More than 10 parties have expressed interest in acquiring the Australian Embassy site on Sathorn Road, according to JLL, the sole agent for the property. And this is only the start as the consultancy expects more parties to participate in the expression-of-interest tender before it closes in June.
With the Australian Embassy set to soon relocate to a new location near Lumpini Park, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) decided to put the 7-rai site it currently calls home up for sale on a freehold basis. It was first announced in March that embassy site would be available.
“As expected, this rare opportunity to secure a large prime site in the heart of Bangkok’s central business district has received overwhelmed interest. Not only listed and non-listed developers but also financial institutions and multi-national companies looking for a prime site for new head office development have expressed interest to submit an offer. All of these parties are well qualified as a tenderer, in terms of financial strength and reputation,” says Suphin Mechuchep, Managing Director of JLL, in a press release.
According to JLL, the site’s long, rectangular shape with a large frontage facing South Sathorn Road is one aspect the interested parties like about it. Any new real estate project developed on the site will benefit from the Bangkok town plan that defines Sathorn as an area for high-density mixed-use development. It is expected the site will eventually hold a high-rise, mixed-use development, however, the public won’t know who has acquired the property until later this year.
“After the tender closes, there will be a number of processes following such as shortlisting, sale and purchase agreement, security deposit payment and due diligence. As a result, we expect the sale transaction to be completed in the final quarter of 2017 when the successful tenderer will be unveiled,” says Suphin.
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