Frasers Buys Full Ownership of Centrepoint on Singapore’s Orchard Road for $310M

Singapore-based Frasers Property has won the collective sale tender for the rear block of The Centrepoint for S$391.9 million ($309.9 million), consolidating its ownership of the mixed-use complex in the Lion City’s Orchard Road retail strip.

The rear plot at 176A Orchard Road comprises 132 retail and residential strata units. The tender price translates to S$2,577 ($2,038) per square foot of built area after lease top-ups and any land betterment charge payable, Frasers Property said Friday in a release.

The acquisition is expected to solidify Frasers Property’s position in the prime shopping district and help maximise the potential of the site, consistent with the Singapore government’s goal of rejuvenating the Orchard Road precinct, according to the developer controlled by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi.

“We are pleased to strengthen our ownership of The Centrepoint,” said Frasers Property Singapore CEO Soon Su Lin. “This gives us greater flexibility to unlock the site’s long-term potential, including assessing broader rejuvenation plans for the area. In the meantime, it remains business as usual at The Centrepoint, where we continue to enhance the mall’s retail offerings and organise year-long marketing activities to attract shoppers to the mall.”

Redevelopment Option

Built in 1983, The Centrepoint has two components: a freehold front plot and the leasehold rear plot with 66 retail units and 66 residential units. Before the collective sale, Frasers Property already held a majority stake in the rear plot, owning over 52 percent of the units by strata area. 

The company is also the majority shareholder in the front plot, owning 96 percent of the units by strata area, and it has full ownership of 51 Cuppage Road, a 10-storey office building directly linked to The Centrepoint.

The Centrepoint draws steady shopper traffic and had an occupancy of 98 percent at the end of last September, according to Frasers Property.

Completion of the acquisition is subject to a sale order approving the collective sale or unanimous consent from all subsidiary proprietors. Retail and residential owners are expected to receive proceeds ranging from S$840,000 to S$9.29 million and S$2.65 million to S$7.11 million per unit, respectively, subject to final adjustments.

Savills announced the collective sale of the rear block of The Centrepoint on 7 January at a guide price of S$418 million, or S$26.1 million higher than the awarded tender price. The site has a maximum allowable gross floor area of 250,320 square feet (23,255 square metres).

The Centrepoint marks Savills’ fifth successful collective sale along the Orchard Road belt, bringing the consultancy’s total transaction value in the precinct in the past five years to more than S$2.69 billion, according to Jeremy Lake, managing director for investment sales and capital markets at Savills Singapore.

“In due course, the future redevelopment of these properties will help to transform Orchard Road from a traditional shopping belt into a must-visit vibrant and multi-functional lifestyle destination,” Lake said Friday.

Neighbour Seeks Sale

With Frasers managing to keep The Centrepoint in the family, market watchers are now turning their attention to Cuppage Terrace, the next-door shophouse complex that went on the market last month for S$250 million. 

Developed in 2008 by an arm of Royal Holdings, owned by local tycoon Raj Kumar Hiranandani, Cuppage Terrace consists of 17 adjoining shophouses and comprises 50,891 square feet of floor area across bars, restaurants and outdoor spaces, with 62 years remaining on a 99-year leasehold tenure.

With Cuppage Terrace enjoying an 85 metre (93 yard) road frontage and direct proximity to The Centrepoint, sales agent CBRE anticipates interest from both local and international capital, including family offices, funds and high-net-worth investors.

Local property players are heeding the call for Orchard Road revitalisation, with Kwek Leng Beng’s City Developments Ltd having bought out Delfi Orchard, at the intersection of Orchard and Claymore Roads, in a S$439 million collective sale of the commercial building in 2024.

A few minutes’ walk from Delfi Orchard, Cornerstone Community Church is revamping a pair of retail properties at former nightlife hub Orchard Towers, with plans to convert the space into the house of worship’s newest location.

Directly opposite Orchard Towers, Ong Beng Seng’s Hotel Properties Ltd is set to demolish The Forum mall, the Voco Orchard Singapore hotel and the HPL House commercial block for redevelopment into a 1.2 million square foot mixed-use complex.