CommercialCOMMERCIALConservationDistrict 7 · Downtown Core

38 Seah Street

Reviewed by Nathan TangUpdated 8 November 2026Data through May 2002

Quick Summary

38 Seah Street is a commercial building in District 7 · Downtown Core, on land zoned COMMERCIAL under the URA Master Plan with a gross plot ratio of 4.2. 1 transaction is on record since 1995, most recently in May 2002. ACRA records 0 live company registrations at this address.

The facts are here — now get the verdict on 38 Seah Street.

Ask PropKaki

What are the key facts about 38 Seah Street?

Key takeaway38 Seah Street is a commercial building in District 7 · Downtown Core, zoned COMMERCIAL.

Asset class: Commercial
Land-use zone: COMMERCIAL
Gross plot ratio: 4.2
Tenure: Not on record
District / Area: District 7 · Downtown Core
Address: 38 Seah Street
Land area: —
Completed: Not on record
Storeys: 2 (© OpenStreetMap contributors)
Submarket: City Hall / Bugis
Transactions on record: 1 (records start 1995)
Live listings: None
ACRA registrations: 0

About 38 Seah Street

38 Seah Street is a commercial property in Downtown Core (District 07). It is located along Seah Street, Singapore 188394.

Under the URA Master Plan it sits on land zoned commercial with a gross plot ratio of 4.2. The site falls within a conservation area, so external alterations are subject to URA conservation guidelines. It lies inside the Central Area.

1 transaction has been recorded here, at a median of S$1,086 psf. The most recent was in May 2002.

The nearest MRT is Esplanade MRT, 257 m away (about a 4-minute walk). The closest bus stop (Aft Raffles Hotel) is 83 m away (about a 1-minute walk).

What is 38 Seah Street zoned as?

Key takeaway38 Seah Street sits on land zoned COMMERCIAL with a gross plot ratio of 4.2, with conservation status, inside the Central Area.

Land-use zone: COMMERCIAL
Gross plot ratio: 4.2
Conservation area: Beach Road
Conserved building: Yes
Urban design area: Udga
Central Area: Yes

Run the full zoning report for this building →

What has 38 Seah Street sold for?

Key takeaway1 transaction is on record since 1995, most recently in May 2002 — too few to support a median, so the deals themselves are listed instead.

Date	Use	Price	Area	PSF
May 2002	Shop House	S$1.73M	1,589 sqft	$1,086

URA/JTC records from 1995 — that is where the record starts, not when the building was built. Strata and land deals can mix in one building's history; compare like with like. sqm ↔ sq ft converter

What does space at 38 Seah Street rent for?

Key takeawayNo street- or building-level rent is published here. Across District 7 retail, retail space rented at a median of $9.31 psf a month in 2026Q3, with the middle half of leases between $7.09 and $13.31. That is not this building's own rent, and never a quote for a particular unit.

Retail space — District 7 retail

Region band · 2026Q3

25th pct

$7.09

$76.30 psm

Median

$9.31

$100.25 psm

75th pct

$13.31

$143.24 psm

S$ per sq ft per month

A REGION BAND — URA's grid for the whole district or location, not this street or building. Say "across <district/location>, …", never that this building rents for it. The middle of URA's retail grid for District 7 across every floor and size band — a ground-floor shop and an upper-floor unit sit at very different points in it.

Source: URA REALIS retail rental analysis (district × floor × size grid).

Market context around 38 Seah Street

Key takeawayBrokers' retail figures for this part of Singapore — a broker's market figure, not this building's rent.

CBRE, 2Q 2026 (island-wide)

Islandwide: Rent S$28.15 psf/mth

Singapore Figures Q2 2026

Cushman & Wakefield, 2Q 2026

Other City Areas: Rent S$21.21 psf/mth · Vacancy 7.4% (1Q 2026) · Planned / under construction 0.73m sq ft

Singapore Retail MarketBeat Q2 2026

Official series (URA, 2026Q3): Retail vacancy rate (Whole Island) 6.5 (-0.4 pp on the year) · Retail rental index (Central Region) 81.2 (+1.4% on the year).

Brokers draw submarkets and grades differently; each figure is the broker's own, for its own area, cited to its report. Rents are per square foot per month.

