United House Relaunched Third Collective Sales Attempt 166 Mil
United House, a freehold commercial building in the Orchard Road area, has launched its third collective sales tender at an unchanged reserve price of $166 million, according to a press release on June 10. The exclusive marketing agent facilitating the tender is ETC.
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The 10-storey office building is situated along Kramat Lane and occupies a land area of about 12,383 sq ft with a 4.9 plot ratio, based on the 2019 URA Master Plan. This equates to $3,045 psf per plot ratio (ppr) for a commercial redevelopment or $3,254 psf ppr for a hotel redevelopment, based on its reserve price.
ETC had initially put the property up for sale in October last year, but retracted the tender after receiving in-principle approval from URA to use the site for a hotel with the same gross plot ratio. The tender was then relaunched in February at the same reserve price, but was unsuccessful.
According to Swee Shou Fern, head of investment advisory at ETC, there is a growing demand for quality hospitality assets in Singapore, driven by the resurgence of tourism, MICE and music-related travel. With its rare freehold tenure, central location and in-principle approval for hotel use, she believes United House presents a unique opportunity to develop a flagship or lifestyle boutique hotel in the heart of Orchard Road.
Swee points to recent high-profile hotel acquisitions as evidence of the demand for hospitality assets in prime locations. In March, local family office Lotus Singapore bought the 49-key Duxton Reserve for $80 million, translating to about $1.63 million per key. In April, Singapore-based Indonesian billionaire Leo KoGuan entered into an agreement to purchase the 48-key boutique hotel 21 Carpenter from 8M Real Estate for $100 million, or about $2.08 million per key. 21 Carpenter is a combination of four conservation shophouses on Carpenter Street.
Swee also highlights United House’s location outside of areas with strata subdivision restrictions, giving the successful buyer the option to redevelop the property into a strata-titled commercial project. The property is also within walking distance of Dhoby Ghaut and Somerset MRT stations, providing easy access to the North East, Circle, and North South Lines.
The tender for United House closes on July 1.