NTUC FairPrice Co-operative’s freehold industrial property at the corner of Upper Thomson Road and Tagore Drive has been put up for sale.

Industry observers expect the indicative price to be in the region of S$300 million, which works out to about S$568 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).

CBRE has been appointed to market the property at 680 Upper Thomson Road, and is conducting an expression-of-interest exercise.

The 263,900 sq ft site has substantial redevelopment potential.

Under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Draft Master Plan 2025, the site is zoned Business 1 with a 2.0 plot ratio, allowing a maximum gross floor area (GFA) of about 527,800 sq ft. This is almost 2.3 times the property’s existing GFA of 232,071 sq ft.

No land-betterment charge will be payable as the maximum allowable GFA matches the site’s development baseline.

On the site is a warehouse that is being used as a fresh food distribution centre. It opened in 2003, and was FairPrice Group’s first such centre. Before that, the group was renting storage and distribution facilities.

According to information in the book, It Takes a Great Deal: A Catalogue of FairPrice Group Stories, published by NTUC FairPrice Co-op in 2023 to mark its 50th anniversary, FairPrice Group is expected to replace the distribution centre with a new state-of-the art, highly automated seven-storey facility.

The 750,000 sq ft property in Jurong, at 7 Sunview Road, is more than three times the size of the one in Upper Thomson Road.

NTUC FairPrice was set up the labour movement in 1973. Its current mission is to keep daily essentials within reach for all in Singapore. Today, it is Singapore’s largest supermarket chain with 164 stores; it is part of FairPrice Group, which includes Cheers convenience outlets, the Unity Pharmacy chain and Kopitiam food courts. FairPrice Group is the retail arm of the National Trades Union Congress.

Property market watchers are expecting keen interest for 680 Upper Thomson Road, which used to house the headquarters of NTUC FairPrice.

Besides the freehold tenure, the site offers flexibility for development. This is unlike the many leasehold industrial properties on sites directly allocated by JTC, which are restricted by its policies on assignment of lease and subletting, noted industry players.

Site’s appeal

The Upper Thomson site is expected to appeal to developers looking for land to build strata industrial property projects for sale, be they ramp-up or flatted factories/warehouses.

The site is also suitable for development into strata food factories, which tend to command higher prices.

Some agents estimated that units in a new project on the site could potentially sell for about S$1,000 psf on strata area for general industrial/warehouse use, or a higher psf price for food factories.

An analysis by Cushman & Wakefield Research indicated that investment sales of Singapore industrial properties between Jan 1 and Sep 19 this year totalled about S$2.8 billion, or nearly half the S$5.7 billion figure for the whole of 2024. The figures cover deals of more than S$10 million each.

Wong Xian Yang, head of research for Singapore and South-east Asia at Cushman & Wakefield, said: “Investor appetite for Singapore’s industrial properties remains strong, underpinned by sound market fundamentals and easing interest rates. This is especially for industrial assets that cater to industries such as high-value manufacturing, technology and life sciences. These could include property types such as business parks, prime logistics and data centres.”

He added: “Industrial sites with potential for redevelopment or repurposing – particularly those suitable for self-storage facilities, worker dormitories or data centres – are highly sought after, given their robust supply-demand dynamics,” he added.