What's been approved at 38 Seah Street?

Key takeawayURA has approved 1 change of use at 38 Seah Street since 2000, most recently in 2005. This is the building's planning history, not today's approved use of any unit: confirm a unit's approved use with URA before signing.

31 Dec 2025Approved
Additions & alterations
Proposed additions & alterations to an existing 2-storey conservation building with an extension to 6-storey at the rear
14 Jan 2025Approved
Additions & alterations
Proposed amendment to approved additions & alterations to an existing 2-storey conservation building with an extension to 6-storey at the rear
24 Nov 2023Approved
Additions & alterations
Proposed amendment & regularisation of gfa to approved additions & alterations to an existing 2-storey conservation building with an extension to 6-storey at the rear
28 Jun 2023Approved
Additions & alterations
Proposed additions & alterations to an existing 2-storey conservation building with an extension to 6-storey at the rear
12 Sept 2019Renewed
Continued use as restaurant
Continued use of the 1st storey shop as restaurant
3 Oct 2016Renewed
Continued use as restaurant
Continued use of the 1st storey shop as restaurant at 38 seah street
5 Sept 2013Renewed
Continued use as restaurant
Continued use of the 1st storey shop as restaurant
22 Sept 2010Renewed
Continued use as restaurant
Continued use of the 1st storey shop as restaurant
22 May 2008Renewed
Continued use as snack bar
Continued use of the 2nd storey flat as a snack bar
27 Sept 2007Renewed
Continued use as restaurant
Continued use of the 1st storey shop as restaurant
4 May 2005Approved
Change of use to snack bar
Change of use of 2nd storey flat to snack bar
22 Sept 2004Approved
Additions & alterations
Proposed a/a to existing 2-storey shophouse with attic and c/u from shop to restaurant at 1st storey

Source: URA planning decisions (URA Data Service), matched to this building by address or land lot. A past approval can lapse (a temporary permission) and belongs to the unit it names. The authoritative approved use of a unit comes from URA's Enquiry on Approved Use of Premises (S$54.50 per unit).

How does Seah Street price?

Strata sales on the street (5y)

Too few strata sales on this street to support a median — the count is shown without one.

Street figures cover strata deals only — land and strata PSF are not comparable.

What do commercial rents run near 38 Seah Street?

Key takeawayURA publishes contracted-rent percentile grids quarterly (latest: 2026Q3) — the benchmark evidence an asking rent should be weighed against.

Indicative area yield — District 7 retail

Gross yield (area)

4.8%

4.3% net of property tax

Rent side (median of bands)

$100.25 psm/mo

2026Q3

Price side (strata, 5y)

$2,348 psf

241 sales

An INDICATIVE AREA yield for District 7 retail — NOT this building's yield, and not any unit's. Commercial rents are published as a district percentile grid, so both halves describe the district.

Priced on STRATA sales only: rent is quoted per unit of lettable area, and commercial land PSF runs far above strata — mixing them would shift the ratio sharply.

Net deducts the 10% non-residential property tax ONLY — not vacancy, maintenance, agent fees, financing, or the 9% GST on purchase.

Retail rents — District 7 ($ psm/month, 2026Q3)

Floor level · size band	25th pct	Median	75th pct
Level 1 · 30 & Below	$93.33	$113.33	$165.94
Level 4 & Above · 30 & Below	$69.42	$79.17	$140.05
B1 & Below · 30 & Below	$94.66	$392.16	$721.70
Level 2 & 3 · 30 & Below	$71.79	$88.95	$100.36
Level 1 · >30 - 100	$84.41	$129.03	$192.55
Level 2 & 3 · >30 - 100	$53.85	$86.57	$113.16
B1 & Below · >30 - 100	$71.03	$80.88	$146.17
Level 4 & Above · >30 - 100	$47.06	$59.43	$68.42

Office rents — Central Area ($ psm/month, 2026Q3)

Building class · size band	25th pct	Median	75th pct
Category 2 · 100 & Below	$54.65	$69.39	$88.80
Category 1 · 100 & Below	$103.62	$122.24	$132.43
Category 1 · >100 - 200	$116.28	$126.99	$148.35
Category 2 · >100 - 200	$65.57	$82.87	$97.63
Category 1 · >200 - 500	$114.67	$128.09	$145.77
Category 2 · >200 - 500	$64.83	$82.57	$94.73
Category 1 · >500 - 1000	$106.56	$137.78	$148.23
Category 2 · >500 - 1000	$85.04	$89.34	$109.80

URA REALIS rental-contract percentiles for the district/location — an area benchmark, not this building's own rents. Office and retail are dimensioned differently and are never mixed.

