A UNIT of Frasers Centrepoint has bought the prime StarHub Centre in Cuppage Road for a residential and commercial project.
Owners CapitaCommercial Trust (CCT) confirmed months of speculation yesterday when it announced that the 10-storey building had been awarded to FCL Crystal for $380 million through a tender process.
The price is 42.5 per cent - or $113.3 million - more than its valuation of $266.7 million at the end of June by CB Richard Ellis, the statement said.
CCT said the Urban Redevelopment Authority ruled in January that the property near Orchard Road could be designated for residential use, but 20 to 40 per cent of the gross floor area must be retained for commercial use.
Approval has also been given for a new 99-year lease for the project, subject to certain conditions.
CCT said the property had reached its 'optimal stage of life cycle as an office building'. With its focus mainly in the office sector, it said the best option to unlock maximum value was to sell the building to another party for potential redevelopment.
'The manager is of the view that CCT should not participate, whether solely or on a joint venture basis, in the redevelopment of the property into a predominantly residential project and expose CCT to undue residential development and market risks,' the real estate investment trust added.
Frasers Centrepoint said the deal would lift its land bank to 2.2 million square feet.
'With its strategic location, the (site) has great potential for a high-end mixed residential and retail development,' said Frasers Centrepoint chief executive Lim Ee Seng.
Source: Straits Times, 17 Jul 2010
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