Residents who frequent the Cold Storage supermarket at Holland Road Shopping Centre may soon have to find other supermarkets to do their grocery shopping.
This comes after an announcement that the 12,260 sq ft strata area has just been purchased by Loi Keong Kuong and his family, at about S$61 million. It estimates about $4,976 psf and the space, on the ground floor of the freehold mall, is currently leased to Cold Storage that will expire in 2020.
Mr Loi owns the Rio Casino in Macau, and had purchased two shophouses in Pagoda Street for S$12 million and S$12.2 million earlier this year.
The sale was brokered by CBRE, who previously quoted a S$92 million valuation at an expression of interest (EOI) in June 2014. Back then, the property was withdrawn from the market after the EOI exercise closed in July 2014.
Cold Storage is currently housed over seven strata units, and while having a supermarket ensures security of tenancy, the owner can stand to achieve higher yield if the units are rented out individually. Rents paid by supermarkets are generally lower, as compared to higher-paying tenants such as those in the F&B business or retail shops selling luxury goods. However, it is not common for a row of adjacent ground-floor retail units to be on sale simultaneously in Singapore.
