CDL and MCL Land to sell retail podium at Piccadilly Grand for $75 mil

While malls prepare for the year-end holiday season, joint developers, Singapore-listed City Developments (CDL) and MCL Land are readying for a different sort of sale. They are offering the entire Piccadilly Galleria, a 21,140 sq ft retail podium, for sale by expression of interest (EOI). Piccadilly Galleria is on the ground floor of Piccadilly Grand, with 407 apartments across three 23-storey blocks sitting on top. CBRE and Knight Frank have been appointed joint marketing agents for Piccadilly Galleria, which is on the market for sale at $75 million or $3,724 psf based on a net lettable area of 20,140 sq ft. Construction is still underway at Piccadilly Grand, with the development expected to obtain its Temporary Occupation Permit (TOP) sometime in 2H2025. When completed, Piccadilly Galleria is expected to have 15 retail units, of which 11 are for restaurants and four for shops. There will also be a 5,832 sq ft childcare centre. Search for the latest New Launches, to find out the transaction prices and available units Advertisement Advertisement It will have a dedicated drop-off served by a new road, Northumberland Road. The retail mall at 1 Northumberland Road sits directly in front of the entrance to Farrer Park MRT Station on the Northeast Line. F&B outlets and shops will enjoy greater visibility as the mall has dual frontage along Gloucester Road and Race Course Road. CDL and MCL Land purchased the 99-year leasehold residential site on Northumberland Road in a government land sales (GLS) tender in April 2021. They submitted the highest of 10 bids received at the close of the tender and won the site with a bid of $445.9 million or $1,129 psf per plot ratio (ppr). When Piccadilly Grand was launched on the first weekend of May 2022, 77% of the 407 units in the 99-year leasehold residential development were taken up at an average price of $2,150 psf. All the units were sold by December 2023.

Serving a wider catchment

Beyond the residents at Piccadilly Grand, the catchment for Piccadilly Galleria extends to the surrounding Farrer Park, which is part of the Kampong Java subzone. That means a catchment of 5,180 dwelling units, of which 2,752 are HDB public housing flats and another 2,120 are a mix of private apartments and condominiums, according to the Singapore Department of Statistics as of June 2024. Come 2028, Farrer Park will see an additional 1,600 new HDB units as part of the redevelopment of the 10-ha brownfield site at Farrer Park Field, adjacent to Piccadilly Grand. To retain the site's rich sporting history and heritage, the new HDB housing estate at Farrer Park Field will be integrated with comprehensive sports and recreational facilities such as the Farrer Park Sports Centre. "Piccadilly Galleria presents investors with an opportunity to secure a brand-new, high-quality retail asset in a strategic location that is undergoing significant transformation and rejuvenation," comments Gerald Yong, chief investment officer of CDL. Read also: CDL’s Norwood Grand in Woodlands draws 3,700 visitors on preview weekend Advertisement Advertisement Nearby is Centrium Square on Serangoon Road, a redevelopment of the former Serangoon Plaza by Tong Eng Group. The freehold, 19-storey, strata-titled commercial development has a five-storey podium with two floors of retail units, a carpark and communal facilities and a 14-storey tower sitting on top with a mix of office units and medical suites. It was completed in 2020. Centrium Square was launched for sale in 2016. In June of that year, all 49 retail units on the first two levels of the retail podium, with a total strata area of 26,781 sq ft, were purchased en bloc for $133.38 million ($4,980 psf), according to caveats lodged. A property title search shows that the buyer is Wilkinson International, founded in 2009 and incorporated in Singapore, based on the company's website. It is said to specialise in shipping and logistics, commodity trading and diversified business activities in multiple sectors. Formerly known as Canali Logistics, Wilkinson International is said to be linked to Bangladeshi industrial conglomerate S Alam Group chairman Saiful Alam Masud and his wife Farzana Parveen. The en bloc purchase of the retail units at Centrium Square was eight years ago, according to Daniel Ding, Knight Frank Singapore's head of capital markets (land & building, international real estate). Ding, therefore, sees Piccadilly Galleria presenting "a rare opportunity to own a prime retail podium space on a relatively fresh 99-year lease".

