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The Majestic, a historic three-storey building in Chinatown with a colourful past, is up for sale at an indicative price of about $43 million.

The commercial building in Eu Tong Sen Street is right next to another conservation block, the Yue Hwa Building, and is near the entrance of Chinatown MRT Station.

Formerly a cinema known as Majestic Theatre, The Majestic is owned by Cathay Realty, which in 2002 converted the cinema into a shopping mall at the cost of about $8 million.

It is still being used as a mall, though many tenants have moved out in view of the impending sale.

The freehold building has a gross floor area of 42,181 sq ft and a current net lettable area of 22,400 sq ft.

Assuming it is sold for $43 million, it will net the buyer a rental yield of about 5 per cent to 5.5 per cent, said Knight Frank, which is marketing the building.

Ground-floor rents at The Majestic can range from $30 per sq ft to $32 per sq ft, with the second and top floors attracting much lower rents, said the property consultancy.

The buyer could refurbish the conservation building to freshen it up, it said. In any case, the buyer will secure a piece of Singapore’s history.

The Majestic dates back to 1927 when philanthropist Eu Tong Sen - after whom the street is named - built it as an opera house on a whim for his opera-loving wife, after she was refused entry into another opera house.

Known then as ‘Tin Yin Moh Toi’ or Tin Yin Dance Stage, the opera house attracted glamorous opera stars from China who performed to full houses.

In 1938, Shaw Brothers rented the building and renamed it Queen’s Theatre. It screened Cantonese movies to keep up with changing times.

During the Japanese Occupation, it was renamed Dahe Theatre and screened Japanese movies.

After the war, it was renamed Majestic Theatre, a name which stayed until the end of its cinema days in 2002. The tender for The Majestic will close on Sept 13.

Source : Straits Times - 2 Aug 2007