Singapore’s CDL in Talks to Sell Sentosa Waterfront Mall as Q3 Home Sales Plunge

Singapore property giant City Developments Ltd is in talks with potential buyers of its Quayside Isle at Sentosa Cove after putting the waterfront mall up for sale in September in a bid to optimise its portfolio.

The SGX-listed builder is in “advanced stages of discussion and negotiation with shortlisted parties” following the close of a tender on 15 October, according to a third-quarter update released Monday. CDL had been seeking S$111 million ($85 million) for the shopping centre at 31 Ocean Way on Sentosa island, with that price translating to S$2,516 per square foot for the asset spanning 41,121 square feet (3,820 square metres) of net lettable area.

The news came as the group controlled by billionaire Kwek Leng Beng reported a steep drop in home sales during the July-September period to 88 units at a total value of S$313.2 million, compared with 321 units with a value of S$611.1 million in the year-earlier quarter.

“Sales were primarily from existing projects as there were no new launches during this quarter,” CDL said.

Piccadilly Galleria Divestment

CDL noted that home sales in the third quarter of 2024 had been boosted by the launch of the 276-unit Kassia in Upper Changi, with the project selling 144 units at launch during July of last year. For the first nine months of 2025, the group and its associates reported sales of 990 units for S$2.5 billion, versus 905 units for S$1.8 billion in the comparable period a year earlier.

The sold-out Piccadilly Grand, a 407-unit joint venture with Sunway MCL at Farrer Park, obtained its temporary occupation permit in September and began handing over units to buyers, according to the update.

Piccadilly Grand’s ground-floor retail podium, Piccadilly Galleria, was launched for sale in September and divested on 7 November for S$65.46 million, or S$3,250 per square foot of net lettable area, CDL said.

“These divestments are in line with the group’s ongoing strategy to prioritise capital recycling by unlocking value and redeploying the sales proceeds into new opportunities, debt reduction and enhanced shareholder returns,” the developer said of Piccadilly Galleria and Quayside Isle.

Expat Haven

Situated in a residential enclave in the east of Sentosa popular with expats, Quayside Isle was completed in 2012 and comprises two blocks, one single-storey and the other two-storey, with over 200 metres (219 yards) of marina frontage and a 78-lot basement carpark.

The mall is part of CDL’s mixed-use Quayside Collection development, which also comprises the 240-key W Singapore Sentosa Cove Hotel and the 228-unit Residences at W Sentosa Cove upscale apartment complex.

Mingtiandi reported last year that Blackstone had sold its economic interest in the Residences at W Sentosa Cove to fellow US investment giant BlackRock in a deal described by market analysts as a stressed sale of the financial rights.

CDL posted a 3.9 percent year-on-year rise in attributable profit to S$91.2 million ($71.2 million) for the first half of 2025, with the developer turning the page after a boardroom tussle marred the early months of the year.

The upbeat earnings came five months after tycoon Kwek withdrew a lawsuit against his son, company CEO Sherman Kwek, in which the father had alleged that the scion bypassed the group’s nomination committee to make changes to the CDL board’s composition.

“1H 2025 marked a pivotal chapter for our group as we overcame internal challenges with tenacity and fortitude,” the billionaire chairman said in August. “We have put past issues behind us, emerging stronger and more unified.”