JTC Offers 1.9ha One-North Site For Sale

Source : The Business Times, May 1, 2008

A COMMERCIAL site slated for mostly office use near the existing Buona Vista MRT Station has been made available for application under the reserve list.

The 1.9-hectare site can yield close to 1.3 million square feet of gross floor area, of which 21,528 sq ft are for ground-floor retail use.

The 99-year site is in the biomedical hub of one-north and is being offered for sale under the Government Land Sale Programme for first-half 2008 by JTC Corporation.

The plot could be worth about $500 million assuming it fetches $400 per square foot of potential gross floor area.

JTC Corp said the plot will be developed into a high-rise commercial building that will provide office space for the business support companies of the research institutes at one-north. The plot is next to a new MRT station that will open under the Circle Line in 2010.

Cushman & Wakefield managing director Donald Han said the development, which will have about one million sq ft net lettable area, will benefit from spillover office demand from the surrounding biomedical facilities, as well as commercial office tenants and government departments relocating out of the Central Business District.

'This is a sizeable investment, so bidders will be the big boys potentially looking at developing a project on a built-to-suit basis for anchor tenants. The end-product will be very suitable for sale to a Reit. It's pretty untested ground, but the plot could fetch about $350-$420 psf per plot ratio (psf ppr). The breakeven cost will be about $1,000 to $1,100 psf of net lettable area,' Mr Han added.

Colliers International managing director Dennis Yeo estimates the site to be worth a slightly higher $400-$500 psf ppr, reflecting a breakeven cost of around $1,200 psf of net lettable area. 'Assuming an average rent of about $7 psf, the net yield will be about 5 to 6 per cent,' he added.