Former Zouk site put on sale at $689.35m minimum price

Minimum bid price nearly $690m; prime plot expected to set new Govt Land Sales record

The 13,482 sq m site in District 9 is expected to draw strong interest with as many as 12 developers expected to throw their hats into the ring.
The 13,482 sq m site in District 9 is expected to draw strong interest with as many as 12 developers expected to throw their hats into the ring. ST FILE PHOTO

The prime site along the Singapore River formerly occupied by popular nightspot Zouk has been put on the market at a minimum price of $689.35 million.

The 99-year leasehold plot in Jiak Kim Street is expected to produce a new record for Government Land Sales (GLS) sites in terms of the land rate.

Property experts cited the strong selling points, including the riverfront view, prime District 9 location, proximity to the upcoming Great World and Havelock MRT stations on the Thomson-East Coast Line and dining offerings in the Robertson Quay area and Great World City mall.

The tender, which was triggered when a developer offered the minimum price of $689.35 million, closes at noon on Dec 5, said the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) yesterday.

This price is equivalent to $1,250 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr).

The 13,482 sq m site is expected to draw strong interest with as many as 12 developers expected to throw their hats into the ring.

Based on recently sold property and collective sales in prime districts 9,10 and 11, the estimated land price of the Zouk site would range from $728 million to $800 million, said ZACD Group executive director Nicholas Mak.

That would translate to a land rate of between $1,320 psf ppr and $1,450 psf ppr, which would be a Government Land Sales record, he added.

Mr Mak said interest for the site could come from big guns like City Developments, SC Global, MCL Land, Far East Organization, UOL Group and OUE.

The site carries a maximum gross floor area of 51,231 sq m and could accommodate 525 apartments in a project of up to 36 storeys, with ground-floor commercial use, albeit in only three conserved warehouses that used to house Zouk.

"Just as the tender for the site of GuocoLand's Martin Modern resulted in a record GLS residential land price rate of $1,239.03 psf ppr when that tender closed in June 2016, the tender for this land parcel in Jiak Kim Street would also produce a new record GLS residential land price," Mr Mak said.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on October 20, 2017, with the headline Former Zouk site put on sale at $689.35m minimum price. Subscribe