Published December 9, 2010
Many properties beckon buyers
They include PoMo, Tanglin Shopping Centre, bank branch and petrol stations
By EMILYN YAP
THINGS may be slowing down as the year comes to a close but activity in the property market remains vibrant with a number of assets - PoMo, Tanglin Shopping Centre, petrol stations and even a bank branch - up for sale.
The 99-year leasehold office-retail building is at 1 Selegie Road, near educational institutions such as Singapore Management University and the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. It is 10 storeys high, has a gross floor area (GFA) of 234,996 square feet and a net lettable area (NLA) of 182,060 square feet.
Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) is handling the sale of PoMo, and expressions of interest are due on Jan 28.
Going by recent transactions nearby, PoMo could fetch around $255 million or $1,400 per square foot (psf) of NLA, said the firm's national director of investments Anthony Barr. For instance, IOI Plaza at the corner of Middle Road and Prinsep Street changed hands for $139 million or about $1,381 psf of NLA last month.
Mr Barr expects to see 'strong interest' in PoMo, 'given its ideal location, relevant consumer demographic, recent asset enhancement works and current tenant demand for quality retail and commercial space in that area'.
Lend Lease and the fund had bought Paradiz Centre jointly for $138 million in 2006. They subsequently enhanced and re-positioned the complex, bringing in more food and beverage outlets and retail stores.
JLL is also managing the sale of two petrol stations at Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim and a three-storey building in Boon Lay on behalf of JTC Corporation.
JLL will put the properties up for auction next Wednesday. The petrol stations have a 20-year lease while the building - currently used as a branch by United Overseas Bank - has a 10-year lease.
Over in the Orchard area, Tanglin Shopping Centre has been officially put up for sale via a tender. The reserve price is $1.25 billion, which works out to around $4,021 psf of potential GFA.
The freehold complex has a site area of around 68,512 square feet and a plot ratio of 4.2+. There are now 363 retail, office and medical units there.
BT reported last month that owners controlling at least 80 per cent of the share value and strata area of Tanglin Shopping Centre had agreed to the collective sale.
ERA Realty Network is the agent for the sale and the tender closes on Jan 25. The winning bidder can re-develop the shopping centre into a residential-retail building, or a commercial-retail block with a hotel annex, it said.
Separately, Knight Frank is marketing units in A'Posh BizHub, a 60-year leasehold light industrial building at Yishun Avenue 6 developed by OKH Holdings. According to Knight Frank director of business space (industrial) Lim Kien Kim, each unit has an average size of 1,000 square feet and is priced from $300,000.
Source: www.businesstimes.com.sg
