Far East Shopping Centre Bought For S$908mil
SINGAPORE – Glory Property Development, an investment vehicle controlled by Chinese steel mogul Du Shuanghua, has acquired the Far East Shopping Centre via an en bloc sale for about S$908 million, and is expected to redevelop it into a mixed-use commercial property with office space, reported The Edge on Thursday evening (29 September, SGT).
The selling price translates to S$3,350 psf per plot ratio based on the potential gross floor area (GFA) of 290,574 sq ft once the property is redeveloped under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) Strategic Development Incentive (SDI) scheme.
“We are glad to find the right buyer for Far East Shopping Centre,” commented Michael Tay, Head of Singapore capital markets at CBRE. He is the asset’s marketing agent who brokered the collective sale.
“This is someone who has invested in overseas properties in major cities around the world, such as Paris, Sydney and Tokyo, and will be able to bring such expertise to Singapore in the rejuvenation of Orchard Road.”
Tay was referring to the former Grand Park Orchard at 270 Orchard Road, which underwent an extensive asset enhancement exercise (AEI) and reopened in 2022 as the 308-room Pullman Singapore Orchard hotel.
Aside from that, Du also purchased the Income@Raffles, a 37-storey Grade A office building from NTUC Income Insurance Co-operative for slightly over S$1 billion in June 2022. It was acquired by Ever Glory. Both Glory Property and Ever Glory are under Bright Ruby Resources, Du’s Singapore-registered mining and resources firm.
The new owner is expected to redevelop the Far East Shopping Centre, which stands on a 36,014 sq ft commercially-zoned site with a 999-year lease from 1871, into integrated commercial property consisting of office space, retail, hospitality, and residences.
This is because Far East Shopping Centre was named by URA as one of the six buildings on the stretch of Orchard Road to be redeveloped into “a new exciting destination”.
The other five buildings are Hotel Properties Ltd’s HPL House, Forum the Shopping Mall, and Voco Orchard Singapore, as well as Bonvests Holdings’ Liat Towers and Wharf Estates Singapore’s Wheelock Place. Recently, Hotel Properties Ltd received the approval from the URA to redevelop the three aforementioned commercial properties.
