The development, initially called the Raffles International Centre, was first announced in 1969, planned to cover an area stretching from the then-site of Raffles Institution up to the Cathay Building. However, due to soaring costs and a shortage of skilled workers, the plans were put on hold from 1973 to 1975. However, due to cost issues, approval for construction was not given until 1979. That same year, the development was renamed Raffles City, and the development was shrunken to only the old Raffles Institution site.
Construction
Groundbreaking on the site took place on 14 August 1980 and officially opened to the public on 3 October 1986. The complex was designed by I. M. Pei in one of his earliest works in the city state.
Renovations
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 station by escalators from the building entrance and to Esplanade MRT station from Basement 2, which leads to the Esplanade Xchange and then to Marina Square.
On 19 March 2006, CapitaLand's real estate investment trust, 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. 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.
Expansion
On 20 August 2006, the new owners announced their plans to expand the retail space between 150,000 and from its current, 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.
Buildings
The complex consists of the one-time world's tallest hotel and currently the world's fourteenth tallest hotel, the 73-storey Swissôtel The Stamford, a 28-storey high-end twin-tower hotel, the Fairmont Singapore and the rectangular 42-storey Raffles City Tower, an office block.
Tenants
Raffles City has several anchor tenants, such as supermarket Jason's Market Place, as well as department stores Robinsons and Marks & Spencer. M&S has opened since 2001, when Japanese departmental storeSogo vacated the space and the basement supermarket in 2000 after the company ran into financial problems.
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.
