High Street Plaza near Singapore River launched for collective sale at S$239m

MIXED-USE tower High Street Plaza was put on the market on Wednesday for collective sale via public tender.

The reserve price for the 999-year leasehold building is S$239 million, appointed marketing agent ERA Realty Network said in a press statement.

Located at 77 High Street, the 11-storey property is largely made up of offices, and was completed in the 1970s.

Its price tag works out to a land rate of about S$2,153 per square foot per plot ratio, based on the 110,974 square feet (sq ft) of existing, as-built gross floor area or development baseline area confirmed by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) for the plot. That area is equivalent to an actual gross plot ratio of 8.388, ERA said.

At present, in the latest URA Master Plan, the site is zoned for commercial use with a lower gross plot ratio of 7.0, which is equivalent to a gross floor area of 8,603 square metres or 92,602 sq ft.

High Street Plaza occupies a site area of about 13,229 sq ft.

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The property offers developers, investors or users the opportunity to name their own asset with the promise of growth, said Terence Seah, ERA senior division director.

That is especially considering the scarcity of bite-sized and well-located commercial sites available for rejuvenation or redevelopment in Singapore's central business district, and the expected tight supply of new commercial space in the near term, Mr Seah added.

Next to High Street Plaza sits High Street Centre, a 30-storey residential, office and shopping complex that was likewise put up for collective sale in June 2020, with a reserve price of S$800 million.

Behind both properties, across Hill Street, is Fort Canning Hill. And about two minutes away on foot from High Street Plaza is Singapore River, which Mr Seah said means it "should have very good feng shui" and suggests potential for rejuvenation of the plot "to its former glory".

If redeveloped together with High Street Centre and the adjoining smallish state land plots, the property will have a 360-degree view of Marina Bay, Raffles Place, Chinatown, Fort Canning and the Beach Road corridor, he added.

High Street Plaza is a five to seven-minute walk to the City Hall and Clarke Quay MRT stations. The Fort Canning and Raffles Place MRT stations are 12-13 minutes away on foot.

Also nearby are Parliament House, The Treasury, the Supreme Court and Old Hill Street Police Station.

ERA confirmed that owners holding not less than 80 per cent of strata area and share value of the commercial property have agreed to offer it for en bloc sale at the stated reserve price.

Commenting on the area's rich history, Manu Bhojwani, chairman of the owners' collective-sale committee, said that High Street Plaza and its vicinity used to be known in Chinese as chui sien mng, which translates to "water fairy gate". The area served as the alighting point along the river and thus was a gateway into Singapore back in the 1800s, he said. High Street later became a popular shopping haven until the 1970s.

The tender for High Street Plaza closes on Feb 24 at 3pm.