What is near 38 Seah Street?

Key takeawayThe nearest MRT/LRT is Esplanade MRT, about 257 m away — and 3 competing retail premisess operate nearby.

Getting around

Esplanade MRT257 m · ~4 min

Amenities nearby

Hotel · 3 mAft Raffles Hotel · 83 mShalom Medical Group · 198 mEsplanade MRT Exit F · 239 mPlace Of Worship · 285 mEducational Institution · 302 mWar Memorial Pk · 351 mRaffles Hospital · 637 m

Competing premises nearby

Retail and F&B premises competing for the same footfall — context for an occupier, not a selling point.

Raffles City · 286 mCold Storage Singapore (1983) Pte Ltd · 286 mAlbert Centre Market & Food Centre · 581 m

Straight-line distances. Source: PropKaki amenities data.

Getting there and parking at 38 Seah Street

Key takeawayThe nearest station is Esplanade (CC3), 239 m away — a quiet station, with about 15,000 taps in and out on an average weekday. 15 public car parks are within 500 m.

Foot traffic: busier than 83% of retail buildings

nearest MRT/LRT Esplanade (CC3) 239 m, about 15,000 taps a weekday; 8 more stations within 1 km; bus stops within 400 m: 14, about 23,000 taps a weekday; Downtown Core: 284,004 resident workers (Census 2020, by workplace); about 6,290 residents within 1 km (June 2026); 10 other malls within 1 km. Ranked against 12,856 retail buildings by PropKaki's model: a relative score, not a footfall count.

A relative score from PropKaki's model (station and bus taps nearby, workers and residents around, and competing malls), not a count of people.

Stations within 1 km

Esplanade (CC3)239 m · about 15,000 weekday taps
City Hall (NS25 / EW13)381 m · about 91,000 weekday taps
Bugis (EW12 / DT14)399 m · about 109,000 weekday taps
Bras Basah (CC2)428 m · about 10,000 weekday taps
Bencoolen (DT21)592 m · about 20,000 weekday taps

Taps are fare-card taps in and out at the station's gates on an average weekday (Jul 2026 to Sep 2026) — people passing through, not visitors to 38 Seah Street. Transfers between lines don't tap, so interchanges read low.

Bus

14 bus stops within 400 m, with about 23,000 boardings and alightings on an average weekday.

Public car parks within 500 m

Seah St (URA)36 m
S$1.20 per half-hour at midday on a weekday · 8 car lots
Purvis St (URA)57 m
S$1.20 per half-hour at midday on a weekday · 43 car lots
Backlane (Seah St) (URA)79 m
Backlane (Purvis St) (URA)89 m
Blk 231 Bras Basah Basement Car Park (HDB)171 m
S$1.20 per half-hour at midday on a weekday · gantry 1.9 m · 219 car lots

HDB season (car): Tier 1 $110/month (a resident's or registered HDB shop/industrial tenant's first car); Tier 2 (other cars, non-residents) $120 Rest of Island, $170 Designated Area, $190 Restricted Zone (sheltered: multi-storey, basement, deck). Industrial-park multi-storey car parks: $110 / $120. Which zone this car park is in is not published as data.

Nearest URA season parking: Kampong Glam Area, 849 m away, S$125/month.

Public car parks only, by straight-line distance, with the operator's published rates. 38 Seah Street's own car park, if it has one, and its charges are not in the open data.

Who's registered at 38 Seah Street?

Key takeaway0 live companies (and LLPs and branches; sole proprietors are not counted) list 38 Seah Street as their registered address. These are registered businesses, not who occupies the space.

