Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Tanglin Shopping Centre tries for 4th en-bloc sale at S$828 million

SINGAPORE — Tanglin Shopping Centre will be gunning for a collective sale with an asking price of S$828 million, its marketing agent Savills Singapore announced. This will be its fourth try at an en-bloc sale. 

A view of Tanglin Shopping Centre, which houses retail shops, food and entertainment outlets as well as offices.

A view of Tanglin Shopping Centre, which houses retail shops, food and entertainment outlets as well as offices.

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp
  • Tanglin Shopping Centre will be trying for a collective sale for the fourth time
  • Its asking price this round is S$828 million
  • This works out to a price of S$2,642 per sqf per plot ratio
  • An analyst said the S$2,642 is comparable to prices of older strata-title malls along Orchard Road, which generally go for around S$2,500

SINGAPORE — Tanglin Shopping Centre will be gunning for a collective sale with an asking price of S$828 million, its marketing agent Savills Singapore announced. This will be its fourth try at an en-bloc sale. 

In a press release on Monday (Dec 13), the property consultancy said that the ageing commercial building, located on a freehold site in the Tanglin area of Orchard Road, will go on sale on Tuesday. 

With a site spanning 68,512 sqf and an existing gross floor area of 313,435 sqf, an asking price of S$828 million would mean that it is going for a price of S$2,642 per sqf per plot ratio, assuming full commercial usage. 

In 2011, the shopping centre located within Singapore’s shopping belt first launched a collective sale but it fell through when its asking price of S$1.25 billion was not met. 

The reserve price for the second attempt was then reduced to S$1 billion in 2014, but the prerequisite of getting at least 80 per cent of owners to agree to the sale was not met.

TODAY understands that the price was again cut to around S$900 million in 2017 when the owners were trying a third time. Again, there were not enough votes to call for a public tender. 

The land is now zoned as a commercial site with an allowable gross plot ratio of 4.2, the Urban Redevelopment Authority's 2019 master plan showed.

The site has a height control of up to 20 storeys. 

The existing property has 12 storeys and two basement levels, with a total of 364 office and retail units occupying these floors, as well as an eight-storey car park. 

One development alternative would be to apportion 60 per cent of the gross floor area to commercial use and the rest for residential or hotel use, Savills said.

WHAT ANALYSTS SAY

Independent property analyst Ong Kah Seng said that Tanglin Shopping Centre's price of S$2,642 per sqf per plot ratio is comparable to prices of older strata-title malls along Orchard Road, which generally go for around S$2,500. 

Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao reported that Ming's Arcade, a smaller strata-titled building just slightly down the road from Tanglin Shopping Centre, is also going for a collective sale with a reserve price of S$128 million, which translates to about S$2,325 per sqf per plot ratio. 

Analysts who spoke to TODAY said that the decline in asking price of Tanglin Shopping Centre shows that the owners have become more realistic. 

Mr Ong said that the challenging retail environment, made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic, could have led existing owners to lower their expectations, instead of always trying to push their luck in the hope of a windfall. 

It also shows that the owners are very keen to ensure that the en-bloc attempt goes through this time, he added.

Mr Nicholas Mak, head of research and consultancy at real estate firm ERA, said: "A lower price means a better chance of the sale being successful."

Although the location of the site is very good, Mr Mak said that developers may be more willing to pay a better price if it can be redeveloped into a mixed-use project, where hotel or residential uses can be included. 

This is because a fully commercial development may pose some challenges given that the retail environment is still affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

"How much developers want to pay depends on a few factors, like what are the profitable features in the development," he added.

Analysts also said that the timing to try for a collective sale is just right. 

This is because developers are showing more interest in acquiring private land through en-bloc sales given that their unsold inventory continues to fall and there is depleting landbank, Mr Mak said. 

Related topics

Property Tanglin Shopping Centre en bloc sale orchard road

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to our newsletter for the top features, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.