Savills Singapore is pleased to announce the launch of an Expression of Interest (“EOI”) exercise for 333 North Bridge Road and an adjacent land parcel.
Savills Singapore is pleased to announce the launch of an Expression of Interest (“EOI”) exercise for 333 North Bridge Road and an adjacent land parcel (collectively hereinafter known as “Subject Property”).
This is a rare opportunity for interested investors to submit their EOI proposals to participate in a Joint Venture (“JV”) with the vendor to tap on the highest and best use of the Subject Property. Any other proposals are welcomed.
333 North Bridge Road is an existing 9-storey commercial building with F&B space on the 1st and 2nd floor, and a basement carpark on a site area of 377.7 sm (4,066 sf) at the corner of North Bridge Road and Cashin Street within Singapore’s Central Business District. The verified development baseline is 2,698.75 sm (29,049 sf) which translate to an equivalent plot ratio of 7.145 that is higher than Master Plan 2008’s GPR of 5.2.
The adjacent land parcel measures circa 59 sm (635 sf) with potential gross floor area of 306.8 sm (3,302 sf) at GPR of 5.2 is located at the rear of the building along Cashin Street and currently serves as road access to the basement carpark.
The Subject Property is zoned “Commercial” under URA Master Plan 2008 with height control of up to 16-storey. It sits on a 999 years leasehold tenure (remaining balance of 812 years).
The Subject Property would yield a total gross floor area of circa 3,005.55 sm (32,351 sf) and being zoned “Commercial”, no Additional Buyer Stamp Duties or Seller Stamp Duties apply. The Subject Property is owned by local private company, a subsidiary company of a group with several businesses across Southeast Asia.
With its double frontage, 333 North Bridge Road - estimated to have been built more than 30 years ago, is prominently situated and highly visible to all vehicular traffic plying North Bridge Road in the direction of Raffles City. The Subject Property is also located within the Civic District – the historic birthplace of modern Singapore and is situated in close proximity to some of Singapore’s landmarks such as the Singapore Arts Museum, National Museum, St. Andrew’s Cathedral, Chijmes and the 6-star Raffles Hotel that is situated directly across the Subject Property.
The surrounding area is currently being rejuvenated with at least 4 significant projects such as Bras Basah Complex (a reported S$8 million makeover of complex’s facade and other building upgrades), Chijmes (a reported S$45 million facelift encompassing more entrances, covered walkways, glass shelters, etc), Capitol Building (a mixed use project comprising luxury hotel, high end residence, retail and cinema cum theatre) and South Beach (a mixed use project comprising commercial, high end residence and luxury hotel) that is currently being developed.
The Subject Property is just minutes walk to City Hall MRT interchange station that provides ease of access into Marina Bay, Raffles Place and Tanjong Pagar financial and business areas. The East Coast Parkway Expressway and the new Marina Coastal Expressway are similarly located close by offering easy connectivity across the island.
Singaporeans both young and old might also closely associate themselves with McDonald’s, the F&B anchor tenant as a popular gathering venue that exist since the 1980s.
This is a significant commercial real estate opportunity with potential for addition & alteration (“A&A”) or redevelopment, such as a new strata commercial (office / retail) scheme or a corporate showroom/office. Alternative uses such as a Hotel, Serviced Residence or Residential may be possible subject to evaluation and approval from the relevant authorities.
Interested investors stands to benefit not just from recent market cooling measures that has been directing interest into strata commercial properties as long term investments but also from the ultra-prime location of the site, being located in the heart of the Civic District.
“Singapore’s commercial real estate remains an attractive asset class for investors as CBD rents are expected to trend upward in the near term and benefits from the effects after rounds of property policy changes affecting residential and industrial properties that diverted investors’ interest towards commercial properties.” Says Adrian Seow, associate director of investment sales.
A recent report indicates that interest in strata commercial space remains high; all 52 strata office units which were recently launch for sale at the freehold ARC 380 project in Lavender Street/Jalan Besar were sold at prices ranging from $2,380 psf to $2,620 psf while some of the retail units have also been transacted between $5,800 psf to $6,400 psf.
Demand for boutique hotel real estate is strong, given that last year’s solid record of hotels sold to both local and overseas investors, even achieving above S$1 million per room for boutique hotels such as Berjaya Hotel, Hotel 1929, and up to a S$1.5 million per room for The Westin Singapore. Hence, a hotel conversion scheme may also be explored (subject to authorities’ approval)
Steven Ming, deputy managing director and head of investments added, “The offering of CBD boutique commercial assets with long 999 years leasehold tenure situated at prime location near MRT interchange is rare and this investment opportunity would appeal to both institutional investors, ultra-affluent individuals and even end-users. The vendor had received unsolicited interests in recent months which is why an EOI exercise is being initiated”.
Savills Singapore, the appointed sole marketing consultant, is conducting the EOI exercise which will close on 18th March 2013 (Tuesday) at 4 pm.