2 Strata Office Units Up For Grabs At GB Bldg

SINGAPORE – Two office units at GB Building along 143 Cecil Street have been launched for sale via an expression of interest exercise (EOI) by marketing agent PropNex Realty, reported The Edge on Monday afternoon (7 March, SGT).

The office units, located on level 3 and 8 of the mixed-use development, measure 12,594 sq ft and 5,425 sq ft respectively. Another commercial property being sold in the same building is a retail podium on the 1st and 2nd floors spanning 13,067 sq ft. Overall, the commercial units have a combined strata floor area of 31,086 sq ft.

The retail podium and the office unit on level 8 are up for sale with vacant possession, whereas the office unit on the 3rd level is presently leased by a law firm and a service office.

Previously, the 3 commercial units changed hands for a total of S$52.06 million last July in a transaction brokered by Knight Frank. The retail podium was divested for S$25.48 million (S$1,950 psf), while the office spaces on level 3 and 8 were sold for S$18 million ($1,429 psf) and S$8.58 million (S$1,582 psf) respectively. Currently, the overall indicative price for all 3 commercial units is S$69 million.

“This portfolio presents a rare opportunity for investors to acquire the units for rental income or for own use by businesses, amid a gradually improving office space market,” noted Navin Bafna, Senior Associate Division Director at PropNex.

Citing URA’s office rental index, he highlighted that rents of office strata commercial units at GB Building edged by 1.9 percent in 2021, reversing an 8.5 percent fall in 2020. “We think office rentals have likely bottomed and could continue to inch up this year,” Bafna remarked.

“Meanwhile, the retail podium on Level 1 and 2 — among the largest single strata retail spaces in the CBD — is suitable for an anchor tenant looking to offer unique retail concepts or as a showroom or office space,” he added.

GB Building is a 26-storey office tower with a three-level basement car park for 105 vehicles located at the intersection of McCallum Street and Cecil Street. Its site has a 99-year leasehold tenure with effect from October 1982.

The commercial development is near the Tanjong Pagar MRT Station and Telok Ayer MRT Station, as well as the future Shenton Way MRT station.

The EOI exercise for the 3 commercial strata units in GB Building will close on 7 May 2022.