A landmark on River Valley Road - the AA Centre - is set to change hands.
An offer of $61.8 million has been made for the site, which has been the headquarters of the Automobile Association of Singapore (AAS) since 1967.
But the offer from Starlite Land Development, a subsidiary of listed property giant Far East Organization, is well below the indicative price that the AAS set in June when it sought expressions of interest.
It was expecting $90 million to $100 million for the building, which sits on a 33,751 sq ft freehold plot in the prime district.
AAS members will decide on Jan 9, at an extraordinary general meeting, whether to accept the offer. The potential sale, however, does not include the residential units that occupy the top seven floors of the 14-storey building.
The owners of the 24 apartments and four penthouses have put them up for sale separately.
Their target price is about $2,000 per sq ft (psf).
The AAS sold these apartments to finance the redevelopment of its headquarters in 1984.
Its latest sale plan, however, was prompted by the need to expand its activities, especially its vehicle breakdown services, AAS chief executive Lee Wai Mun told The Straits Times.
Based on the 55,574 sq ft area of the first six floors of the AA Centre that the association owns - and which includes 32 serviced apartments - Starlite's offer works out to around $1,100 psf.
But based on the size of the plot, it works out to around $1,830 psf.
The potential deal is the AAS' biggest since it sold its vehicle inspection business in 2000 to Vicom for $23 million.
The Straits Times understands that the AAS, which turned 105 this year, had wanted for several years to sell the building.
In 2003, the AAS bought a 20,000 sq ft property at 2, Kung Chong Road for $9.3 million to build up its repair and towing operations.
In the AAS' advertisement seeking would-be buyers, it said the part of the building it owns could be converted into SoHo (small office/home office) units or serviced apartments. Starlite declined to comment on its plans for the site.
Source: The Straits Times - 27 December 2012