Row of Club Street shophouses put on market for S$28.5m or S$3,945 psf

FIVE adjoining shophouses at 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 Club Street, within the Telok Ayer conservation area in the Central Business District, have been offered for sale with a guide price of S$28.5 million, exclusive marketing agent Savills Singapore said.

The site comprises 2 land titles: 1, 3 and 5 Club Street, which are 3 storeys high with an attic; and 7 and 9 Club Street, which are 2 storeys high.

The guide price works out to about S$3,945 per square foot (psf) based on the floor area. The shophouses span an estimated total built-up area of some 7,225 square feet (sq ft) and sit on a combined land of around 3,557 sq ft.

They come with food and beverage (F&B) approvals for the entire ground floor. These spaces are leased to popular F&B operators, including French wine bistro Merci Marcel, whose website states its address as 7-9 Club Street; Parallel Coffee Roasters, occupying 3 Club Street; and Yen Bar, at 1 Club Street.

The upper floors are offices occupied by multinational corporation tenants, Savills noted in a press statement on Monday (Feb 14).

In response to The Business Times’ (BT) queries, the firm said that each of the 2 land titles is held by different names, but they are both related entities. They are a local Singapore family, who do not wish to disclose their identities at the moment, Savills added.

The firm also told BT on Monday that there are about 73 years remaining on the land tenure.

In July 2014, when the 5 shophouses had been put on the market with a S$22 million asking price, BT reported that 1, 3 and 5 Club Street were then owned by Citystate Properties, while 7 and 9 Club Street were owned by Ling Ai Ee, a shareholder of Citystate.

At the time, an insurance company occupied the ground level, and the upper levels were leased out as residences. Under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Master Plan 2014, a stretch of Club Street and Gemmill Lane, including the 5 shophouses, was rezoned to commercial use, from the previous zoning of residential with first-storey commercial use.

As the shophouses sit on land zoned for commercial use, foreigners and companies are eligible to buy them. There is no additional buyer’s stamp duty or seller’s stamp duty imposed on the purchase of the properties, Savills said.

They also command a triple road frontage that is 50 metres wide, along Cross Street, Club Street and Gemmill Lane.

Savills Singapore associate director for investment sales and capital markets, Sophia Lim, said: “Hardly ever on the market, a standalone island site boasting prominent triple road frontages in the beating heart of the Central Business District is far and few between.”

The properties are across the road from Far East Square and Cross Street Exchange, and an estimated 3-minute walk to Telok Ayer MRT station.

Also in the vicinity is the 8 Club Street hotel, slated for completion by the end of 2022. The upcoming 19-storey upscale development will have about 900 rooms as well as commercial spaces, and provide direct sheltered access via an underground pedestrian link to Chinatown MRT station, Savills said.

Lim noted that the 5 shophouses may thus see further rental and capital value upside as the hotel could boost footfall, traffic and vibrancy in the area in the near term.

She added that the precinct is exciting, fast-growing and still undergoing urban transformation.

The sale of 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 Club Street will be conducted through an expression of interest exercise, which closes on Mar 29 at 3pm.

Sales of shophouses in Singapore hit an all-time high value of S$1.9 billion in 2021 amid bullish investor sentiment, surging by some S$1 billion from 2020, Knight Frank said in a report this January. The real estate consultancy foresees moderate spillover demand from the residential sector in 2022, as commercially zoned shophouses are not affected by the latest cooling measures.