Chinatown Plaza sold en bloc for $260 mil

Marking the first en bloc sale of a mixed residential and commercial complex is Chinatown Plaza, which fetched $260 million. The buyer was a property unit affiliated with the Singapore-based resource-based manufacturing group Royal Golden Eagle.

The freehold development sits on a 33,953 sq ft plot zoned for commercial and residential use, and the sale price reflects a land rate of $1,915 psf per plot ratio. Owners of the residential units are expected to receive gross sale proceeds of $3.44 to $4.79 million, while shop owners are expected to receive $1.64 to $10.62 million per unit, says marketing agent Edmund Tie & Co. (ET&Co), who brokered the sale.

“Such freehold mixed-use sites within the city are rarely available, and the property is perfectly suited for use as serviced apartments given its location and proximity to MRT stations,” says ET & Co.’s senior director of investment advisory, Swee Shou Fern.

Chinatown Plaza can be redeveloped to its existing gross floor area of 135,742 sq ft, exceeding the permissible plot ratio of 3.5 as indicated in the 2014 Master Plan. Outline Planning Permission for Serviced Apartment with Commercial use has already been granted by URA.