September deals

Last month, Singapore-based investment firm 8M Real Estate purchased Sceneca Square, the retail podium of Sceneca Residence at Tanah Merah Kechil Link, for $64 million. The price works out to $3,161 psf, based on the net lettable area of 20,247 sq ft. Sakal Real Estate Partners brokered the deal. Sceneca Square is a single-storey mall linked directly to the Tanah Merah MRT Station on the East-West Line. The 268 apartments of Sceneca Residence span two residential blocks of 14- and 15-storeys and sit atop Sceneca Square. The project is located in District 16 in the East and is expected to be completed sometime in 2027. Read also: CDL previews Norwood Grand at prices starting from $988,000 Advertisement Advertisement Supermarket operator Sheng Siong Group announced on September 27 that it is acquiring a portfolio of eight freehold strata retail units at Siglap V, a mixed-use development on First Street, off Siglap Road and an HDB shop unit at 181 Lorong 4 Toa Payoh for a total of $50.2 million. The acquisition was made through the purchase of a 100% interest in Jelita Property, an investment holding company under Hong Kong-based retail company DFI Retail Group. Sheng Siong's purchase price of $50.2 million is $1.7 million above the combined guide price of $48.5 million indicated in April when the portfolio was launched for sale with JLL as the exclusive advisor. The eight strata units at Siglap V will be leased to DFI through a leaseback arrangement as part of the acquisition. CS Fresh occupies almost 90% of the space (9,418 sq ft) or seven of the eight amalgamated units, while Guardian occupies the remaining unit of 1,206 sq ft. Meanwhile, the Toa Payoh shop unit on the ground floor of an HDB block has a 9,731 sq ft strata area. It was leased to Giant, which announced it would close the outlet by the end of September. Giant closed nine of its stores this year, leaving the chain with 45 outlets as of September. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of October.

Malls and portfolio sales

In June this year, JBE Holdings and Evia Real Estate acquired a portfolio of 18 HDB shops, shophouses and commercial blocks for a combined total of $255 million. The purchase price is just $10 million lower than the $265 million indicative price. The seller was NTUC Enterprise's real estate arm, Mercatus Co-operative. The portfolio was sold fully leased, with Fairprice supermarket occupying 80% of the 170,000 sq ft retail space. CBRE brokered the deal. Property developer and investor Aurum Land acquired The Rail Mall in June for $78.5 million in another deal that CBRE brokered. In January, Allgreen Properties purchased Seletar Mall for $550 million. Clemence Lee, executive director of capital markets at CBRE Singapore, estimates that over $1.6 billion worth of suburban retail assets changed hands over the past three years, with most of the transactions done towards the second half of 2024. "Investors are drawn to suburban retail assets in Singapore due to the sector's stellar performance, resilient and defensive nature, as well as attractive yields exceeding 4%," observes Lee. He anticipates this trend to continue into 2025 as declining interest rates enable investors to enjoy higher net returns. Suburban retail outlets close to or linked to transportation nodes continue to see high shopper traffic even on weekdays due to the shift towards hybrid and flexible working arrangements that remain firmly embedded in the present-day work culture, adds Lee. It has resulted in tighter vacancy and positive rental reversions for these suburban retail malls.

‘Optimising portfolio’

Piccadilly Galleria sits in front of the Farrer Park MRT Station entrance, which is linked underground to CDL's City Square Mall – the largest mall in the area – with 11 storeys and 200 retail outlets across 450,000 sq ft of retail space. Retailers include Adidas Outlet Store, Decathalon, Don Don Doki, Golden Village, MST Golf Super Store, Puma Outlet and Fairprice supermarket. There are also over 50 F&B outlets, including Food Republic and HaidiLao Hot Pot. Opened 15 years ago, the freehold City Square Mall and the adjacent freehold 910-unit City Square Residences are a redevelopment of the former New World Amusement Park, which closed in 1987. In April this year, CDL announced that it has undertaken a $50 million asset enhancement initiative (AEI), which will be completed in phases over the coming year. Part of the AEI includes increasing the gross floor area of the mall by 26,000 sq ft. The divestment of Piccadilly Galleria "aligns with our strategy of capital recycling and optimising our portfolio," says CDL's Yong. "With rising investor interest in retail assets and renewed market confidence following interest rate cuts, we anticipate keen interest for Piccadilly Galleria." The EOI for Piccadilly Galleria will close on Nov 6.

Last 10 transactions of the fully-sold 407-unit Piccadilly Grand

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