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Singapore

Katong Shopping Centre relaunches for en bloc sale, price stays at S$638 million

The freehold property was put up for collective sale in April at the same price.

Katong Shopping Centre relaunches for en bloc sale, price stays at S$638 million

Katong Shopping Centre sits on a corner land plot of 86,924 sq ft. (Photo: Edmund Tie & Company)

SINGAPORE: Katong Shopping Centre has made a fourth attempt at collective sale, at an indicative price of S$638 million (US$473 million), said real estate firm Edmund Tie in a news release on Monday (Jul 10).

The freehold property in District 15 is located on a corner land plot of 86,924 sq ft, facing both Mountbatten Road and Haig Road.

It was previously put up for collective sale in April at the same price. On the first two occasions in 2016 and 2017 - both handled by Cushman & Wakefield - the reserve price was set at S$630 million.

In response to CNA's query, Edmund Tie's head of investment advisory Swee Shou Fern said that while there was "keen interest from developers" in the previous exercise, the tender coincided with the government's announcement of new property market cooling measures on Apr 26.

This "resulted in developers taking a pause to monitor the market's reception to the latest round of measures", she added.

"Since then, the market had witnessed strong buyers’ reception to the recent residential projects in mixed-use developments. What’s more, the site has attractive attributes.”

The development currently comprises a seven-storey podium block and a five-storey annex block, accommodating a total of 425 strata shop and office units as well as a privately held carpark. The total gross floor area of the development is approximately 280,000 sq ft, reflecting a gross plot ratio of 3.223.

Under Master Plan 2019, Katong Shopping Centre is zoned for commercial and residential use at a gross plot ratio 3.0. The site can be redeveloped into a landmark integrated development at its existing plot ratio of 3.223, with the option of converting the residential component into serviced apartments, subject to authorities’ approval.

The indicative price of S$638 million works out to S$2,277 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr) based on its existing gross floor area.

Ms Swee said: “Katong Shopping Centre offers investors a rarely available sizeable site with the coveted freehold tenure for a mixed-use development; what’s more in the popular and well-established East Coast vicinity.

Based on an average unit size of 100 sq m (or approximately 1,076 sq ft), the new development can accommodate about 156 residential apartments, she said. The retail component can feature up to about 112,000 sq ft in gross floor area.

"The popularity of such mixed-use developments – albeit with 99-year leasehold tenure – is seen from strong buyers’ reception to recent project launches, including The Reserve Residences, Lentor Modern, Pasir Ris 8, Canninghill Piers, Midtown Modern and Piccadilly Grand," Ms Swee added.

“Hence, Katong Shopping Centre, the property – with its strong site attributes, including the freehold tenure, location in a well-established district, proximity to reputable education institutions and city centre, among others – provides developers with the prized opportunity to carve a landmark mixed-use development that can cater to today’s modern lifestyle,” she said.

Edmund Tie also pointed out that the shopping centre has a wide catchment of more than 6,000 private housing units within a 500m radius from the site. And this catchment will further expand with the upcoming completion of several new projects in the area, such as Tembusu Grand, The Continuum and Grand Dunman.

It also highlighted the upcoming Marine Parade MRT station on the Thomson-East Coast Line, which will be operational next year and is located 500m from the site.

Interested parties may submit their offer by 3pm on Aug 14.

Source: CNA/ga(gr)
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