DBS is offering for sale a collection of 46 HDB shops and shophouses, as well private strata-retail units.
These units, which have an area of 69.500 square foot (sq ft), were previously used as full-service branch banks. The 46 units may be purchased separately. Sales started a few weeks back, according to the report.
Among the Housing and Development Board properties, there are those located in Bishan and Hougang. Other areas include Jurong West and Clementi. The 10 private strata units for retail are located at Thomson Plaza, Gleneagles Medical Centre and The Centrepoint Orchard Road.
DBS spokesperson says that property management, which is not the core business of the bank, has led to the sale. The 46 units are located in 29 locations and are considered non-strategic.
These units are a small part of the larger property portfolio.
The bank has 16 locations that it uses for its self-service 24/7 branches (without counter service) and ATMs. These 16 locations account for just under 10% of total space available for sale.
In addition to the above, the bank also has branches in the following locations: 1 Tanjong Pagar Plaza. Block 107 Toapayoh Lorong 1. Block 153 Bukitbatok Street 11. Block 501 Jurong West Street.
The unit with a slightly higher guide price is a 5,145 ft2 space at 6, Raffles Quay. Two units located on the second floor at Gleneagles Medical Centre are priced between S$10 and S$8.5 for 700 sq.ft.
Close to 90 percent of the space DBS has listed for sale is either leased, some of it having been rented for more than 20 years, or vacant.
According to the word on the street, the HDB units in the 46 unit portfolio have balance terms ranging from 44 years (for an apartment at Block 1 Toa Payoh Lorong) to 68 year (for 2 shophouses at Block 501 Jurong West Street 51).
The spokesperson explained that there would be no impact on the operations of these branches or ATMs, as we are leasing back all the current space. This will mean they can continue to serve the local customers.
Gleneagles Medical Centre & 6 Raffles Quay both have freehold ownership. Thomson Plaza is located on a property with an approximate 51-year balance leasehold tenure. The Centrepoint strata has an average balance tenure of 54 years.
DBS is said to have selected CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield JLL, Knight Frank, and Triple One Properties as the agents to sell these apartments.
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HDB has a maximum guide price of S$10.4million for a 5,554 square foot unit in Block 210 Upper Changi Road. The balance tenure for this property is around 54 years. It’s located just a stones throw away from Bedok Station MRT, and right next to Sky Eden@Bedok.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, a shophouse unit located at Block 107 toa payoh lorong 1, which has an estimated balance term of 44 years, comes in slightly over S$2.2 million. Thomson Plaza offers two 366-square-foot units at a guide price of S$2,000,000 each.
DBS had 170 banks branches in 1998 after acquiring POSB. In recent years, this number has been reduced to approximately 70 branches.
The 70 branches consist of full-services branches (with counter-services), financial planning branch and 24/7 Self-Service branches. Many are manned with digital ambassadors.
As of today, the group is also equipped with a network consisting of around 1,900 self-service ATMs (including POSBs) as well as POSB Cash-Points in various merchant outlets (including Giant Cold Storage and 7-Eleven), which compares to only 950 machines back in 1998.
In the past quarter century, the branch system has been streamlined as a result of duplications in close proximity and a declining footfall at branches. Customers prefer to bank online, or outside normal branch operating hours.
DBS is addressing this by investing in digital banking, and increasing our physical touchpoints. (These include self-service ATMs and cash-points for selected merchants). Self-service machines in all 70 DBS branches allow customers to carry out the five most popular transactions (passbook replacement, cash deposits and debit/ATM Card issuance, for example) outside of branch operating hours.
