Prominent father-and-son landlord team of Raj Kumar and Kishin RK is said to be in exclusive due diligence for the purchase of Scotts Square - the four-level freehold retail mall in a prime Scotts Road location, just off Orchard Road - for about S$320 million.
Scotts Square is owned by Wharf Estates Singapore, formerly known as Wheelock Properties (Singapore). The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed Wharf Real Estate Investment Company, which in July inked a deal to sell Wheelock Place in Orchard Road to Hongkong Land’s Singapore Central Private Real Estate Fund (SCPREF) for S$1.1 billion.
Word on the street is that the intending buyer of Scotts Square has put a substantial deposit while doing due diligence.
A sale agreement could be entered into in the first half of September.
The price reflects about S$4,175 per square foot (psf) on the mall’s net lettable area of nearly 76,660 sq ft. With a strata area of 114,786 sq ft, the price works out to S$2,788 psf.
On the gross floor area of nearly 130,900 sq ft, the psf price is S$2,445. Scotts Square mall is part of a mixed development that also includes two residential towers.
The mall has about 43.3 per cent share value in the strata-titled development; the owners of the apartments in the residential towers hold the remaining 56.7 per cent.
Scotts Square was marketed by CBRE in the first half of this year through an expression-of-interest exercise at a guide price of S$380 million, about 15 per cent below the S$450 million sought in 2024.
The mall has potential for substantial refurbishment and repositioning. A redevelopment is not expected in the medium term; such an exercise would entail a collective sale for the entire complex (comprising retail and residential).
The retail and residential components each has its own car park within the development.
Mr. Raj Kumar’s Royal Holdings has inked a S$175 million deal to sell Cuppage Terrace – a row of 17 conservation shophouses off Orchard Road, next to The Centrepoint – to Frasers Property. The sale is expected to be completed in a fortnight.
His son Mr. Kishin controls RB Capital.
Between the two, they hold a significant Singapore property portfolio that includes InterContinental Singapore Robertson Quay, Holiday Inn Express Singapore Clarke Quay, Holiday Inn Singapore Little India and Hotel 1900 in Mosque Street.
They also hold retail assets such as The Quayside along the Singapore River and The Woodgrove in Woodlands, as well as office assets such as 25 North Bridge Road, RB Capital Building in Malacca Street, and HSBC Building at 33 Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. THE BUSINESS TIMES
