Former SIA Building put up for sale for $575 million

It offers a yield of around 3.5%.

A prime office building at 77 Robinson Road has been put up for sale for $575 million, or $1,960 per square foot.

The 35-storey building was completed in 1997 and developed by Singapore Airlines. It has a tenure of 99 years from 1994. Main tenants nclude Adidas, Dentsu, DVB Bank and Sojitz. The current occupancy is close to 90 per cent. Nearby office landmarks include CPF Building, Capital Tower and Guoco Tower which is currently under construction. The building has been put up for sale by CBRE.

“Sentiment towards the office market has improved for two reasons; one, there has been a pickup in leasing activity in Marina One and Guoco Tower and the leasing market is getting traction after a standoff between landlords and tenants,” said Jeremy Lake, executive director capital markets, CBRE.

CBRE expects potential buyers to include insurance companies buying for their own use and investment, private equity real estate funds looking to upgrade and reposition the property either for subsequent resale or to retain for investment.

Lake added that the recent sales of Asia Square Tower 1 (sold at S$3.38 billion), Straits Trading Building (sold at S$560m) and Capitagreen (60 per cent sold at S$960m) have stirred the market and made investors sit up and relook at their investment strategy.

“Inevitably some investors will be bringing forward their acquisition time frame for the Singapore office market," Lake said.