Cecil Street Office Block Selling for $138M as Singapore Market Recovery Continues

Singapore’s commercial property rebound has recommenced after the lunar new year break, with a private fund backed by a set of high net worth individuals having agreed to acquire an office building near Tanjong Pagar for S$175 million ($138 million), according to market sources who spoke with Mingtiandi.

The investment vehicle managed by local startup Altallo Asset Management has signed an option deal to purchase 158 Cecil Street, a 14-storey commercial building, from the family of the late shopping centre tycoon Denis Jen, with news of the transaction having first been reported by The Business Times.

The deal is the latest in a string of acquisitions by Altallo, which was founded in 2024 by entrepreneurs Roger Tan and Jun Hao Seah, with investors in the fund acquiring the Cecil Street property said to include Andre Tanoto, son of Indonesian pulp and paper billionaire Sukanto Tanoto.

158 Cecil Street was first reported to be on the market in September of last year at S$165 million to S$170 million, with the pending transaction coming amidst a flurry of commercial real estate deals in Singapore. 

Upgrade on Cecil Street

At the agreed compensation, Altallo will be paying just over S$1,357 per square foot of net lettable area in the 128,922 square foot (11,977 square metre) property, which is currently home to tenants including Bank of India, local financial services firm Endowus and Airbnb.

The new owners plan to upgrade the existing building and are considering adding a living sector element as well as food and beverage to complement the existing office space, according to sources familiar with Altallo’s plans. 

The 1982-vintage building has 55 years remaining on its 99-year leasehold with the current building fulfilling 100 percent of the 11,517 square foot site’s maximum built area. 158 Cecil Street is located a few doors away from Solitaire on Cecil, an office development by TE Capital Partners and LaSalle Investment Management which achieved record prices for its strata title floors when it reached the market in 2023. 

The Cecil Street deal comes after an Altallo fund was reported last month to be in talks to purchase the i12 mall in Singapore’s Katong area from Keppel Ltd for around S$370 million, while also locked in negotiations to acquire a set of nine supermarket-anchored retail hubs in Singapore public housing estates.

In December an Altallo vehicle closed on a deal to acquire four retail properties in Singapore public housing estates from local developer LIan Beng Group for more than S$160 million, market sources informed Mingtiandi, confirming earlier reporting by the Business Times.

The Jen family, which controls eight shopping centres across Australia, according to the Jen Retail Properties website, is selling 158 Cecil Street for 27 percent less than the S$240 million it paid to acquire the property in 2015, while still outperforming the target price discussed in September last year. 

Market Rebound Heats Up

During the fourth quarter of 2025, after months of gradually declining interest rates, trades of income earning properties in Singapore climbed 18 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to data from MSCI Real Assets, with the country notching an 8 percent upswing in deal volume for the full year. 

Transactions have continued into this year with US developer and fund manager Hines agreeing in January to buy the Bukit Panjang Plaza mall in northwestern Singapore from CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust for S$428 million. Also last month, Mingtiandi reported that Robert Kuok’s Allgreen Properties is in exclusive due diligence to buy 78 Shenton Way in Tanjong Pagar from PGIM Real Estate for more than S$600 million. 

On Wednesday, Australian developer Lendlease agreed to sell its 30 percent stake in the PLQ Mall in Singapore’s Paya Lebar area to Lendlease Global Commercial REIT, an SGX-listed trust under its management, for S$265.5 million.