Tan Boon Liat Building (Picture: Cushman & Wakefield)
Tan Boon Liat Building, an industrial property located at 315 Outram Road, is up for collective sale by public tender at a reserve price of $1.15 billion. The freehold site, which is adjacent to the Havelock MRT Station on the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL), occupies two separate land plots zoned for “Business 1” use with a combined site area of about 175,655 sq ft.
The site is currently occupied by a 15-storey building that is best known for housing multiple furniture and home decor stores.
Map showing Tan Boon Liat Building (Source: EdgeProp LandLens)
According to Cushman & Wakefield, the property's advisor and marketing agent, URA has issued an Outline Planning Advice on Jan 22 advising the site be rezoned to “Residential with Commercial at 1st storey” with a plot ratio of 4.9, up from 3.1 currently. This translates to a 50% uplift in the total allowable gross floor area (GFA), Cushman & Wakefield adds.
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In addition, URA has advised on the alienation of a few remnant state land plots to be amalgamated into the main plot. The state land plots are estimated to measure about 20,451 sq ft, subject to the relevant authorities’ final survey and approval.
Cushman & Wakefield estimates that the site's potential GFA, including the state land plots and any bonus GFA entitlement, is over 1.06 million sq ft. The first storey can accommodate a commercial GFA of up to around 16,146 sq ft.
Meanwhile, as part of the residential allocation, a minimum GFA of about 161,459 sq ft shall be set aside for Serviced Apartments II (SA2), where a minimum three-month stay is required. The allowable heights for the new development range from 130m to 180m.
Based on the reserve price, including land betterment charges on rezoning, the estimated premium payable on the remnant state land and the 10% bonus GFA applicable to the residential portion, the estimated land rate works out to around $1,888 psf per plot ratio.
Recent industrial sales transactions at Tan Boon Liat Building (Source: EdgeProp Buddy)
Christina Sim, senior director of capital markets at Cushman & Wakefield, believes the site will appeal to developers given its freehold tenure and location on the TEL, which will be a draw for homebuyers.
She adds: “The biggest game changer, however, is the fact that there will not be any Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) to be levied on the potential purchase as the original site has a ‘Business 1’ zoning.”
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The tender for the site will close on March 18 at 3pm.