Commercial Complex on Singapore’s Orchard Road Up for Collective Sale at $699M

The mall was built by Far East Organization in the 1970s for just S$20 million. (Source: Far East Organization)

The Far East Shopping Centre along Orchard Road in Singapore has been put up for collective sale at a price of S$928 million ($699 million) in a move that could add to the rejuvenation of the famous shopping belt.

Owners of Far East Shopping Centre assigned CBRE to market the five-decade-old asset on the corner of Orchard Road and Angullia Park, offering investors an opportunity to gamble on building a modern commercial complex on the site of the half-century-old strata development.

“Far East Shopping Centre is the only commercial site currently available along Orchard Road for sale,” said Michael Tay, CBRE’s head of Singapore capital markets. “Developer(s) of the integrated development can also explore a combination of different land uses such as retail, hotel, office, MICE (meetings, incentive, convention and exhibition) facilities and lifestyle uses under the said (SDI) scheme.”

Far East Shopping Centre is home to over 600 stores across a five-storey retail podium, with another 10 floors dedicated to strata-titled office units, according to an announcement on Tuesday. A redevelopment of the site could potentially qualify for a 20 percent expansion of the current building size under Singapore’s Strategic Development Incentive (SDI) scheme which would allow a new wonder to build up to 290,574 square feet (26,995 square metres) on the prime site.

Millennium Lease

Built in 1974, Far East Shopping Centre sits on a 999-year leasehold site spanning 36,014 square feet located at 545 Orchard Road. The indicative price translates to S$3,421 per square foot of buildable area based on the upgraded maximum allowed under the SDI scheme, including payment of a Land Betterment Charge to allow for the upgrade.

CBRE’s head of capital markets for Singapore, Michael Tay

Launched in March 2019, the SDI scheme grants developers bonus floor area if they redevelop ageing commercial properties in core urban areas to include some residential space.

The program, however, requires developers to engage in a joint redevelopment project with at least one adjacent site to qualify. Far East Shopping Centre is flanked by the Voco Orchard Singapore hotel owned by Ong Beng Seng’s Hotel Properties Ltd on one side and Liat Towers owned by SGX-listed Bonvests Holdings on the other. Media reports have indicated that Ong Beng Seng, who was recently arrested in relation to a corruption investigation, is currently considering redeveloping the Voco Orchard.

The sale includes an element of urgency as, in order to qualify for the SDI scheme, proposals have to be approved by Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) before the five-year plan ends next year.

“545 Orchard Road is strategically positioned to be part of the government’s plan and we believe this opportunity will appeal to both local and foreign developers as the incoming buyer has the flexibility to create an iconic mixed-use development in the most prominent street in Singapore,” Tay said.

Prime Spot, Basic Tenants

Built by Far East Organization five decades ago for a total development cost of just S$20 million, Far East Shopping Centre is now home to retailers of clothes, electronics and golf equipment, among other things. Services offered in the centre range from travel agents, money changers, tattoo studios to beauty parlours.

The privately held developer, controlled by the same family as Hong Kong’s Sino Land, still owns and leases at least four retail units in the building with rents hovering around S$5.60 per square foot per month based on data available on the company website at the time of writing.

Far East Organization did not issue a statement regarding the collective sale tender, which is set to close on 20 September.

Orchard En-Bloc Aspirations

Local media reported last month that HPL is proposing to redevelop three adjacent properties it owns at Orchard Road and Cuscaden Road after filing a request to rezone the site of its Voco Orchard hotel.

The Voco Hotel, together with HPL’s Forum mall and HPL House, could be redeveloped into a luxury development project spanning up to 700,000 square feet, or nearly five times the 150,000 square foot GFA of the three existing properties, according to a research note by DBS Group.

In December of last year the owners of the Ming Arcade commercial building on Cuscaden Road succeeded in trading the seven-storey project to Asok Hiranandani’s Royal Group for S$172 million via a collective sale.

However, the owners of the nearby Orchard Towers complex failed to find a buyer for their project in an attempted S$1.6 billion collective sale which closed in February without finding a buyer.

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