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The first sale tender for the strata-titled mall famous for its electronic goods and services retailers closed on 22 July without any formal bids.
Sim Lim Square is making its second attempt at a collective sale with the reserve price unchanged at over $1.25 billion, after the discovery of an additional 27% built-up space.
The first sale tender for the strata-titled mall famous for its electronic goods and services retailers closed on 22 July without any formal bids.
Sim Lim Square’s collective sale committee chairman Vikas Gupta shared that the discovery of the extra built-up space was an unexpected bonus.
“The current net lettable area of 237,066 sq ft seemed a little low due to the wastage of common areas, corridors… So, we appointed an architect to redraw the building map, and in the process, found that the built-up space was much higher than we expected at 499,715 sq ft – 27% more than the 391,000 sq ft in the planning documents,” he told The Straits Times.
With a floor area of 22,007 sq m, the six-storey mall features 492 commercial units. It is nestled on a site zoned for commercial use; hence there is no mandatory requirement to top up the remaining lease of 63 years.
“On top of that, we also discovered that the mall had occupied a land parcel of 8,066.7 sq m. But over the years, some land was surrendered to the road reserve, resulting in the present land area of 7,260.6 sq m,” said Gupta.
“What this means is when the future developer submits his development application, he can submit the land area of 8,066.7 sq m, which could potentially result in savings on development charges.”
In the event that this is verified and approved by relevant authorities, it could bring the land rate down to $2,501 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr) from over $3,300 psf ppr, said Francis Tan, chief investment officer of SLP Scotia, which is the mall’s marketing agent.
Gupta noted that the land rate could further be reduced if developers qualify under the Strategic Development Incentive scheme of the Urban Redevelopment Authority.
Aimed at encouraging the redevelopment of older mixed-use and commercial buildings, the scheme allows developers to apply for a change in land use, building height and plot ratio.
Gupta also expects the additional incentives – such as Sim Lim Square being earmarked for community use and part of its sixth storey receiving liquor and entertainment licences for pubs and nightclubs as well as approval to operate till 3am – to generate more buzz for the mall among developers.
The tender for Sim Lim Square closes on 30 December.
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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg
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