SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) Located between the prime shopping belt on Orchard Road and the exclusive Nassim Road residential enclave, a street-level commercial site at 1 St Martin’s Drive is on the market for about $55.3 million. The price translates to $5,900 psf on the freehold land area.
The 9,375 sq ft commercial plot for sale lies below the 16-unit St Martin’s Apartment. The entire 17,000 sq ft site at 1 St Martin’s Drive comprises both the commercial and residential components, but only the commercial component is for sale and it represents 42% of the share ownership of the entire site.
The commercial site at 1 St Martin’s Drive is in a prime location given its proximity to luxury residential developments, hotels, embassies, and several high-end shopping malls. Directly facing the site on Tanglin Road is Tudor Court Shopping Gallery and Tanglin Plaza, while Tanglin Shopping Centre lies further down the road. The site is close to high-end hotel chains such as The Regent Singapore, Hotel Jen Tanglin Singapore, and St Regis Hotel Singapore.
The commercial site has a prominent frontage on Tanglin Road (Pictures: Samuel Isaac Chua/The Edge Singapore)
The site is also surrounded by several luxury residential developments. Just behind the site on St Martin’s Drive are Tanglin Residences and St Martin Residence, while the Good Class Bungalow areas of Nassim Road and Cluny Park straddle the nearby Nassim Road. Close to the site is Orchard Boulevard and Cuscaden Road which have seen new luxury developments spring up, including 3 Orchard By-The-Park, Cuscaden Reserve, Boulevard 88, and 3 Cuscaden.
Given the centrality of the site to these prime residential and shopping areas, the commercial site at 1 St Martin’s Drive has been used for a variety of purposes over the past decade, including a Shell petrol station and a sales gallery for a property developer. The latest tenant was a Korean barbecue resturant. The site also has approval from URA to operate as a resturant and supermarket.
The owner has decided to sell the site after holding on to it for close to 10 years, says Simon Monteiro, associate director of heritage buildings at Savills Singapore, and the exclusive marketing agent for the sale of the property.
Monteiro says: “This site would be very nice as a family office, especially for wealthy individuals looking to make Singapore into a home base.” Alternatively, the new owner could explore a potential en bloc scenario to redevelop the entire site, including the residential component. However, this would require buying up enough residential units to begin the en bloc process, says Monteiro.
The commercial site shares the plot with the 16-unit St Martin’s Apartment. The carpark is above the commercial site for sale.
He points out that it is very rare for a street-level commercial site on Tanglin Road to come onto the market since such sites are tightly held. He adds that this particular site is especially rare because the frontage boasts a generous car park space.
If the new owner chooses to continue renting out the site, they will find that there is strong demand for such highly visible sites in the central region, says Monteiro. A local developer has already approached him to rent out the space as a showflat, while other businesses such as boutique furniture shops have also offered monthly rents of close to $69,000 to lease the street-level storefront.
According to the current owner, “whoever takes over this site needs to be able to see its potential. While the site is currently untapped, there is nowhere else in this area that offers a street-level site with its own frontage with space to park several cars”. The site could also be turned into a luxury car showroom to take advantage of its prominent frontage, he says.
For price trends, recent transactions, other project info, check out these projects' research page: St. Martin's Drive, Tanglin Residences, St Martin Residence, Cluny Park, 3 Orchard By-The-Park, Cuscaden Reserve, Boulevard 88, 3 Cuscaden
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