Large Singapore Office Deals Close To Being Signed

SINGAPORE – At least 2 major office acquisitions in the city-state are close to being finalised, reported The Business Times on Monday morning (27 September, SGT).

For instance, market chatter indicates that Gaw Capital is conducting diligence to acquire Twenty Anson for almost S$600 million. This translates to about around $2,900 psf based on the 20-storey property’s existing net leasable area (NLA) of roughly 206,200 sq ft.

Notably, the office building is owned by US-based property investment manager AEW. The asset has an untapped gross floor area (GFA) of close to 34,400 sq ft, meaning there is potential to raise the existing GFA of about 252,070 sq ft by nearly 14 percent.

Under the 2019 Master Plan 2019, Twenty Anson’s 27,281 sq ft site is zoned for commercial use with a plot ratio of 10.5. This would allow a maximum GFA of about 286,450 sq ft. Its land parcel also has a remaining leasehold tenure of 85 years.

Similarly, a deal is said to be being hammered out for ABI Plaza at 11 Keppel. This comes less than 12 months after a vehicle connected to a private fund overseen by CapitaLand Fund Management concluded its S$200 million acquisition of the 12-storey freehold office building from real estate group MYP, which is controlled by Indonesian mogul Tahir’s family.

CapitaLand-linked fund’s manager is said to have to have previously mentioned a price of around S$260 to S$270 million when approached by agents and would-be buyers. Word on the market is that there’s a party working on possibly acquiring the asset.

Formerly known as the RCL Centre, ABI Plaza has an NLA of about 92,500 sq ft. Built in 1994, the building stands on a 20,338 sq ft plot enjoying triple frontages along Keppel, Lim Teck Kim, and Tanjong Pagar roads. The asset’s site is zoned for commercial use with a gross plot ratio of 5.6. However, the building’s existing GFA translates to a slightly higher plot ratio.

Market watchers shared that the property has redevelopment potential. For instance, it’s eligible for the government’s CBD Incentive Scheme, which is expected to increase ABI Plaza’s GFA by over 25 percent. If it is redeveloped into a residential project with a commercial component at first floor use, the GFA can be increased by up to 30 percent.

Meanwhile, market chatter indicates that a transaction is being brewed for One George Street. JP Morgan is said to have partnered with another party to conduct exclusive due diligence on the commercial property. Sources think JP Morgan’s joint venture partner is Nuveen Real Estate.

The 23-storey office building has an NLA of around 445,735 sq ft. It is equally owned by insurance firm FWD Group and CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT). If it sells at S$2,900 psf, the total price tag would work out to about S$1.29 billion.
It has a remaining leasehold tenure of slightly more than 80 years. Under the current Master Plan, It is a mature asset that has been constructed to its full development potential.