Recommendation for District in which to setup office

[tazzz]

My company is setting up a small (first year 6 people, growing to about 15 year 2 and 3) sales office in Singapore. We are operating in the IT security sector. Our experience in the US and the UK has been to establish offices outside the proven business centers (we are for example a bit outside London) : you get better office prices, and in some cases lower average salaries because employees do not need to commute.

Would appreciate recommendations for districts outside the 01 and 02 business district of Singapore, suitable for IT companies, to start our search.

Thanks

[heikal]

you can try the paya ubi techno park area. that's in d13/14. also changi business park near tanah merah. can be quite a bitch to get there on public transport though.
you can try getting a lease in the capitol building/stamford house. good to start as rents can be low. landlord is the singapore land authority. just be prepared to move in 1-2 years time as they're just waiting for a tender for the piece of land.

[jpatokal]

Alexandra Technopark and International Business Park are also popular with IT companies. Don't expect anybody to agree to a lower salary though; quite the opposite, since while getting to the center on public transport is easy, commuting across the island can be quite a pain. (Most people in Sg do not have cars.)

For a less traditional office, quite a few IT startups seem to like refurbished shophouses, rentals for 2nd/3rd stories are reasonable and you can get a fairly central location at a good price. Expanding your office can be tough though, and obviously maintenance for an old building is a much bigger issue.