ST : PoMo, Tanglin Shopping Centre up for sale

Dec 09,2010

PoMo, Tanglin Shopping Centre up for sale

By Fiona Chan
TWO commercial buildings in the city area were put up for sale yesterday.

One is the former Paradiz Centre in Selegie Road, now called PoMo, which is seeking expressions of interest, said marketing agent Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL).

The 99-year leasehold building between Parklane Shopping Mall and School of the Arts was built in the 1990s but recently underwent a major refurbishment.

It sits on a 43,027 sq ft site and has a net lettable area of 182,060 sq ft. Shops take up about 40 per cent of the space, with the rest devoted to offices.

PoMo is wholly owned by Australian property firm Lend Lease and a private fund. It is 99 per cent occupied, said JLL.

While no price has been specified for the sale, JLL's national director of investments, Mr Anthony Barr, said recent building sales in the area could be a reference.

He pointed to nearby IOI Plaza at the junction of Middle Road and Prinsep Street, which was reported to have been sold last month for $139 million, or about $1,380 per sq ft (psf).

Reports also said the freehold Prime Centre in Middle Road was recently sold for $103 million or $1,415 psf.

'So in terms of a price guidance for PoMo, it would be about $1,400 psf based on the net lettable area, which takes it to around $255 million,' said Mr Barr.The deadline for expressions of interest for the property is Jan 28.

Meanwhile, the owners of Tanglin Shopping Centre in Tanglin Road have put the building up for collective sale, which could be the biggest of its kind in the area.

The property now comprises 363 shop, office and medical units, but can be redeveloped to have homes, shops, offices, or hotel rooms, said ERA Realty Network, which is handling the sale.

Reports have put the reserve price for Tanglin Shopping Centre at $1.25 billion. This works out to a record price of about $4,000 per sq ft of potential gross floor area. It is located on a freehold site of about 68,512 sq ft, with a plot ratio of 4.2.

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, the London-listed hotel arm of City Developments, said in June it had signed the collective sale agreement for the property. It owns 85 retail and office units and 325 parking lots that have been held since 1981.