Real estate fund manager ARA Asset Management and British property group Chelsfield have announced they are listing the jointly-owned Singapore office, Lazada One for $580 million, according to media reports. The 11-storey building and office space measures around 241,000 square feet and houses Alibaba Group Holding and its Southeast Asian online shopping unit, Lazada Group.
The building is located near the Orchard Road area and just a 10-minute drive away from the Central Business District (CBD). Because of its prime location, the price per square foot of the building roughly translates to $3,319. ARA and Chelsfield purchased the building in 2019 for SG$555.5 million and both entities have equal partnerships. Back then, the building was known as Manulife Centre, was renamed to 5One Central following the purchase.
Earlier this year in June, the building and office space was rebranded as Lazada One after Alibaba became the primary tenant after it leased 140,000 sq ft of space while waiting for their own building in the CBD to be redeveloped. The Singapore office buildings remain as one of the prized real estates even after owners all around the world were hit by a drop in demand when workers stayed home during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tech giants such as Amazon and ByteDance have expanded their presence as they have made up their minds to make Singapore their primary base for the Southeast Asian markets. While the country’s return to its previous return and to the office has remained slow, real estate consultancy firms Savills and Knight Frank have said rents are bottoming out.