Prime city-fringe commercial freehold site launched for sale

SINGAPORE, 23 April 2018 – A commercial freehold site located along Jalan Besar Road has just been launched for sale via an Expression of Interest (EOI) exercise by exclusive marketing agent JLL.

Located at the entrance to the former New World Amusement Park, the commercial site is situated in-between 251 Jalan Besar Road and 255 Jalan Besar Road. The site enjoys a 10-metre wide main road frontage and commands excellent visibility. It occupies a total land area of approximately 3,230 sf. Under the 2014 Master Plan, the site is zoned "Commercial" with a gross plot ratio 3.0.

Incoming purchasers have the benefit of exploring various development works to maximize the use of the site. Subject to approval from relevant authorities, potential Commercial uses for the new development include F&B, office, co-working and retail amongst others. Currently, a Written Permission has been obtained by the existing owner to develop the site to accommodate two four-storey units infill envelope control buildings with temporary eating house use on the ground floor and office use for the upper floor. The approved gross floor area (GFA) is 9,694 sf.

The site is easily accessible, being a short walking distance from Lavender MRT station (East-West Line), Bendemeer MRT station (Downtown Line) and Farrer Park MRT station (North-East Line). Public transportation is conveniently located along the main road. Located within a short 10-minute drive of the Central Business District (CBD) and Orchard Road, the site is also easily accessible to other parts of Singapore via Pan Island Expressway (PIE) and Central Expressway (CTE).

Jalan Besar, which means "main road" in Malay, was one of the earliest areas to be developed in Singapore. Due to its rich heritage, the area has been granted conservation status in 1991. With its close proximity to the city, the area has slowly evolved into a business and medical hub supported by trendy F&B and lifestyle attractions. Major commercial developments in the area includes Aperia, CT Hub, Connexion, City Square Mall, and Farrer Park Hospital. Hip eateries, cafes, restaurants, boutique hotels and art galleries such as Antoinette, The Broers Café, Chye Seng Huat Hardware, Art At Ease Gallery and The Artists Village have sprung in the area.

The commercial site is situated at the entrance to the former New World Amusement Park. The renowned amusement park entertained the Singapore night crowds from the 1920s to 1960s. The amusement park featured cabarets, circus acts, open-air cinemas, Chinese and Malay opera halls, boxing arenas, shops and restaurants. Being a major landmark, the site is an important part of Singapore's history and is fondly recalled by earlier generations of Singaporeans. After the closure of the amusement park, the site was subsequently redeveloped into City Square Residences (residential development) and City Square Mall (8-storey shopping mall). The original New World Gate was refurbished and relocated to the urban park adjacent to City Square Mall.

The indicative guide price of the site is in the region of $13.5 million, reflecting a unit land rate of about $1,392 per sf per plot ratio. No development charge is payable for the intensification of the site.

Mr. Clemence Lee, Associate Director, Capital Markets, JLL said: "New World Amusement Park is one of the major landmarks in Singapore's history. Having the site being situated at the entrance to New World Amusement Park, and given its freehold tenure, city fringe location, excellent main road frontage, potential future naming rights and flexible commercial uses, we are confident that incoming developers and owner-occupiers would appreciate the rich heritage and strong attributes of the site and develop an iconic flagship building there."

"After factoring in the development cost, the blended breakeven for the new development would be in the region of $1,925 psf. This compares favourably to the average price of $5,000 - $5,500 psf achieved for the strata retail units and $2,400 - $2,500 psf for the strata office units at the nearby Arc 380 and Centrum Square", he added.

As the property sits on land zoned for commercial use, foreigners are eligible to purchase the site. There is also no Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) or Seller's Stamp Duty (SSD) imposed on the purchase of the property.

The property will be marketed through an Expression of Interest exercise which closes on Thursday, 30 May 2018 at 3pm.

- ends -

Note to editors:

A high-resolution photograph of the Jalan Besar site is available here.

About JLL

JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specialises in real estate and investment management. A Fortune 500 company, JLL helps real estate owners, occupiers and investors achieve their business ambitions. In 2017, JLL had revenue of $7.9 billion; managed 4.6 billion square feet, or 423 million square meters; and completed investment sales, acquisitions and finance transactions of approximately $170 billion. At the end of 2017, JLL had nearly 300 corporate offices, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of 82,000. As of December 31, 2017, LaSalle had $58.1 billion of real estate assets under management. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit www.jll.com

JLL has over 50 years of experience in Asia Pacific, with over 37,000 employees operating in 96 offices in 16 countries across the region. The firm won 23 awards at the International Property Awards Asia Pacific in 2017 and was named number one real estate investment advisory firm in Asia Pacific for the seventh consecutive year by Real Capital Analytics. www.ap.jll.com