Robinson Centre in CBD close to being purchased for S$340m

According to analysts, ARA Real Estate Partners Asia II is the potential buyer of the building. Image: Google Maps

The 20-storey office building, Robinson Centre, could be sold to a private fund managed by ARA Asset Management for around S$340 million, reported The Business Times.

The estimated purchase price works out to about S$2,550 to S$2,600 psf based on the property’s estimated net lettable area of 132,300 sq ft. It also sits on land still subject to 76 years of leasehold tenure.

Robinson Centre’s seller is connected to the Homax group, which is controlled by the Taiwanese Tsai family. According to market analysts, ARA Real Estate Partners Asia II is the potential buyer of the building and is looking to partner with M&G for the acquisition.

Homax purchased Robinson Centre for about S$293 million in 2011 from a fund managed by Alpha Investment Partners, who previously bought the property from GuocoLand for S$145 million in 2006.

With the inclusion of Robinson Centre, the sales of big-ticket office transactions in Singapore, amounting to at least S$10 million each, would add up to nearly S$7 billion so far in 2019.

“Singapore continues to be a key market for investors and the number of good-quality office buildings remains limited. Interest rates have begun to trend downwards which may lead to further yield compression,” said Galven Tan, Savills Singapore deputy managing director of investment sales and capital markets.

Alan Cheong, Savills Singapore head of research, also noted that investors are acquiring Singapore real estate to hedge against uncertainty.

“And when you are dealing with uncertainty, it is no longer a question of yield but capital preservation and appreciation,” he said.

Source: CommercialGuru, 4 December 2019