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Frasers Property, the Singapore-listed group controlled by Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, has put the rear block of The Centrepoint on Orchard Road up for collective sale at a guide price of S$418 million, or roughly US$326 million. This deal shows how the patient, risk-taking instincts of hardworking capitalists continue to shape skylines and create value even in pricey markets.
The package on offer is the leasehold rear portion of the iconic mall — the 66 apartments and the equivalent number of retail strata units — valued at about S$2,709 per square foot when the government betterment charge is factored in. Savills Singapore, acting as exclusive marketing agent, has put the assets on the market because prime land in the downtown core is still scarce and extremely sought after.
Any serious buyer will also have to factor in a government-imposed land betterment charge of S$260 million to top up the lease to a fresh 99 years and to unlock a higher plot ratio of 5.6. That sort of government fee reads like a hidden tax on redevelopment — a surcharge that will either be swallowed by developers or passed on to consumers who already struggle under soaring housing costs.
Built in 1983, the site can be redeveloped into a mixed-use project of up to 10 storeys with a maximum gross floor area of roughly 250,320 square feet, and the tender window closes on February 26. Savvy developers, including Frasers itself, are positioning to replenish landbanks and take advantage of redevelopment potential in Singapore’s most prestigious shopping belt.
This move comes against a backdrop of resilient demand: Singapore’s home prices climbed to fresh records in 2025, and local players have been actively bidding for scarce plots — a reminder that markets reward those who act, not those who pontificate from safety. The Centrepoint offering is symptomatic of a larger trend where private capital moves decisively to meet consumer demand, something bureaucrats and central planners should think twice before trying to micromanage.
Let’s be clear: Charoen and Frasers are doing what every productive investor should do — redeploy capital, refresh assets, and create higher-value projects that benefit tenants, workers, and shoppers. Conservatives should celebrate that kind of entrepreneurship and oppose policies that treat development as a cash cow for governments; extracting S$260 million just to reset a lease is the sort of intervention that inflates costs and chills investment.
America’s policymakers should watch closely. Where free enterprise is allowed to thrive, cities renew themselves and citizens prosper; where governments tinker with heavy-handed levies and controls, projects stall and ordinary people pay more for less. The Centrepoint sale is a lesson in the enduring power of private capital, and a warning that political interference too often exacts a price from the very citizens it purports to help.
