Is Ascott trust mulling sale of Ascott Raffles Place?

WORD on the street is that an expression of interest (EOI) exercise closed recently for Ascott Raffles Place, a 20-storey conserved building with 146 serviced apartments.

Located at 2 Finlayson Green and a stone's throw from the Raffles Place MRT Station, the 999-year leasehold property is owned by the listed Ascott Residence Trust (ART), the sponsor of which is The Ascott Ltd, a fully-owned subsidiary of CapitaLand.

The EOI exercise was conducted by Cushman & Wakefield, which also helped CapitaLand Commercial Trust (CCT) - another CapitaLand-sponsored real estate investment trust (Reit) - with its divestments of Wilkie Edge last year and Twenty Anson this year.