High Street Centre Lowers Reserve Price To S$748mil
SINGAPORE – High Street Centre, a commercial property at 1 North Bridge Road, has been launched for collective sale sale via public tender at a reduced reserve price of S$748 million, reported The Edge on Wednesday afternoon (25 October, SGT).
Previously, the building was put up for en bloc sale with a reserve price of S$800 million in June 2020. Subsequently, it was relaunched for collective sale in May 2021 at the same reserve price after being granted a 6-month extension by the Ministry of Law.
The commercial development stands on a land plot spanning 60,298 sq ft. Given that the site has a permissible gross plot ratio of 7.72, the commercial property has an overall gross floor area (GFA) of 466,085 sq ft.
Moreover, the 99-year leasehold site enjoys three frontages along Hill Street, North Bridge Road, and North Boat Quay, on top of having a waterfront promenade of over 100 metres along the Singapore River
Its marketing agent Cushman & Wakefield (C&W) revealed that the new owner is allowed to redevelop High Street Centre into a mixed-use commercial property, with 60 percent of the GFA consisting of office space and retail units, while 40 percent can be used for a hotel with not more than 450 rooms. Alternatively, 40 percent of the GFA can be used for dwellings or as a serviced apartment.
Based on the lower reserve price but subject to the new owner’s proposed use for the site, the land rate translates to about S$2,164 psf per plot ratio if 40 percent of the GFA will be used for residential units. However, the land rate would rise to S$2,290 psf per plot ratio if the said space would be utilised for a hotel.
“The scarcity of commercial development sites in and around the City Hall District has placed a premium on rents for exclusive office spaces, especially those with spectacular 360-degree breath-taking views,” remarked C&W’s Senior Director of capital markets Christina Sim.
“This is an opportunity to acquire a commercial site like no other with the option to develop a hotel within the tracks of Asia’s only Formula 1 Night Race,” she added.
