The strata-titled Pearls Centre (pictured) in Chinatown is believed to have a market value of between S$450 million and S$600 million, but the government’s compensation may not reach that range, according to consultants.
Dennis Chiu, Managing Director at Tang Group of Companies, said that plans of putting the property up for collective sale started three months ago with a sales committee formed recently.
“This project is fairly unique because it just appointed a collective sales committee so the grounds for wanting to be paid based on potential collective sales pricing could be valid,” said Donald Han, Special Advisor at HSR.
“But then again, if you’re looking strictly at the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, compensation will be made based on market value. So that will depend on how the government treats the property, and how it evaluates the current value of the site.”
A spokesman from the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) confirmed that compensation will be based on the market value of the property, taking into account the condition of the property, past transactions, and other expenses including stamp duties, relocation costs and legal fees.
David Ng, Executive Director of Valuation at DWG, said: “Residential units on higher floors may fetch between S$950 psf and S$1,050 psf while those on lower floors may fetch between S$850 psf to S$950 psf.”
Pearls Centre comprises 199 commercial and 44 residential units. Occupants have been given 18 months and the rest 24 months to vacate the units.
The site will be integrated with an adjacent state land parcel and developed into a high-density mixed-use project.
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