Ravi Chandran
Three-storey Chinatown conservation shophouse at 18 Sago Street for sale via Expression of Interest
CBRE on Sep 2 launched for sale a three-storey conservation shophouse in the heart of Chinatown at 18 Sago Street via Expression of Interest. This Chinatown conservation shophouse sits on a land area of approximately 1,115 square feet with a 99-year leasehold tenure from 1991 and has an estimated gross floor area of 3,196 square feet.
Under the 2014 Master Plan, the Chinatown conservation shophouse is zoned for “Commercial” use. The three-storey shophouse enjoys high visibility with a 5.4-meter frontage along Sago Street and is located less than 300 meters from the Chinatown MRT interchange station. Accessibility will be further enhanced with the upcoming Maxwell MRT station that is 150 meters away and scheduled to be operational in 2021.
The indicative price for the Chinatown conservation shophouse is $8.5 million, which works out to S$2,660 per square foot based on the gross floor area.
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Ms Angela Lim, Senior Manager, Capital Markets, CBRE said, “Commercial conservation shophouses, particularly those in prime central locations such as Chinatown, have been constantly sought after by investors, including private real estate funds, family offices and high net worth individuals. This is especially so since there are only about 6,700 conservation shophouses in Singapore. In fact, such ownership is usually tightly held and based on URA REALIS, among all the conservation shophouses along the streets within the Kreta Ayer Conservation Area, those along Sago Street rarely changed hands.”
While there has been no shophouse transaction along Sago Street in the past six years, the most recent in the vicinity was in May 2019 – a three-storey freehold shophouse along Temple Street sold at S$8.9 million.
Ms Lim added, “This is an attractive offer as the price is at a palatable quantum. Based on past transactions, capital appreciation for conservation shophouses is about 4% to 8% per annum. The successful buyer will enjoy immediate rental income as the shophouse is fully tenanted with leases expiring between 2020 and 2022. He/she can also explore value-adding to the property by conducting A&A refurbishment works or converting the second and third floor into a capsule hostel, subject to authorities’ approval. The ground-floor space has obtained approval for F&B use.”
As a commercial property, the opportunity to purchase this Chinatown conservation shophouse is open to both locals and foreigners. There will be no additional buyers’ stamp duty (ABSD) or sellers’ stamp duty (SSD) imposed on the purchase of the property.
The vicinity is home to an eclectic mix of restaurants, local eateries, art galleries, retail shops, showrooms and offices. Nearby landmarks include Maxwell Food Centre, the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum, Sri Mariamman Hindu Temple, the Jamae Mosque and the Fairfield Methodist Church.
CBRE is the sole marketing agent for this Chinatown conservation shophouse and the Expression of Interest exercise will close on 2 October 2019, Wednesday at 3pm.
Mr Paul Ho, chief mortgage officer at iCompareLoan said, “shophouses are perceived as attractive investments because they can hold their values because of their central locations and the freehold/999-year-leasehold of many of these properties. Shophouses are also valued because they give prominent presence to a business entity for them to be visible in a highly competitive environment.”
“The 999-year-leasehold Chinatown conservation shophouse will be especially attractive to investors because of its location, as investment properties of such nature are scarce,” he added.
The biggest gainers following the 2018 property cooling measures is likely be owners of strata portfolio of offices and shophouses approved for commercial use. The property cooling measures affected almost all categories of buyers and is predicted to achieve its intended objectives of cooling demand and moderating price growth.
One report said investors looking for alternatives to park their money in the wake of property cooling measures, would divert their attention to the strata office and shophouse markets as they are not subjected to this round of purchase or sales restrictions/encumbrances.
Properties such as the Chinatown conservation shophouse may be bought under personal name, but total debt servicing Total Debt Servicing Ratio (TDSR) will apply on the individual’s income on such purchases. To buy a commercial or industrial property under company name, total debt servicing ratio TDSR also applies on the individual director’s income if the company is an investment holding company or an operating company that is loss-making or does not have sufficient cash flow to servicing the repayment.
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