Realty Centre in Tanjong Pagar sold for S$148m, below reserve price

The buyer, The Place Holdings, plans to develop a mixed-use building and use it as its headquarters


Tue, Apr 23, 2019


REALTY Centre, an office building in Tanjong Pagar, has been sold for S$148 million in the year's first commercial en bloc sale, although the figure falls short of the reserve price.

Marketing agent Cushman & Wakefield had put the freehold 12-storey office building up for collective sale with a reserve price of S$165 million in January.

The buyer is Singapore-listed The Place Holdings, which intends to redevelop the property into a mixed-use commercial and residential tower subject to regulatory approvals. The building will also serve as the company's headquarters, according to Singapore Exchange (SGX) filings on Monday night.

The Place deals in branding, events organising and tourism-related business development, and is backed by China's The Place Investment Group.

Realty Centre has a land area of about 11,000 sq feet and is zoned for commercial use under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's 2014 Master Plan. It has a plot ratio of 5.6 and a maximum storey height of 35 storeys.

But Cushman & Wakefield noted that under the recently announced CBD Incentive Scheme, Realty Centre falls under the Anson precinct. This means that the property is expected to enjoy bonus plot ratios of between 25 per cent and 30 per cent if there is a change of use to either residential and commercial (+25 per cent) or residential with commercial on first storey (+30 per cent).

Its director of capital markets, Christina Sim, called Realty Centre a "versatile site" sitting on the fringe of a location which will be undergoing "massive urban rejuvenation and transformation".

The property is near the Tanjong Pagar MRT station on the East-West Line and the future Prince Edward station on the Circle Line.