SINGAPORE – Owners of The Arcade in Collyer Quay are making a second stab at a collective sale with an asking price of $780 million, 10 per cent lower than the $868 million price tag attempted in 2014.
The new asking price translates to an estimated land rate of $2,833 per sq ft per plot ratio, said marketing agent Colliers International in a media release on Wednesday (Nov 13).
The Arcade comprises 127 office and retail units. Depending on the size of their property, each owner could stand to receive between $700,000 and $29.9 million from a successful sale, said Colliers.
Mr Moeez Hatim Nakhoda, chairman of The Arcade Collective Sale Committee, said the 40-year-old building is ageing and has “fallen behind the times”.
“As Raffles Place continues to evolve and surrounding buildings undergo revamps, the owners feel that it is time that The Arcade gets a complete makeover as well,” he added.
The 20-storey office and retail property sits on a 2,035 sq m (21,909 sq ft) site with a 999-year land tenure that began on April 20, 1826.
Zoned “commercial” with a gross plot ratio of 15, the site could potentially be redeveloped into an integrated development comprising a hotel, residential units, office and retail space, under the Draft Master Plan 2019.
A developer could potentially build a 50-storey skyscraper, with panoramic views of Marina Bay and the new Downtown skyline, Collier added.
The site, which has dual frontage facing Raffles Green and Collyer Quay, also provides convenient access to the Marina Central Expressway, Pan Island Expressway and other major expressways and is right next to the Raffles Place MRT interchange station.
Ms Tang Wei Leng, managing director at Colliers International, said: “This is a golden opportunity to lay claim to a historic site in an ever-evolving Raffles Place, the heart of Singapore’s bustling commercial district.”
“Within Raffles Place, there are probably no other redevelopment opportunities and we believe The Arcade site, with a 999-year land tenure, will be highly sought after,” she added.
The collective sale tender for The Arcade, which opens on Thursday, will close at 3pm on Jan 8, 2020.
By The Straits Times
