Top Global sells two ground-floor retail units in 15 Scotts for S$31.08 million

Price works out to S$4,828 psf; buyer is House of Hung, which operates out of Far East Shopping Centre, where a collective sale has been launched

Jul 25, 2023

SUKMAWATI Widjaja’s Top Global is selling the entire ground floor, comprising two freehold retail units, in 15 Scotts to jewellery store House of Hung for S$31.08 million.

This works out to S$4,828 per square foot (psf) on a strata area of about 6,437 sq ft.

The price is lower than the indicative price of S$38.8 million, or around S$6,027 psf, stated by marketing agent Cushman & Wakefield at the launch of the expression of interest (EOI) exercise for the two units in May. The EOI exercise closed on Jun 30.

15 Scotts, which predominantly comprises offices, was built in the 1970s and underwent a S$15 million refurbishment in 2015.

The nine-storey building sits on a site zoned for commercial use with a plot ratio of 4.9, under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) Master Plan 2019.

House of Hung operates out of its own premises on the ground floor of Far East Shopping Centre at 545 Orchard Road.The 999-year leasehold building was launched for collective sale on Tuesday (Jul 25) with a guide price of S$928 million.

At 15 Scotts, the two retail units which House of Hung is buying are tenanted to a luxury home interior decor brand and a premium spa facility.

They are part of the 23 strata units that Top Global acquired in the building in 2019 – when the property was named Thong Teck Building – for S$170 million, according to a previous report in The Business Times.

The office and retail units were bought from entities that Kenneth Low Si Ren, executive director of Allied Technologies, is believed to have acquired from RSP Architects’ late founder Albert Hong.

Since the acquisition, Top Global has been delisted from the Singapore Exchange.

“Most of Top Global’s 23 units have been sold over the last two years, and with the latest sale of both ground-floor units, we are now left with just a unit on the second floor,” said Cushman & Wakefield’s executive director of capital markets Shaun Poh, when contacted on Tuesday.

Last October, Singapore Institute of Management Group sold the fourth floor in the building to Cortina Holdings for S$49 million.

Located in District 9, 15 Scotts is flanked by Scotts Walk and The American Club. It is also near hotels including Royal Plaza on Scotts and Goodwood Park Hotel.

Interest in prime strata office and retail properties in Singapore has been boosted since the URA announced restrictions in March 2022 on strata subdivision of commercial developments along prominent areas and routes in the Central Area, including Orchard Road and Scotts Road.

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/pro...-s3108-million