Strong investment sales in Singapore’s office market is likely to continue in the second half of this year, on the back of at least one impending mega deal – Marina One – as well as more properties being put on the market.

The latest data from JLL shows that S$10.8 billion of Singapore offices were transacted in H1 2026, surpassing the S$4 billion for the whole of last year.

The historical peak was in 2007, when S$13.3 billion in office deals were recorded.

Among assets put on the market recently were Frasers Property Ltd’s (FPL) half stake in Frasers Tower in Cecil Street, said to be valued at slightly over S$1 billion.

Also available are 30 Raffles Place (the former Chevron House) and the Lazada One building at 51 Bras Basah Road.

Another Bras Basah Road property, Income Centre, garnered strong interest in a bidding exercise that closed a couple of weeks ago.

Word on the street is that about a dozen bids from potential buyers were received for the eight-storey, freehold office building.

The top bids fielded were understood to be in the S$240 million-to-S$250 million range. A price of S$250 million works out to S$3,412 per square foot (psf) on the net lettable area (NLA) of 73,271 sq ft.

A handful of shortlisted bidders have been invited to take part in the second round of bidding.

Market watchers said a key attraction of Income Centre is that it falls outside the areas with a ban on strata subdivision of commercial properties. This means there is potential for an incoming buyer to apply for a strata subdivision of Income Centre and sell strata units.

The bidding process for Income Centre is being conducted by CapitaLand Investment (CLI), which in April secured the investment mandate to manage Income Insurance’s direct real estate portfolio. CLI is said to have approached a handful property agencies to gather buying interest in the property.

Income Insurance occupies the whole building, and the sale is expected to come with a leaseback period for the asset.

Although Income Centre’s development potential has been fully tapped, there is scope to add value to the property through asset-enhancement works, and convert it to other uses, such as serviced apartments or hotels. A strata sale is another option.

FPL’s stake in Frasers Tower up for sale

CBRE and JLL have been appointed to find a buyer for FPL’s 50 per cent stake in Frasers Tower near Tanjong Pagar MRT station. The remaining stake, held by South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS), is not up for sale.

As at Sep 30, 2025, the building was valued at S$2.12 billion. This works out to around S$3,100 psf on an NLA of about 684,600 sq ft.

Based on the valuation, market watchers estimated the net yield to be in the low-3 per cent.

They said that average rental based on existing leases in the building is below the market, presenting an opportunity for positive rental reversion when leases come up for renewal.

Frasers Tower is a 38-storey Grade-A specification office building with a three-storey cascading retail podium.

Anchor tenants include Microsoft and French energy giant TotalEnergies; other tenants include Sumitomo Corporation, Arup, Fonterra, Pacific Life and The Executive Centre.

FPL developed the property on a 99-year leasehold site that it clinched at a state tender that closed in August 2013. Following the project’s completion in 2018, FPL sold a half stake in the property in the following year to NPS at an agreed property value (100 per cent basis) of S$1.97 billion.

At least S$1.1 billion sought for 30 Raffles Place

Also expected to be put on the market is 30 Raffles Place, at a total guide price of at least S$1.1 billion.

CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield are said to be jointly acting for the owners of both components of the 32-storey building, which is attractively located next to Raffles Place interchange MRT station.

The two components were previously marketed for sale separately. This time around, the thinking is that the buying interest may be stronger for the entire building.

Real estate investment manager AEW owns the upper portion of the building comprising 27 office floors (levels 6 to 32) totalling about 251,500 sq ft of NLA. WeWork, a major tenant, is said to have renewed its lease recently.

The Olayan Group, which has its origins in Saudi Arabia, owns the three lowest office floors (levels 3 to 5), which are leased to CIMB, and the retail podium (from basement 2 to level 2).

Olayan’s space totals about 109,500 sq ft of NLA, or a higher 121,350 sq ft in terms of strata area. That space was on the market earlier this year at a guide price of S$400 million (S$3,652 psf on NLA and S$3,296 psf on strata area).

The Business Times reported in 2023 that AEW’s 27 office floors were being quietly marketed at a guide price of S$725 million, translating to S$2,883 psf on NLA.

The entire development is on a site with a 99-year leasehold tenure that started in December 1989; this leaves a balance term of about 62 years.

Lazada One up for sale at S$755 million valuation

Lazada One at 51 Bras Basah Road has been put on the market at its valuation of S$755 million, which works out to S$2,908 psf on NLA of 259,666 sq ft.

CBRE and JLL have been appointed to find a buyer. The property is equally owned by a fund managed by Aravest and a fund managed by Chelsfield.

The 11-storey building is on a site with about 88 years left on its lease. An extensive refurbishment was completed in 2022. Lazada One’s committed occupancy at Jun 30, 2026, was 99.5 per cent, with only one retail unit vacant.

Alibaba Group (including Lazada and other units) leases about 34 per cent of the building. Other tenants include GovTech’s Open Government Products division, Singapore Management University, Uniqlo and JustCo.

August award for Marina One?

All eyes are on Marina One, where the bid selection process is ongoing.

Industry watchers said Hongkong Land has offered the highest price for the property. What may be standing in the way of it being awarded the property are a string of conditions the property group has proposed for the sale agreement.

Marina One’s developer M+S – a joint-venture between Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional and Singapore’s Temasek – was reported to be seeking about S$5.7 billion for the asset, comprising about 1.88 million square feet (sq ft) of NLA of premium Grade-A office space and 140,000 sq ft of retail space.

Another strong contender for the asset is Mapletree Investments. The fully owned subsidiary of Temasek has unique insights on the Marina One development; it served as the joint project manager, alongside UEM Sunrise of Malaysia.

Pending the finalisation of the sale and purchase agreement terms, M+S reportedly plans to award the property to the successful bidder as early as August.

What’s happening at One Raffles Place?

A deal may be further away for One Raffles Place. Following the first closing of an expression of interest (EOI) exercise in May, three parties were shortlisted: CapitaLand Investment (CLI), IOI Properties and RB Capital/Royal Holdings. RB Capital is controlled by Kishin RK, and Royal Holdings, by his father Raj Kumar.

Word on the street is that there may have been only one formal bid submission – from CLI via its private funds business – when the second round of the EOI bidding process closed in July.

CLI’s bid is said to have been slightly above S$2 billion, shy of the nearly S$2.4 billion valuation for a 100 per cent interest in the asset. The CLI bid was also accompanied by a long list of conditions relating to obtaining planning approval for various schemes, among other things.

Market watchers suggest that one or both of the other two shortlisted parties – IOI Properties and RB Capital/Royal Holdings – could, in some form or manner, take part in CLI’s potential acquisition of One Raffles Place.

One way would be to take a stake as a limited partner in a CLI-managed private fund that could make an acquisition of One Raffles Place.

Another possibility would be to combine Raj Kumar and Kishin’s neighbouring 22 Malacca Street – an underdeveloped site that has on it the 16-storey RB Capital Building – into a partial redevelopment scheme for One Raffles Place.

The bigger question is whether the owners of One Raffles Place will be willing to let go of the property at below valuation.

The two biggest stakeholders in the property are OUE Real Estate Investment Trust, with an effective interest of 67.95 per cent in the asset, and UOB, with an effective interest of 26.61 per cent.

One Raffles Place comprises two office towers – of 62 storeys and 38 storeys – and a six-level retail podium.