Portfolio of 32 strata office units at Manhattan House sold for $14.79 mil

The commercial building has a 99-year lease with effect from 1969. (Picture: JLL)

A portfolio of 32 strata office units on the third floor of Manhattan House, a 16-storey commercial building on Chin Swee Road. Based on caveats lodged, the 32 units were sold for a total of $14.793 million or an average price of $783 psf, based on caveats lodged as of August 5.

The office units appear to have been sold in two batches, with 16 transacted for a total of $7.531 million on June 27, and another 16 units on July 4 for $7.262 million.

The units are part of a portfolio of 33 strata office units that were launched for sale last October by exclusive marketing agency ETC. The guide price was then $24.5 million. The units sold range from 323 sq ft to 850 sq ft. Based on the total strata area of 19,547 sq ft, the guide price worked out to $1,250 psf.

The commercial building has a 99-year lease with effect from 1969. Hence, it has 43 remaining years. Based on recent listings, monthly asking rents for units range from $3.16 psf to $4.02 psf.

Swee Shou Fern, head of investment advisory at ETC, who brokered the sale, says that the 32 strata office units were purchased “for investment”. However, she declined to comment on the buyer.

Based on property title searches, the buyer of the strata units is Abwin (HP) Pte Ltd, an entity linked to one of the largest pre-owned car dealers in Singapore, which also offers motor financing and hire purchase.

The buyers are likely to be investors, hoping to take a position in the event of a successful en bloc sale of the building in the future. The units on the third floor control 9% of the total strata area of the building, and 13% of the total share value.

Manhattan House has a total of 269 strata office units. The 99-year leasehold building was completed in 1976. It was first put on the market for collective sale in September 2019 for $300 million. In January 2023, a second collective sale attempt was made at a reserve price of $280 million with JLL as the marketing agency. However, there were no takers at the time.

Under the 2019 Master Plan, the 4167.7 sq m (44,861 sq ft) site is zoned “commercial” with a gross plot ratio of 4.7. However, URA has indicated that the site may be rezoned to “residential with commercial at first storey”, with a substantial portion of the site allowed for a residential tower of up to 30 storeys with a maximum gross floor area of around 21,000 sq m (226,044 sq ft).

Located in the CBD fringe, Manhattan House is within walking distance of the Chinatown MRT Interchange Station on the Downtown and North East Lines. It is also adjacent to Pearl’s Hill City Park.