Family offices driving a few car park deals; Chinatown offers latest million-dollar lot

A CAR park at People's Park Complex has joined the mix of such assets up for purchase, with a few recent sales of other car parks closed by family offices.

This week, a multi-storey car park with a restaurant unit at People's Park Complex was put up for public tender at a guide price of S$42 million.

The property spans across four floors on levels 3, 4, 5 and 6, comprising 648 car parking spaces, 56 motorcycle parking spaces and a restaurant unit on the top level of the podium, said sole marketing agent Brilliance Capital.

For the car park, the price works out to about S$208 per square foot (psf) for the entire area, or S$57,000 per parking space. The total strata area stands at 182,340 square feet (sq ft), including the 2,809 sq ft space taken by the restaurant. The restaurant unit is priced at S$1,673 psf.

The latest tender comes even as fewer Singapore residents are driving compared with a decade ago. The latest population census showed that about a quarter of all residents used to drive a car to work in 2010. In 2020, this group shrank to about one-fifth of respondents.

Sammi Lim, executive director of Brilliance Capital, said the car park sector is an "appealing alternative" to traditional real estate classes such as residential and commercial units for its limited supply and steady cash inflow.

She noted that since the 1980s, communal car parks were no longer allowed separate strata titles, making car parks "one of the most tightly held but rarely available" asset classes.

"There are also no bad debts in holding car parks. If you don't pay, you can't leave the car park," she added.

Despite the current work-from-home arrangements, Ms Lim expects a steady crowd as People's Park Complex is a mixed-use commercial and residential development.

Located at the heart of Chinatown, the commercial podium at People's Park Complex is largely occupied by food and beverage stalls, retail shops and offices.

"There are some investors who are reviewing possible decanting of the car park, to apply for change of use to convert to other usages in the likes of e-commerce, self-storage, outdoor recreation area, community and sports facilities, subject to the authorities' approvals," she said.

"There is also another group of buyers who are keen to purchase car parks to self-operate; some are new entrants to the market, while some are existing operators who wish to add onto their portfolio," Ms Lim added.

Earlier this year, Brilliance Capital concluded the sale of a parking lot at Parklane Shopping Centre, bought by a local family office for S$16.2 million or S$70,000 per parking space.

In 2020, the agency also saw two car park purchases.

One at Holland Road Shopping Centre was bought for S$17.3 million or more than S$360,000 per parking space by an ultra-high net worth family office from Hong Kong, while another at Bukit Timah Shopping Centre was purchased at S$16.2 million - or close to S$43,000 per parking space - by property player LHN.

Separately but just a stone's throw away, a strata office unit at Chinatown Point has also been put up for sale via expression of interest with a guide price of S$4.46 million, sole marketing agent CBRE said on Tuesday.

Located on the 18th storey, the 2,347 sq ft office can be sold vacant or with a leaseback arrangement for one year, noted CBRE.

In its vicinity is Chinatown MRT, Hong Lim Food Centre, The State Courts and the Family and Juvenile Court.

Michael Tay, head of capital markets at CBRE Singapore said: "On the investment front, against the backdrop of tight office supply in the short to mid-term, we believe this offering will appeal to investors, including family offices, high net-worth individuals and boutique investment firms, who may be looking to buy into a recovering office rental cycle."

The car park tender will close on July 29 at 3pm, while the expression of interest for the office will close on August 5 at 3pm.