New March deadline for The Arcade collective sale tender

Marketing agent Colliers said that due to the year-end holidays, developers had asked for the tender deadline to be extended to give them more time to evaluate The Arcade site. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
Marketing agent Colliers said that due to the year-end holidays, developers had asked for the tender deadline to be extended to give them more time to evaluate The Arcade site. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR

The deadline for the collective sale tender for The Arcade in Collyer Quay has been extended after feedback from developers that they need more time to assess the site, the marketing agent said yesterday.

The new deadline is on March 5, instead of Jan 8.

Owners of The Arcade launched a second stab at a collective sale on Nov 14 with an asking price of $780 million, 10 per cent lower than the $868 million set in 2014.

The 40-year-old building in the heart of the Central Business District comprises 127 office and retail units. Depending on the size of the unit, each owner stands to receive between $700,000 and $29.9 million from a sale, according to agent Colliers International.

Its managing director Tang Wei Leng said: "Since the collective sale tender was launched, The Arcade has received strong interest from numerous developers and we have conducted many site viewings.

"With the long Christmas and New Year holidays upon us, many developers have requested us to extend the (tender) deadline so that they have more time to evaluate the site. We have taken this feedback into consideration and have revised the closing date."

Colliers said it has also revised the land rate upon receiving the verified gross floor area for the site from the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

The reserve price of $780 million will now translate to a land rate of $2,840 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) - up marginally from its estimate of $2,833 psf ppr when the tender was launched last month.

The 20-storey office and retail property sits on a 2,035 sq m site with a 999-year land tenure that began on April 20, 1826.

It is zoned commercial with a gross plot ratio of 15. It could be redeveloped into a 50-storey integrated development, comprising a hotel, residential units, office and retail space.

Ms Tang added: "The response has been positive so far, with developers particularly drawn to its city centre location, proximity to the Raffles Place MRT interchange station, its 999-year land tenure and the ongoing urban transformation in the area."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 17, 2019, with the headline New March deadline for The Arcade collective sale tender. Subscribe