The entire sixth floor of Tong Building on Orchard Road was sold for $31.33 million. (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua / EdgeProp Singapore)
The entire sixth floor of Tong Building on Orchard Road was sold for $31.33 million, based on a caveat on September 3. The entire strata office floor occupies an area of 6,867 sq ft and has been approved for medical use. The purchase price reflects a unit price of $4,562 psf, which is the highest psf price for an office space in the prime districts to date. Yap Hui Yee, executive director of investment sales and capital markets at Savills Singapore, brokered the deal.
Tong Building is a 19-storey, freehold strata-titled office building at the corner of prime Orchard Road and Mount Elizabeth. It was built in 1978 by TG Development. Next door is Paragon shopping mall, and Mount Elizabeth Hospital and Medical Centre are behind it.
Tong Building is a 19-storey, freehold strata-titled office building at the corner of Orchard Road and Mount Elizabeth. (Graphic: EdgeProp LandLens)
According to a property title search, Parkway Hospitals Singapore was the buyer of the office floor at Tong Building. Parkway Hospitals Singapore is part of Bursa Malaysia-listed private healthcare provider IHH Healthcare. The medical provider is an existing tenant in the building, occupying half of the sixth floor for administrative use. However, Parkway Hospitals plans to convert the space to provide medical services following their successful change of use request on August 14, says Yap. The other half of the floor is occupied by two other medical companies.
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It makes sense for Parkway Hospitals to purchase the entire sixth floor of Tong Building, given its proximity to Mount Elizabeth Hospital and Medical Centre, which is just a short walk up the road.
According to Yap, there was significant interest from a diverse pool of bidders, including end-users and family offices.
The $4,562 psf for the sixth floor of Tong Building is “a record-breaking price in psf terms, setting a new benchmark in Singapore’s strata office market,” says Savills’ Yap. She considers the deal “a landmark transaction in Singapore’s real estate history”.
Incidentally, she brokered the previous high at Solitaire on Cecil in the CBD. It was for three whole strata floors spanning 37,857 sq ft at the 20-storey, freehold Solitaire on Cecil in the CBD. The three floors were sold for an aggregate of $162.8 million, or $4,300 psf, in April 2023.
Recent transactions at Tong Building: EdgeProp Buddy
Yap expects the strata office market to continue its upward trajectory. “With businesses increasingly seeking flexible workspace solutions and adapting to hybrid work models, strata offices are becoming more attractive than ever,” she says. “The resilience of the sector and its ability to meet evolving demand suggest a promising outlook for the future.”