Wholesale and retail trade
0
Information and communications
0
Professional, scientific and technical services
0
Administrative and support services
0
Education
0

Registered businesses, not who occupies the space: companies, LLPs and branches whose REGISTERED address is this building (ACRA), by industry. Sole proprietors are not counted; no business is named. ACRA, as of 2026-09-16.

Frequently asked questions about 38 Seah Street

Where is 38 Seah Street?⌄

38 Seah Street is at 38 Seah Street, Singapore 188394, in the Downtown Core planning area.

What is 38 Seah Street zoned as?⌄

38 Seah Street sits on land zoned commercial under the URA Master Plan, with a gross plot ratio of 4.2.

Is 38 Seah Street a conserved property?⌄

Yes. 38 Seah Street falls within a URA conservation area, so external works are subject to conservation guidelines.

What have units at 38 Seah Street sold for?⌄

Across 1 recorded transaction, the median price is S$1,086 psf. The latest was in May 2002.

What is the nearest MRT station to 38 Seah Street?⌄

Esplanade MRT is the closest, 257 m away (about a 4-minute walk).

For agents · in the PropKaki app

The facts are here — now get the verdict on 38 Seah Street.

Ask what a unit here would fetch, what the zone allows, or how it compares.

Ask PropKaki Try on WhatsApp

PropKaki

Tell me about 38 Seah Street — recent transactions, zoning and what's listed there.

Here's the building's zone, its recorded deals and every live unit — and where the asking prices sit against them.

Ask anything about Singapore property…

Read the figures right

Year of completion is not on record for this building. Building age cannot be stated.

Submarket: PropKaki's own map from URA's planning subzones (CBD core, City Hall / Bugis, Orchard, city fringe, regional centres, suburban). Brokers draw these lines differently.

Changes of use: URA planning approvals recorded at this building since 2000 (any unit; renewals of a temporary permission not counted). History only — Past approvals are not today's approved use; check with URA's approved-use enquiry before signing. Never say a use is allowed, permitted or approved for a unit, and never say a use would be approved.

Station taps: average weekday fare-card taps in and out at the nearest MRT/LRT station (LTA DataMall). People passing the station's gates, not people visiting this building.

Foot-traffic score: PropKaki's relative score from nearby MRT and bus taps, workers and residents around (and, for retail, competing malls), ranked against buildings of the same kind. A percentile, not a count of people.

Company REGISTRATIONS at this address (ACRA), not a tenancy schedule. Registration does not mean the company physically occupies space here, and a low count does not mean the building is empty. Do not describe this as occupancy or vacancy.

Unbuilt GFA cannot be computed here — it needs BCA built-GFA, which covers about 5% of commercial buildings and no industrial ones. Zoning and plot ratio are on record; headroom is not.

Tenure is not recorded for this building. Commercial tenure coverage is roughly 40% (industrial is far better at ~90%).

Storeys: from OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), volunteer-mapped, not an official record. Shown only because no official or listed floor count is held for this building.

Reviewed by Nathan Tang

Nathan Tang has over 10 years of property experience across condominiums, HDB flats and commercial property, specialising in property research and finance.

Figures draw on URA and JTC records, URA Master Plan zoning, ACRA registrations and live commercial-portal listings; building facts from PropKaki's submarket map, URA planning decisions, URA car park data (URA Data Service), LTA DataMall passenger volumes, PropKaki's foot-traffic model, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) — see our methodology. Last updated 8 November 2026. For general information, not financial advice.

Getting there and parking: LTA DataMall passenger volumes and car parks, URA Data Service car park rates, HDB and JTC car park information (data.gov.sg) and HDB's published parking charges, Census of Population 2020 and the Singapore Department of Statistics' June 2026 resident population (Singapore Open Data Licence). The foot-traffic score is PropKaki's own relative model, not a count.

Market context: figures cited from CBRE Research (Singapore Figures) and Cushman & Wakefield (Singapore MarketBeat), each with its quarter and report; flexible-workspace centres from the operators' public location lists; collective sales from marketing agents' announcements and news reports, each linked.

Rents: URA rental statistics for office and retail space by street (IRAS-stamped contracts), JTC J-SPACE rentals by building and by street, JTC price tenders, and URA REALIS rental grids. SLA tender results and JTC posted land rents are held for state and JTC land.