Apollo Centre Sold For $205m

Source : The Business Times, December 13, 2007

Buyer AEW intending to refurbish it

US PROPERTY fund manager AEW Capital Management has bought Apollo Centre for $205 million, or $1,378 per sq ft (psf) of lettable floor area, the property firm that brokered the deal said yesterday.

Apollo Centre, in Havelock Road, is a seven-storey commercial building with shops on the basement, first and second storeys and offices on the upper floors.

It sits on 54,600 sq ft of land and has a gross floor area of around 217,500 sq ft. The lettable floor area is 148,700 sq ft. It is on a 99-year lease, with 75 years left.

Knight Frank, which marketed the building, said the purchase shows continued investor confidence in the Singapore commercial market since the US sub-prime crisis.

Apollo Centre was sold by Singapore Exchange-listed Apollo Enterprises. The company also owns and manages Furama City Centre Singapore and Furama RiverFront Singapore.

Knight Frank put up the property for sale in September and the tender closed on Oct 16. Several parties were interested and negotiations went on for several weeks after, said Knight Frank executive director Foo Suan Peng.

AEW and its affiliates manage more than US$41 billion of real estate assets and securities in North America, Europe and Asia. The group set up an office in Singapore in April as a base from which to expand in the region. AEW intends to refurbish Apollo Centre, BT understands.

Right now, office rents in the area are about $8.00 psf per month (psf pm) while retail rents range from $8.00-$8.50 psf pm.