New Reporter
07-07-23, 11:46
Portfolio of nine conservation shophouses on Desker Road-Rowell Road for sale at $66 mil
July 6, 2023
On the ground floor of a shophouse at the corner of Desker Road and Serangoon Road, an eatery called Usman’s runs a brisk business. The no-frills restaurant has been there for over 20 years, serving Indian and Pakistani dishes like garlic and butter naan, chicken masala and tandoori chicken.
Usman’s customers are a wide mix of people — from tourists taking a lunch break while they explore the sights in Little India, to locals coming from a shopping trip at the nearby Mustafa Centre on Syed Alwi Road. The area hums with activity as pedestrians flock to the various businesses that occupy the conservation shophouses lining Desker Road and the neighbouring Rowell Road, stretching from Serangoon Road on one end to Jalan Besar on the other.
The businesses have an eclectic mix of offerings, perhaps mirroring the shophouses’ location straddling the Little India and Jalan Besar areas. On the side closer to Serangoon Road, visitors will find eateries, wholesale retailers selling food and grocery items, barber shops and handphone gadget stores. Closer to the Jalan Besar side, however, newer and trendier establishments have started cropping up, including Japanese restaurant Ikigai Yakitori, French bistro Allo, and sourdough pizza shop Goldenroy. The upper floors of some shophouses have been renovated and now house enterprises such as advertising agency Zoo Group and marketing consultancy That Marketing Guy.
Sammi Lim, founder and executive director of Brilliance Capital, says shophouses along the Desker Road-Rowell Road stretch are seeing growing demand from businesses drawn to cheaper rents compared to shophouses in the CBD. The same holds for investors. “Given the high prices of CBD shophouses, buyers are increasingly considering city-fringe areas with much stronger growth potential,” she says.
A portfolio of nine freehold conservation shophouses along Desker Road and Rowell Road is up for sale through a public tender that will close on Aug 15. The portfolio, which has a mix of two-storey and two-storey-with-attic shophouses, occupies a total land area of 10,557 sq ft and a built-up area of 22,898 sq ft. Lim, who is handling the sale, says the shophouses are being sold collectively with a guide price of $66 million, or $2,882 psf on the built-up area.
Recently refurbished, fully-leased units
The portfolio comprises six units on Desker Road — five are adjoining shophouses at 99 to 107 Desker Road and another shophouse is across the street at 106 Desker Road. The other three shophouses are on Rowell Road, comprising an adjoining pair at 81 and 83 Rowell Road and another property at 99 Rowell Road.
The shophouses, each with individual land titles, are zoned for commercial use under the URA 2019 Master Plan and fall within the Little India Conservation Area in District 8. The shophouses are less than a 10-minute walk from the Jalan Besar (Downtown Line) and Farrer Park (North-East Line) MRT Stations.
More at: https://www.edgeprop.sg/property-news/portfolio-nine-conservation-shophouses-desker-road-rowell-road-sale-66-mil
July 6, 2023
On the ground floor of a shophouse at the corner of Desker Road and Serangoon Road, an eatery called Usman’s runs a brisk business. The no-frills restaurant has been there for over 20 years, serving Indian and Pakistani dishes like garlic and butter naan, chicken masala and tandoori chicken.
Usman’s customers are a wide mix of people — from tourists taking a lunch break while they explore the sights in Little India, to locals coming from a shopping trip at the nearby Mustafa Centre on Syed Alwi Road. The area hums with activity as pedestrians flock to the various businesses that occupy the conservation shophouses lining Desker Road and the neighbouring Rowell Road, stretching from Serangoon Road on one end to Jalan Besar on the other.
The businesses have an eclectic mix of offerings, perhaps mirroring the shophouses’ location straddling the Little India and Jalan Besar areas. On the side closer to Serangoon Road, visitors will find eateries, wholesale retailers selling food and grocery items, barber shops and handphone gadget stores. Closer to the Jalan Besar side, however, newer and trendier establishments have started cropping up, including Japanese restaurant Ikigai Yakitori, French bistro Allo, and sourdough pizza shop Goldenroy. The upper floors of some shophouses have been renovated and now house enterprises such as advertising agency Zoo Group and marketing consultancy That Marketing Guy.
Sammi Lim, founder and executive director of Brilliance Capital, says shophouses along the Desker Road-Rowell Road stretch are seeing growing demand from businesses drawn to cheaper rents compared to shophouses in the CBD. The same holds for investors. “Given the high prices of CBD shophouses, buyers are increasingly considering city-fringe areas with much stronger growth potential,” she says.
A portfolio of nine freehold conservation shophouses along Desker Road and Rowell Road is up for sale through a public tender that will close on Aug 15. The portfolio, which has a mix of two-storey and two-storey-with-attic shophouses, occupies a total land area of 10,557 sq ft and a built-up area of 22,898 sq ft. Lim, who is handling the sale, says the shophouses are being sold collectively with a guide price of $66 million, or $2,882 psf on the built-up area.
Recently refurbished, fully-leased units
The portfolio comprises six units on Desker Road — five are adjoining shophouses at 99 to 107 Desker Road and another shophouse is across the street at 106 Desker Road. The other three shophouses are on Rowell Road, comprising an adjoining pair at 81 and 83 Rowell Road and another property at 99 Rowell Road.
The shophouses, each with individual land titles, are zoned for commercial use under the URA 2019 Master Plan and fall within the Little India Conservation Area in District 8. The shophouses are less than a 10-minute walk from the Jalan Besar (Downtown Line) and Farrer Park (North-East Line) MRT Stations.
More at: https://www.edgeprop.sg/property-news/portfolio-nine-conservation-shophouses-desker-road-rowell-road-sale-66-mil