Fragrance Group selling former HQ building in Changi Road for S$28.8m

Separately, several conservation shophouse properties in Chinatown are also changing hands

Sat, Nov 02, 2019


FRAGRANCE Group, controlled by James Koh, is understood to be selling its five-storey freehold namesake building at 168 Changi Road for S$28.8 million.

The Business Times understands the buyer is Pergas Investment Holdings. Among other things, Pergas offers services in financial shariah advisory and consultancy.

The property, located at the corner of Changi Road and Lorong 105 Changi, is currently leased to various tenants.

It stands on a 7,315 sq ft site which mainboard-listed Fragrance acquired back in 2005. The group then redeveloped the site into the current building and used part of the space for its corporate headquarters.

The company has since moved its HQ to Fragrance Empire Building at 456 Alexandra Road, the former NOL Building which Fragrance bought in 2012 and leased back to seller Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) briefly.

After NOL vacated the building, Fragrance spruced up the asset. It occupies the top floor of the 26-storey freehold building, and has leased out the bulk of the remaining space.

Separately, there have been a few conservation shophouse deals. No. 31 Pagoda Street, a three-storey freehold property, is changing hands for S$16.25 million. The ground floor is leased to Dim Sum Inc by Crystal Jade.

The buyer is a Singapore-incorporated company owned by a Chinese citizen who is a Singapore permanent resident. JLL, understood to have brokered the sale, declined to comment when contacted by BT.

The seller in this transaction used to own the nearby 76 Pagoda Street, which sits at the entrance to the Chinatown MRT station. This property was sold recently for S$13.3 million. It has three storeys and an attic and is on a site with 99-year leasehold tenure from August 1995.

Meanwhile, a seasoned shophouse investor is selling 198 Telok Ayer Street for S$14.88 million. The 999-year leasehold property is being bought by an entity inked to Wah Loon Engineering founder Alan Chong.