Liberty House | Photo by The Business Times
A Singapore-based company wholly owned by a Chinese citizen and Singapore permanent resident is acquiring Liberty House, a corner office building situated at 51 Club Street, for a total of S$92.2 million. The property spans a gross floor area of 28,876 square feet, which translates to a price of S$3,193 per square foot.
The 999-year leasehold plot covers approximately 7,180 square feet. Liberty Insurance, previously known as Liberty Citystate Insurance and Citystate Insurance, is selling the property. Union Property Holding, the sole shareholder of the acquiring company, is owned by Zhang Nie, who previously served as the Singapore oil trading head of Unipec, a subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation or Sinopec.
Located in Singapore's central business district (CBD), Liberty House enjoys a strategic location near several MRT stations, including Telok Ayer, Chinatown, and Maxwell stations. The building underwent a major refurbishment in 2011, and boasts premium-grade office features, such as a passenger lift that serves all floors and a private parking facility with five spaces. In October of last year, CBRE announced an expression-of-interest exercise for the sale of the property.
The Liberty House building boasts a rooftop terrace with a breathtaking panoramic view of the CBD and Chinatown skyline. It also benefits from dual-road frontage along Club Street, spanning 60 metres wide. The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA)'s latest Master Plan designates the property as commercial land. Additionally, it is in close proximity to The Chinese Weekly Entertainment Club, a private members-only establishment.
A 19-storey hotel development by Worldwide Hotels Group, with an estimated 900 rooms and commercial space, is currently under construction nearby and expected to be completed later this year. CBRE noted in its October announcement that since Liberty House is zoned for commercial use, foreign entities and corporations are eligible to purchase the property without any additional buyer's stamp duty or seller's stamp duty. However, starting from February 15, 2023, the buyer's stamp duty for non-residential property has increased by two percentage points to 5%.
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