Indonesian tycoon buys 2 Singapore Bukit Pasoh shophouses

[SINGAPORE] THE family office of Indonesian tycoon Prajogo Pangestu has picked up a pair of adjoining freehold shophouses in Teo Hong Road in the Bukit Pasoh Conservation Area for nearly S$22 million.

The properties are a stone's throw from Outram MRT Station. One of them is understood to have been sold by Lim Chun Shuang, son of Lim Hock San, president and chief executive of United Industrial Corporation.

The deals were brokered by Clemence Lee, associate director of capital markets at JLL who declined to comment on the seller's and buyer's identities.

According to him, the two properties have a combined built-up area of about 11,000 sq ft.

Nos 13 and 15 Teo Hong Road, each spanning three-and-a-half levels, are on separate land lots and are expected to be substantially refurbished including removing the wall between the two properties to improve the efficiency of the combined space and boost the lettable area.

No 13 is vacant. A massage parlour used to be on the ground floor, while offices occupied the upper levels. No 15's ground floor is leased to a shop that sells crocodile and other leather goods. There is an office tenant on the second level and the rest of the building is vacant.

Once the existing leases run out, and subject to obtaining the necessary approvals from the authorities, the new owner plans to start renovations, possibly around year-end. "We are still exploring how much we want to do but we are going to refurbish this pair of shophouses and plan to rent them out as offices, with F&B on the ground floor," Nancy Pangestu, managing director of ANB Investment, told The Business Times.

The Singapore-incorporated company is the family office for the Pangestus. "ANB Investment handles all the family's private investments all over the world but a large part of our portfolio is in Singapore," said Ms Pangestu.

Indonesia-based Barito Group - with interests in petrochemicals, oil and gas, renewable energy, and property - is largely owned by the family, but not through ANB Investment, she added.

ANB Investment also owns four three-storey shophouses at 99 to 102 Amoy Street which it is currently refurbishing. It acquired these 999-year leasehold properties for S$32.9 million in 2012 from US-based property fund manager AEW.

Post-refurbishment, the Amoy Street shophouses will be leased to co-working space operator Found., a rebranding of Impact Hub Singapore.

ANB Investment also owns a 30,000 sq ft residential building at 6 Sarkies Road near Newton MRT Station, which it has leased to co-living startup Hmlet.

"We are very supportive of the tech/startup industry in Singapore. In addition, we are looking for opportunities to invest in the industry," said Ms Pangestu.

Separately, a four-storey freehold commercial building near the corner of Kampong Bahru Road and Neil Road is transacting at S$22.58 million.

The property, which is officially named Dimensions Building but oddly also known as Blair House, is on a site of about 3,400 sq ft that is zoned for commercial use. It is on an envelope control site in the Blair Plain Conservation Area.

Envelope control sites are vacant lands and new buildings located within conservation areas, but not designated for conservation. Nevertheless, they are subject to guidelines, for example relating to height, setback and front facade.

Dimensions Building is being sold by an investment holding company that is understood to have completed a major revamp of the property about three years ago.

The buyer is understood to be a Chinese citizen and Singapore permanent resident Zhao Xuehao, who earlier this year also bought 75 Amoy Street, a conservation shophouse, for slightly over S$18 million.

The price he is paying for Dimensions Building reflects S$2,006 per square foot on average based on the total strata area of 11,259 sq ft.

The building comprises four strata titles, one per floor. The ground floor was sold at S$2,951 psf and the three upper floors, at S$1,761 psf.

All 14 office and shop units in the building are leased. A music school and a gym are on the ground floor.