Mortgagee sale of office unit at Havelock II for $1.1 mil

SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - A tenanted 624 sq ft office unit at Havelock II, located at 2 Havelock Road, will be put up for auction by SRI on March 31 with a guide price of $1.1 million. The unit is a mortgagee sale, and the guide price translates to $1,763 psf based on the strata area, which excludes an accessory lot measuring 11 sq ft.

See also: Mortgagee sale of Marina Bay Residences penthouse for $12.6 mil

The office unit that will be auctioned is located on the fifth floor. It is currently fitted with two director’s rooms and a general workstation area. Havelock II is a seven-storey mixed development comprising retail and office components in District 1, just along the fringe of the CBD. The building has a 99-year lease from 1983.

The property was previously known as 2HR, an office building that was purchased by Guthrie GTS in 2013 for $282.88 million. Guthrie had purchased it from US real estate fund manager AEW who had acquired the building — then known as Apollo Centre — in 2007. (Check all latest Singapore property Market Trends)

Guthrie undertook a $40 million upgrade of the property, which was rebranded to Havelock II and completed in 2016. There are a total of 94 strata-office units at Havelock II spread across the fourth to seventh floors with sizes starting from 312 sq ft. Meanwhile, the retail podium consists of 151 retail and F&B units with sizes starting from 140 sq ft. There are also approximately 101 carpark lots available in the basement.

There were four resale transactions for office units at Havelock II last year. In February of last year, a 635 sq ft unit on the fourth floor was sold for $988,200 ($1,556 psf). A month later, a 786 sq ft unit on the same floor was sold for $1.47 million ($1,871 psf), followed by a 743 sq ft unit which was sold for $1.39 million ($1,870 psf) last April. The most recent transaction was for a 624 sq ft unit on the sixth floor which was sold for $1.13 million ($1,802 psf) last August.

According to SRI’s sales listing, the unit is currently tenanted, with the lease due to expire on Sept 1, 2024. A search on URA’s database shows that the median monthly rental rates for offices on Havelock Road were within a range between $5 psf and $6 psf in the last year. Based on the unit size of 624 sq ft, the office could potentially fetch a gross rental yield of around 3% to 4% per annum based on the guide price.

Havelock II is within walking distance to the Clarke Quay and Chinatown MRT Stations. It is surrounded by institutional buildings like the Ministry of Manpower and hotels such as Park Regis Singapore and Furama City Centre. Other amenities like People’s Park Complex and Hong Lim Market and Food Centre are also located nearby.