Khong Guan puts Tai Seng property up for sale

Khong Guan, one of Singapore's biggest home-grown biscuit makers, is selling a freehold industrial building in the Tai Seng area.

The property, Khong Guan Industrial Building, will be sold through a public tender exercise that will close on Sept 7.

The building is next to the company's 64-year-old conservation-listed factory, which is being renovated but is not for sale.

Khong Guan Land, a fully owned unit of Khong Guan Biscuit, has appointed Edmund Tie & Company (SEA) as sole marketing agent.

Khong Guan Industrial Building is an eight-storey property at 20 MacTaggart Road with a site area of about 21,100 sq ft, as well as surface and basement carparks.

The eight-storey, freehold industrial building has a site area of about 21,100 sq ft, as well as surface and basement carparks. PHOTO: EDMUND TIE & COMPANY

Based on the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Master Plan 2014, the land falls under "Business 1" - a zone set aside for clean and light industrial use, at a 2.5 plot ratio.

The property has been fully utilised with an existing gross floor area at 57,019 sq ft or an equivalent plot ratio of 2.7, and is being leased by multiple tenants.

Sitting within 300m of the Tai Seng MRT station on the Circle Line, it has dual road frontage with access to MacTaggart Road and Burn Road and is easily accessible by both public transport and major roads.

Edmund Tie & Co (SEA) noted in a press statement that Khong Guan Industrial Building is strategically situated in the Tai Seng area.

The area is "one of the most popular and established industrial estates in Singapore", home to several well-known firms, such as BreadTalk Group, Sakae Holdings, Charles & Keith, Tee Yih Jia Group, Food Empire Holdings and Malaysia Dairy Industries, it said.

The firm noted that a number of industrial buildings in the area have changed hands in recent years, including one at 62 Burn Road this month, which was sold at $16.1 million, or $679 per sq ft on gross floor area.

The number of significant transactions in the immediate vicinity underscores the strong interest for freehold industrial assets in this prime area, it added.

"There is an ongoing agglomeration of well-known companies in this popular industrial cluster and we expect to see this trend continue given its many positive attributes," said Mr Tan Chun Ming, director of investment advisory services at Edmund Tie & Co (SEA).

"Rare freehold industrial sites in this location such as (Khong Guan Industrial Building) will appeal to end-users seeking to house their corporate headquarters and also property investors who believe in the further growth of Tai Seng."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 25, 2016, with the headline Khong Guan puts Tai Seng property up for sale. Subscribe