Maxwell House up for collective sale at S$295m reserve price

The site area is 41,801 sq ft and can be rezoned for mixed-use commercial and residential development

Tue, Sep 22, 2020

Fiona Lam

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/rea...-reserve-price

COMMERCIAL building Maxwell House has been launched for collective sale via a public tender, the appointed property consultant Cushman & Wakefield said on Monday.

Owners holding not less than 80 per cent by strata area and share value have agreed to put the property on the market at a reserve price of S$295 million.

Located at 20 Maxwell Road, the 13-storey property is built on a trapezoidal island plot with views from all four sides of the building.

The site spans an area of about 41,801 square feet (sq ft), and is zoned for commercial use with a plot ratio of 4.3 under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) Master Plan 2019.

Cushman & Wakefield said that URA had, in advice given in January 2019, stated that it will support a mixed-use commercial and residential development with a plot ratio of 5.6 and a gross floor area (GFA) of about 234,086 sq ft.

Subject to a successful rezoning, this will translate to the gross plot ratio increasing by some 30 per cent.

Maxwell House was built in 1971, and the site has a 99-year leasehold tenure starting from 1969.

The commercial quantum shall not exceed 20 per cent of the total GFA. Assuming 80 per cent of the total GFA is for residential use while the remaining is for commercial use, the blended land rate works out to around S$1,691 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr). This is after factoring in a 7 per cent bonus balcony plot ratio for the residential component plus the differential premium and an estimated lease upgrading premium for the site, Cushman & Wakefield noted.

The consultant added that the allowable building height has been increased to 75 metres above mean sea level, or about 21 storeys high for the tower block.

Subject to approval from the authorities, the property may alternatively be redeveloped for hotel use with a plot ratio of 5.6, suggested Cushman & Wakefield.

This hotel option will increase the land rate to S$1,998 psf ppr, also inclusive of the differential premium and an estimated lease upgrading premium.

Situated in an area mostly comprising retail properties, food and beverage (F&B) outlets and offices, 20 Maxwell Road will be "one of the rare exceptional residential plots" available on the market, the property consultant said.

Christina Sim, director of capital markets at Cushman & Wakefield, said Maxwell House is likely to be "well received" given the dearth of residential development land in this part of the business and heritage district.

It will become one of the best "work-live-play" sites to be made available, as it is surrounded by a plethora of entertainment and retail outlets, she said.

"Added to this is the advantage of being in the central area where it is not constrained by the guideline on the maximum allowable number of units calculated based on an average size of 85 square metres per dwelling unit," she noted.

"Potential developers have the creative flexibility of building studio units or dual key units, subject to the approval of the competent authority," she added.

Maxwell House sits at the fringe of the central business district (CBD) and is also near conservation shophouses in Tanjong Pagar and Chinatown.

On foot, it is about a minute away from Maxwell Food Centre, four minutes from Tanjong Pagar Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station, eight minutes from Chinatown MRT station, nine minutes from Telok Ayer MRT station and 10 minutes from Outram Park MRT station.

The property is also located about a three-minute walk from the upcoming underground Maxwell MRT station, which is expected to be completed in 2022.

The tender for 20 Maxwell Road will close on Nov 12 at 3pm.