http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real...-on-the-market

77 Robinson Road back on the market

Seller may also be open to selling Anson House, which it bought last year, on an en bloc basis, observers say

By Kalpana Rashiwala

[email protected]@KalpanaBT

Lynette Khoo

[email protected]@LynetteKhooBT

Sep 2, 2015


THE former SEB Asset Management, which has been acquired by Savills Investment Management, is set to put 77 Robinson Road on the market again, more than four years after it last attempted to sell the 35-storey office building.

The property was formerly known as SIA Building.

Market watchers say the pricing expectation this time is in the region of S$2,200 psf on net lettable area (NLA), which would work out to S$649 million based on net lettable area of about 295,000 sq ft.

When SEB last offered the property in 2011, market talk had it that it was eyeing S$2,300-2,500 psf - translating to S$678.5 million to S$737.5 million. Colliers clinched the job for the expression of interest (EOI) exercise back then.

This time around, DTZ is understood to have landed the job. The property consulting group is also expected to market the property through an EOI exercise.

The building is on a site with a balance lease term of 77.5 years; the lease on the site was topped up to 99 years in February 1994. The property has some 180 car parking lots.

SEB last year bought Anson House - a 13-storey office block - for S$172 million or S$2,252 psf on 76,362 sq ft NLA; at the time, the balance lease for the site was 82 years. That marked the fifth time the office block had changed hands in eight years. SEB drew up plans for a strata subdivision of the building for strata sales. Given that the strata office market has shown signs of running out of fizz, market observers said it would not be surprising if SEB would be open to selling the building en bloc.

SEB acquired 77 Robinson Road in April 2007 for S$526 million or S$1,783 psf from a CLSA Capital Partners-linked fund, which in turn had clinched it 10 months earlier, in June 2006, at S$343.88 million or about S$1,165 psf from Singapore Airlines.

77 Robinson Road's maximum development potential has been tapped; under Urban Redevelopment Authority's Master Plan 2014, the site is zoned for commercial use with an 11.2+ plot ratio (ratio of maximum potential gross floor area to site area).

Nevertheless, there may be scope to do some asset enhancement work on the property, presenting potential upside for a new owner, say observers.

The property was completed in 1997. This was a S$175 million redevelopment of the original 17-storey SIA Building, which was completed in 1968, according to earlier media reports.