ERA’s upcoming auction on Feb 27 will feature a pair of retail units located on the third floor of Sim Lim Square. The total guide price for the units is set at $3.38 million.
One of the units is a 958 sq ft space with a guide price of $2.08 million ($2,171 psf), while the smaller unit measures 570 sq ft and has a guide price of $1.28 million ($2,246 psf). This is the first time these units are being listed for auction by ERA.
The units can be purchased together or individually. According to Alison Lee, assistant vice president of auction and sales at ERA, the units are competitively priced and are slightly below the market average to encourage a faster sale.
Based on EdgeProp Singapore’s analytical tools, the average selling price for retail units at Sim Lim Square over the past 12 months is $2,997 psf. The most recent transaction at the development was a 592 sq ft shop on the ground floor that sold for $1.92 million ($3,241 psf) in December 2024.
Sim Lim Square is well-known as a tech hub, known for its wide range of electronics, gadgets, and computer parts. However, the development also houses various other businesses such as eateries and traditional Chinese medicine shops.
The two retail units for sale are currently tenanted and garner around $4.50 psf in monthly rental income. Based on rental data compiled by EdgeProp Singapore, retail units at Sim Lim Square yield between $4.20 psf and $7.30 psf per month, based on a rolling 12-month average.
The owners of Sim Lim Square put the development up for collective sale in April 2019, with a tender launched at a reserve price of $1.25 billion. It was then relaunched for purchase in December 2019 at the same price but failed to find a buyer.
Plans for a second collective sale attempt led by a committee formed in 2022 did not materialise. Lee shares that a new committee will be formed to explore the possibility of another collective sale attempt in the near future.
Sim Lim Square is a strata-titled commercial development completed in 1987. It is located on Rochor Canal Road in District 7 and sits on a 78,152 sq ft site with a 99-year land tenure from 1983. The development comprises 492 retail and office units across six floors and two basement levels. It is situated within walking distance of Rochor and Jalan Besar MRT Stations on the Downtown Line, with the Bugis MRT Interchange connecting the East-West and Downtown Lines.