SINGAPORE – Allgreen Properties has bought The Seletar Mall from Cuscaden Peak Investments and United Engineers for $550 million.
The announcement on March 7 confirms a report by The Business Times in January 2024 that Allgreen was in exclusive due diligence to buy the mall, which is located in the Sengkang West area.
The agreed price translates to about $2,900 per sq ft net lettable area.
The addition of The Seletar Mall will diversify Allgreen’s presence in the retail landscape as it moves into the heartland, said Mr Tho Leong Chye, managing director of Allgreen.
The company’s upcoming Pasir Ris Mall is slated to open in the second quarter of 2024.
Cuscaden Peak Investments said the divestment will allow it to recycle capital and enhance shareholder returns. Formerly known as Singapore Press Holdings before its privatisation in May 2022, Cuscaden Peak Investments is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cuscaden Peak – a consortium made up of three shareholders: Hotel Properties Limited, Mapletree Investments and CLA Real Estate Holdings.
Mr Chua Chi Boon, executive vice-president of portfolio management at Cuscaden Peak Investments, said: “The suburban retail property market in Singapore has been a key beneficiary of a robust post-Covid-19 rebound, as strong demand from both tenants and shoppers underpins healthy positive rent reversions for well-located malls with attractive retail offerings like The Seletar Mall.”
Mr Roy Tan, group managing director of United Engineers, said the timing of the divestment is “opportune”, and drew strong interest from prominent local and international real estate players attracted to the growth and resilience of Singapore’s suburban retail assets.
He said: “There continues to be high demand for the limited pool of good-quality properties within this segment, where the outlook remains positive.”
Located next to Fernvale LRT station, The Seletar Mall is on a site with a 99-year leasehold tenure from 2012, with a balance of about 87 years. It opened in November 2014.
FairPrice Finest, Shaw Theatres, Popular Bookstore and Harvey Norman are among the tenants at the mall, which has a total net lettable area of about 190,000 sq ft on six levels, including two basement floors.
In February, Paragon Reit said it declined an offer from its sponsor, Cuscaden Peak Investments, to buy The Seletar Mall for $550 million.
The proposed terms set out in the offer would “not be in the best interests” of the real estate investment trust, and would be dilutive to its distribution per unit, Paragon Reit’s manager said. THE BUSINESS TIMES
