Sultan Plaza Eyes Another En Bloc Sale Attempt
SINGAPORE – Marketing agent Teakhwa Real Estate announced that Sultan Plaza, a mixed-use commercial property, is poised to relaunch its collective sale tender on Friday after two earlier attempts failed to entice a buyer, reported The Business Times on Thursday afternoon (8 September, SGT).
The marketing agent’s Managing Director Sieow Teak Hwa disclosed that they are in the process of reducing the commercial property’s reserve price from S$360 million to S$325 million. At present, 72 percent of the strata unit owners by share value have inked the supplemental agreement to slash the reserve price.
The proposed lower reserve price translates to a land rate of S$1,545.80 psf per plot ratio, inclusive of the estimated costs for the differential premium and to refresh the leasehold tenure to 99 years, as well as acquire adjoining state remnant land. Considering an 8 percent bonus gross floor area (GFA), the resulting psf per plot ratio will be S$1,504.30.
Sultan Plaza has a remaining leasehold tenure of around 55 years as its lease commenced in May 1978. The development consists of 33 offices and 211 commercial units for a total of 244 strata units.
This marks the second time the strata unit owners reduced the commercial property’s reserve price. In December 2021, they lowered the reserve price to S$360 million from the S$380 million announced during its en bloc sale attempt in 2019.
Located at 100 Jalan Sultan between North Bridge Road and Beach Road, Sultan Plaza has a squarish land plot measuring 52,471.3 sq ft. It has a plot ratio of 5.0, and may potentially be redeveloped into a building with a height of up to 153m above mean sea level.
Interestingly, the Singapore Land Authority had earlier given an in-principle approval for a potential sale of remnant state land neighbouring the site, which spans around 10,968 sq ft. Including the remnant state land, the overall site may be increased to around 63,439.8 sq ft and the new owner may redevelop it into a project with an estimated gross floor area (GFA) of 317,198.9 sq ft.
According to outline planning permission advisory from URA in 2019, a developer may opt to use the site for a hotel, a serviced apartment, or a mixed-use property comprising commercial space and residential units. If the 3rd option is chosen, the new project may contain about 253,759.1 sq ft of residential units (80 percent) and 63,439.8 sq ft of commercial space (20 percent).
“With strong sales and high selling prices achieved for new developments nearby such as The M, Midtown-Modern and Midtown Bay, we should see better interest from developers this time round,” noted Sieow.
He added that the closing date of the latest public tender will only be finalised when there is confirmed interest from a would-be buyer, or after the 80 percent consent mandate has been obtained from the strata unit owners to slash the reserve price.
