore (Issue 787, week of July 10), now available at newsstands, bookstores, gas stations and 7-11 outlets.