Row of Joo Chiat shophouses for sale at S$62m indicative price

Jan 13, 2023

A ROW of five adjoining two-storey shophouses, located at a corner plot of Joo Chiat, has been put up for sale at an indicative price of S$62 million. This translates to about S$12.4 million per shophouse.

The freehold properties are to be sold on a collective basis and sit on five individual land titles with a combined land area of approximately 6,185 square feet (sq ft).

Spanning the odd numbers from 185 to 193 Joo Chiat Road, the property has dual-road frontages of about 70 metres across Joo Chiat Road and Joo Chiat Lane.

All five shophouses come with an attic and three-storey extension.

They are zoned “commercial” with a plot ratio of three under the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) Master Plan 2019, and a five-storey rear extension is permitted.

On Wednesday (Jan 11), exclusive marketing agent Savills Singapore said the property’s rear extension permit allows for value-add potential to intensify the floor area to about 18,555 sq ft.

Further capital and rental values can also be unlocked under various schemes, such as creative tenant repositioning or asset enhancement initiatives (AEI), added Savills.

According to the real estate service provider, the shophouses’ upper floors may be repositioned and leased out separately to medical or dental clinics, yoga studios or educational centres. Their internal spaces may also be reconfigured to increase the efficiency and create larger floor plates.

Notably, four out of five ground floor units are “restaurant” approved. Savills highlighted this as “a highly attractive opportunity” for restaurant operators, considering that URA no longer permits new eating houses along certain stretches (*see amendment note) of the East Coast Road and Joo Chiat areas.

Yap Hui Yee, senior director for investment sales and capital markets at Savills Singapore, noted strong interest for freehold commercial properties in the area.

“Purchasers can explore to undertake AEI works to restore the space and unlock the capital value… This is an exceptional opportunity for investors to recreate the streetscape through the curation of uses that will tap on the growth of the area,” she said of the five adjoining shophouses.

The collective sale of 185 to 193 Joo Chiat Road (odd numbers) will be conducted through an expression of interest exercise, which closes at 3 pm on Feb 17. 

Amendment note: A previous version of this story said URA no longer permits new eating houses along the East Coast Road and Joo Chiat areas. URA has clarified that according to its guidelines, this is only applicable to certain stretches of the said areas.

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