Owners of the 23 apartments at Delfi Orchard stand to pocket between S$2.2mil and S$4.6mil each from the collective sale. — The Straits Times
SINGAPORE: Delfi Orchard, a 40-year-old strata-titled building that is majority held by City Developments Ltd (CDL), is up for collective sale at a S$438mil (US$322mil) guide price.
The 11-storey complex comprises 150 strata-titled units – 127 shops and 23 apartments – of which 126 are owned by CDL.
Situated at 402 Orchard Road, Delfi Orchard sits on a 20,264 sq ft freehold site zoned for commercial use, with height control of up to 20 storeys.
At the S$438mil guide price, the property is being marketed at about S$3,397 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr), assuming full commercial use, said marketing agent Savills Singapore yesterday.
This would include a land betterment charge of S$7.6mil and is based on redevelopment of up to 131,186 sq ft – the site’s approved development baseline.
The most recent commercial deal done en bloc in the Orchard area was for freehold commercial complex Ming Arcade, which was sold for S$172mil in December 2022.
The sale price worked out to S$3,125 psf ppr, marking a record-high land rate in the market.
In 2022, freehold Tanglin Shopping Centre was sold for S$868mil, or S$2,769 psf ppr, to the Tanoto family’s Pacific Eagle Real Estate.
Just off Orchard Road, the Scotts Square mall was put on the market in January but has not yet closed a sale at its S$450mil asking price, which pitches the retail podium at S$3,438 psf ppr.
In September 2023, a deal was struck to sell Far East Shopping Centre to Chinese billionaire Du Shuanghua for about S$910mil, or S$3,421 psf ppr.
However, the deal unravelled when the buyer’s redevelopment proposal, submitted under the government’s Strategic Development Incentive or SDI scheme, was rejected by the authorities.
The Delfi Orchard collective sale would mark CDL’s third major divestment in two years, after it sold its strata holdings in Tanglin Shopping Centre and Golden Mile Complex in 2022.
The group booked a pre-tax gain of S$256.3mil after completing the collective sale of Tanglin Shopping Centre, and S$75.6mil after Golden Mile Complex’s collective sale, in its 2022 financial year.
CDL’s past annual report indicated that it bought 118 units at Delfi Orchard in 1991. The properties were reported to have been acquired for S$95mil from Japanese developer Yamasin.
The group went on to buy Palais Renaissance next door from the same developer in 1993, for S$115mil. It completed a S$7mil asset enhancement of the building in 2022.
CDL’s portfolio also includes Orchard Hotel and Claymore Connect in the area, a stake in the St Regis Singapore hotel nearby, and stakes in The Singapore Edition hotel and Boulevard 88 condo along Cuscaden Road.
At Delfi Orchard, owners of the 23 apartments stand to pocket between S$2.2mil and S$4.6mil each, Savills said in response to queries from The Business Times.
Commercial unit owners stand to get between approximately S$984,000 and S$24mil for each unit.
The bulk of the proceeds would go to CDL, as the group owns the majority of titles in the building. — The Straits Times/ANN
