CityVibe Put Up For Sale At $140m

Source : The Business Times, January 11, 2008

CITYVIBE, a new three-storey retail and entertainment complex opposite Clementi station and next to the future Clementi Central Hub, is for sale through an expression of interest exercise at an asking price said to be $140 million.

CityVibe: The retail and entertainment complex in Clementi will be built between February and November

This could work out to a 5-5.25 per cent net yield for the property, which will have a net lettable area of 26,581 sq ft, sources say.

Developer Grandview has obtained official approval to redevelop the existing property on the site - a two-storey building that used to house a theatre - into the new complex.

Using construction methods that involve more steel and less concrete, CityVibe will be built between February and November this year, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, which is handling the sale of the property on a completed basis.

JLL is also the marketing agent for leasing of the units in the new building.

Grandview's shareholders are Victor Boh See Fook, Eric Cheng Kwee Kiang and Woon Yong Thai.

CityVibe will be developed on a site with a remaining lease of about 70 years. Grandview is believed to have bought the asset a few years ago.

Asked about potential competition that retailers at CityVibe will face from the adjacent Clementi Central Hub when it is completed in 2010, JLL's regional director and head of investments Lui Seng Fatt said: 'Clementi Central Hub will be a magnet for the whole area and benefit CityVibe as well.

'In any case, the location has a very strong catchment not only from the surrounding HDB estate but also from nearby tertiary institutions such as National University of Singapore, Singapore Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Singapore Institute of Management.'

JLL expects the expression of interest exercise for CityVibe, which closes on Feb 1, to attract local and foreign investors because it offers an investment-grade retail property in the HDB heartland.

The site is zoned for commercial use with a 40:60 split between retail/F&B and entertainment/office use. CityVibe has been exempted from providing carpark lots because there is sufficient parking nearby, JLL said.