Top floor with a view was sold for a record price in Suntec City (Getty Images)
Adding to the string of record-breaking deals in Singapore’s Suntec City, a Thai investor is reportedly purchasing the top floor of one of the commercial complex’s office towers for S$39.7 million ($27.6 million), an industry source confirmed to Mingtiandi.
Level 44 of Suntec Tower One has changed hands for about S$3,850 per square foot to set the highest price unit of area ever recorded for a full floor in the Marina Square commercial complex, Mingtiandi understands. The reported transaction marks the third record-breaking deal in the development in the last four months.
Confirming details first reported by the Business Times, a market insider identified the buyer as a Singapore-incorporated entity owned by Thai national Phucherlin Klongkitjakon, who is a director and board member of Cambodian beverage distributor IQPS Trading, based on public records.
“Suntec City has always been a favorite amongst investors be it corporate or high net worth individuals,” said Alan Cheong, head of research and consultancy at Savills Singapore, who was not involved in the deal. “The strata office market here, particularly the Grade A segment, is still relatively active and would remain so because this sub-segment of the office market appeals to the previously mentioned buyers who are relatively insensitive to interest rate movements.”
Asian Tycoons Bet on Singapore
Klongkitjakon, who is said to be a Cambodian-Thai businesswoman with presence in both Southeast Asian nations as well as mainland China, has secured 10,312 square feet (958 square metres) of office space in a prime location in Singapore’s downtown core.
Alan Cheong, head of research and consultancy at Savills Singapore
The floor, currently leased to the Qatar Embassy, was sold by Wang Kwang Yu and his wife Kwee Lee Chien, daughter of Henry Kwee, who founded local luxury developer and hotel owner Pontiac Land Group. The couple own trading and property firm Glastech Group, whose portfolio includes office, shophouse, hotel and residential properties in the city-state.
Klongkitjakon’s purchase breaks the previous record of S$3,350 per square foot set by the sale of the 31st floor of Suntec Tower 2 to a buyer from Fujian, China, as announced last week. In June, a different Chinese investor snapped up the 30th level of the same tower for S$3,300 per square foot. This latest transaction is said to have been brokered by Sakal Real Estate Partners.
Both towers are part of the five office blocks that make up the Suntec City complex in Marina Centre, which also houses, Suntec City Mall, and a convention centre.
Suntec City, which houses Singapore’s second largest shopping mall and a convention centre at the feet of its five office towers has 66 years left on its leasehold. The development was completed in phases from 1995 through 1997, and received a S$410 million facelift in 2015 to upgrade and expand the retail element.
Family Offices Boost Spending
“The influx of family offices and industry elites from all over Asia is driving demand for grade A strata title offices,” said Aric Lim, a senior division director in Huttons Asia who brokered the deal that closed in June.
Lim said the heightened activity from foreign investors can also be traced to the stricter rules set in April for new family offices aiming to receive tax exemptions.
Singapore has raised the minimum local investment requirement for family offices seeking to set up shop in the city-state, as well as requiring that their local minimum business spending reach at least S$200,000 to S$1 million annually, depending on their size, to qualify for tax incentives.
“Many of them are buying (properties via) their own special purpose vehicles so that they can then rent to their family office as ongoing expenses,” Lim added.
The string of record-breaking deals, which totalled S$120 million since June, comes despite a slowdown in strata office transactions in the first half.
A report by Knight Frank shows that the volume of strata office deals in Singapore slid by 16 percent to 145 units worth S$365 million in the first half, compared to the 172 transactions worth S$461.9 million seen in the second half of last year.
Year on year, the first-half tally was well below the 169 units which changed hands in the same period last year for a combined S$703.5 million.
Leave a Reply