Hwa Hong sells freehold data centre building in Paya Lebar Road for S$140 million

New owner understood to be an entity linked to BDx, which operates the data centre

Mar 04, 2024

HWA Hong Corporation has sold OneTen Paya Lebar, an eight-storey high-tech industrial building that houses a data centre, for S$140 million.

The new owner is understood to be an entity linked to Big Data Exchange (BDx), which operates the data centre facility in the freehold building.

BDx, which was already the sole tenant in the building prior to the deal, also operates a chain of data centres in China, Hong Kong and Indonesia, according to information on its website. The company is a portfolio asset of I Squared Capital, a private equity group headquartered in Miami.

The sale of OneTen Paya Lebar was brokered by Cushman & Wakefield and Savills, which marketed the property via an expression of interest exercise which closed in October last year.

The property – at 110 Paya Lebar Road, a stone’s throw from MacPherson MRT station – is on a corner island site with a land area of nearly 59,000 square feet (sq ft).

Under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s latest Master Plan, the site is zoned for Business 1 use with a 2.5 plot ratio. The building’s existing gross floor area of around 155,500 sq ft reflects about a 2.63 plot ratio.

Market watchers noted that the property will have redevelopment potential if the height restriction on the site is lifted and the plot ratio increased, after the relocation of Paya Lebar Air Base.

In a recent report, Cushman & Wakefield said it expects demand for data centres to expand by about 25 per cent a year to 2028 in South-east Asia and North Asia, compared with 14 per cent a year in the US.

I Squared Capital is a global infrastructure investment manager with over US$38 billion in assets under management focused on investing in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. It has invested in a diverse portfolio of more than 80 companies across the utilities, energy, digital infrastructure, transport, environmental infrastructure, and social infrastructure sectors, based on information on its website.

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/pro...-s-140-million