SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - For the first time in over a decade, a portfolio of 13 retail units at Sim Lim Square has been offered on the market as a receiver’s sale. The units are marketed by Knight Frank and will be available for sale individually or collectively.

The units for sale are located on the sixth floor and have a total strata area of 5,490 sq ft. If bought collectively, the portfolio is priced at $13.1 million ($2,386 psf). The units will also be sold vacant in an as-is condition. The sale will be conducted by a public tender that will close on April 26.

In a receiver’s sale, court-appointed individuals — known as receivers — are given custodial responsibility of a property used as collateral for a defaulted loan. The receivers then assume control of the property, or in this case, the portfolio of properties, and prepare them for sale.

This differs from a mortgagee sale which refers to properties that have been foreclosed and put up for sale by the lender, typically a bank. The sale also involves a loan in default, where the property is used as collateral to recover the debt.

In the portfolio of retail units on the sixth floor at Sim Lim Square, the largest is a standalone unit at #06-01. The 1,851 sq ft shop has a guide price of $3.3 million or from $1,785 psf.

The rest of the units range from 280 sq ft to 506 sq ft, and each unit has an average price of about $2,700 psf. The collective price of the 12 units is about $9.8 million.

Eleven of the smallest units — from #0624 to #06-31 and #06-48 to #06-50 — are contiguous. The remaining 280 sq ft unit (unit number #06-52) is between two other units not for sale. According to Knight Frank, the units in the portfolio have F&B approval to operate as a restaurant or nightclub, with the licences expiring in July 2025.

In an unrelated sale, the Knight Frank auction team is marketing a pair of adjacent retail units on the third floor. An owner’s sale, the two units are 581 sq ft and 882 sq ft and were collectively going for about $4.56 million in February this year. The units are currently leased to entertainment establishments. Hence, Knight Frank is handling the sale of 15 units at Sim Lim Square.

Separately, Huttons Asia was marketing a portfolio of seven retail units at Sim Lim Square in September last year. This collection of units had a total strata floor area of 5,156 sq ft and was up for sale via private treaty with a guide price of $17 million, or $3,297 psf on the strata area. The units are still available on the market.

Sim Lim Square is a retail complex with 492 shops across six floors and two basement levels. The development was completed in 1987 and sits on a 78,152 sq ft site with a 99-year lease from 1983. Hence, it has 59 years left on its lease.

It sits on a corner plot at the junction of Rochor Canal Road and Bencoolen Street. Nearby are Rochor and Jalan Besar MRT Stations on the Downtown Line.

The opportunity to acquire 13 units at Sim Lim Square may allow the new owner to capitalise on a potential en bloc windfall. In 2019, Sim Lim Square was put up for collective sale with a reserve price of $1.25 billion. But this tender closed without any successful bids. Last year, some owners began to lay the groundwork for another collective sale attempt and a collective sale committee was formed in June. (See potential condos with en bloc calculator)

The retail units are well-positioned to reap recurring rental income. Based on rental caveats at Sim Lim Square over the past 12 months, the average rental price at the development is approximately $9.74 psf per month (pm).

In comparison, neighbouring Sim Lim Tower at Jalan Besar has recorded an average rental price of $4.69 psf pm, Fu Lu Shou Complex at Rochor Road comes closer at $7.82 psf pm, while Fortune Centre at Middle Road commands average rents of about $10.65 psf pm. Further afield at Sunshine Plaza at Bencoolen Street, rents are about $5.59 psf pm.

Check out the latest listings near Sim Lim Square, Fu Lu Shou Complex, Fortune Centre, Sunshine Plaza, Rochor MRT Station, Jalan Besar MRT Station