Cecil Street's IOB Building up for sale at S$217.7m guide price

IOB Building, a six-storey office block with two levels of basement car park at 64 Cecil Street, has been put up for sale via tender at an overall guide price of S$217.7 million, said exclusive marketing agent Knight Frank on Monday.

The redevelopment property at the junction of Cecil Street and Cross Street in the central business district (CBD) has a tenure of 99 years from May 1983 and a site area of 891.8 square metres or about 9,599 square feet (sq ft).

The site is zoned "commercial" according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) 2019 Master Plan, with an allowable gross plot ratio of 12.6.

This means a 15-storey office building with a total gross floor area of around 120,947 sq ft can be developed on the site, subject to approval from the relevant authorities, according to Knight Frank.

An outline application for a change of use to "residential with commercial at the first storey" and "hotel" has been submitted to the URA, with a reply to be "expected soon", it added.

Knight Frank added that the property's owner is expecting offers in excess of S$1,800 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), which is inclusive of a differential premium for the site's intensification, and extension of its lease to 99 years.

Ian Loh, Knight Frank Singapore's head of investment and capital markets (land, building and collective sales), said IOB Building presents a unique and rare redevelopment opportunity within the CBD given the exceptional, tightly held commercial market in Singapore.

He added that office supply in the CBD is likely to remain low until 2025 as the government has yet to place any office sites on the confirmed list under the government land sales programme, and that there is only one white site at Marina View on the reserve list.

IOB Building is situated across Telok Ayer MRT station and is within walking distance to both Raffles Place MRT interchange and the upcoming Shenton Way MRT station.

Other landmarks in its immediate vicinity include CapitaGreen, Manulife Tower, Prudential Tower and upcoming developments CapitaSpring and The Clan Hotel.

The tender for IOB Building will close at 3pm on March 24.

In April 2019, Realty Centre in Enggor Street was sold for S$148 million or S$2,438 psf ppr.