United House relaunched for sale at S$166 million
[SINGAPORE] United House, a freehold commercial development in the Orchard Road area, has been put up for collective sale again with an unchanged reserve price of S$166 million.
This time, the Urban Redevelopment Authority has granted in-principle approval for the building to be redeveloped for hotel use, with the same gross plot ratio of 4.9.
The S$166 million price tag translates to a land rate of S$3,045 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), assuming it is redeveloped for commercial use, said marketing agent Edmund Tie in a Tuesday (Jun 10) press statement. If redeveloped for hotel use, the land rate works out to S$3,254 psf ppr.
The prime freehold site is located just behind Concorde Hotel and Shopping Centre, which was sold in November 2024 to Hotel Properties Limited for S$821 million. This was a shade above the guide price of S$820 million and works out to around S$1,804 psf ppr.
United House sits on a freehold land parcel of 1,193 square metres (sq m).
It is currently zoned for commercial use under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Master Plan 2019. This means that there is no Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty and no foreign ownership restriction on buyers.
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The property can be redeveloped into a 10-storey commercial building with a gross floor area of up to 62,900 square feet, Edmund Tie head of investment advisory Swee Shou Fern previously said.
Successful buyers will also have the option to pursue a strata-titled commercial development, said the agency.
Swee noted a growing appetite for quality hospitality assets in Singapore, driven by a resurgence of tourism; meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions; and music-related travel.
'Its proximity to (transportation nodes), arts institutions, and cultural landmarks… makes it ideal for modern hospitality concepts such as urban explorer hubs, wellness retreats, or experiential hotels catering to both leisure and business travellers,' she said.
This is United House owners' second relaunch attempt. It was first launched for sale last October, and later relaunched for sale in February this year.
Prior to that, the development was put up for sale in 1989 by UOL and sold in 1990 for S$30.6 million or S$900 psf to Hong Kong-based First Pacific Land, which had ties to Indonesian businessman Liem Sioe Liong.
Barely a year later, First Pacific put the property up for sale. According to media reports then, marketing consultant Jones Lang Wootton was instructed to sell the five-storey property en bloc or on a floor-by-floor basis.
Separately, property consultancy CBRE has extended the tender submission deadline for the en bloc sale of Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre by three months to Sep 9, from Jun 10.
This is because CBRE has just received the outline planning permission (OPP) for the freehold site, as well as an adjoining plot of land. This would allow the plots – which span a total site of 5,443.3 sq m – to be redeveloped into a mixed-use development comprising serviced apartments, retail and residential components.
With the OPP, the redevelopment could span a gross floor area of 16,424.5 sq m, comprising 3,283.5 sq m of commercial units and serviced apartments, and 13,141 sq m for residential use. Assuming an average home size of 85 sq m, this works out to over 150 residential units.
The guide price of S$260 million then translates to about S$1,470 psf. This represents a premium of up to 50 per cent of units' existing market value, chairman of the collective sale committee Mathews Thomas previously told The Business Times.
Given the changes, CBRE has agreed to provide potential investors and developers more time to 'assess the implications and consider their options for the sites'. This includes the development mix and pricing for the site.
Michael Tay, CBRE deputy managing director of Singapore advisory and capital markets head, added that the dearth of freehold redevelopment opportunities has led to keen interest in the site.
'The OPP will now provide developers with greater clarity on the development potential,' said Tay. 'We anticipate strong interest from developers who have looked at the site with interest since we first launched the tender on Apr 7.'
The tender for United House will close Jul 1, while that of Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre will close on Sep 9.
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