Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre seeking S$260 million en bloc sale

Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre is being marketed for collective sale at a guide price of S$260 million.

Given the gross floor area of 176,792 sq ft, this comes up to a land rate of roughly S$1,471 per sq ft.

The chairman of the collective sale committee (CSC) told The Business Times that this was a premium of up to 50 per cent of the site's existing market value.

According to a press release by marketing agent CBRE, an adjoining land plot is also up for sale separately via a private treaty.

The two sites, which make up a total site area of 5,443sqm, could be brought together and rebuilt into a mixed-use development.

Alternatively, the shopping centre could be turned into a new retail mall.

CBRE told BT that it will be submitting an outline planning permission to authorities for the development of both land parcels into a mixed-use development comprising serviced apartments, retail, and residential components.

According to Michael Tay, Head of Singapore Capital Markets at CBRE, "there can be approximately 154 residential units at Plot 2 and 56 serviced apartments with 12,000 sq ft of commercial at Plot 1".

The tender for the shopping centre will open on Apr. 8 and close on Jun. 10.

Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre

Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre is a freehold, six-storey building, built in 1982.

It has two interconnected blocks with eight homes, one office and 164 retail shops.

According to BT, this would be the development’s first attempt at an en bloc sale; previous bids had failed due to a lack of required consensus amongst the owners.

This time around, however, just under 90 per cent of the owners consented to the collective sale, well above the requisite 80 per cent.

Over the past decade, two residential units and 22 commercial units at the shopping centre have been sold.

In November 2021, a 1,292 sq ft residential unit on the sixth floor was sold for S$1.4 million, at S$1,107 per sq ft.

In July 2024, a 248 sq ft commercial unit on the third floor was sold for S$580,000 at S$2,343 per sq ft.

Relocation of Paya Lebar Airbase

According to the CSC, the sale is "conservatively priced" to draw boutique developers and family offices.

Taken into consideration is the upcoming relocation of Paya Lebar Airbase in the 2030s.

“The CSC anticipates strong interest from local and international buyers, and possibly bids above the guide price," the chairman of the CSC told BT.

Top photo from CBRE.