Darby Park Executive Suites sold for nearly S$93m

Singapore

BURSA Malaysia-listed Sime Darby Property has sold its six-storey serviced residence property along Orange Grove Road, Darby Park Executive Suites, for S$92.71 million.

The buyer is Royal Group, controlled by Asok Kumar Hiranandani and his son Bobby. They could not be reached for comment by press time on Friday.

Market watchers believe that Royal Group could be looking to redevelop the prime district property into a hotel, subject to approval from the authorities.

The group owns SO Sofitel Singapore along Robinson Road, and The Singapore Resort & Spa Sentosa.

Darby Park Executive Suites was completed about 25 years ago. It is next to The Shangri-La Apartments and Shangri-La Hotel.

It stands on a 36,311 sq ft site with a balance lease of about 73 years .

Under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Master Plan 2014, the site is zoned for residential use with 1.6 plot ratio (ratio of maximum gross floor area to land area).

Darby Park Executive Suites' existing gross floor area of 56,231 sq ft is 1.55 times the land area. The property has 75 serviced apartments - comprising one-bedroom deluxe, one-bedroom premiere and two-bedroom units.

Its facilities include a swimming pool, gym, sauna and tennis court.

The sale is part of Sime Darby Property's strategy to divest non-core hospitality assets in Australia, Singapore and Vietnam by December 2019.

The group's latest annual report reflects the net book value of Darby Park Executive Suites as RM74.7 million (S$24.5 million) as at June 30, 2018.

The Business Times understands that the property was marketed for sale by CBRE through a private expressions of interest exercise which closed in May this year.