Cathay Building
Cathay Building is a commercial building in District 9 · Museum, on land zoned COMMERCIAL under the URA Master Plan with a gross plot ratio of 4.2. 5 units are currently listed for rent. ACRA records 0 live company registrations at this address.
What are the key facts about Cathay Building?
- Asset class
- Commercial
- Land-use zone
- COMMERCIAL
- Gross plot ratio
- 4.2
- Tenure
- Not on record
- District / Area
- District 9 · Museum
- Address
- —
- Land area
- —
- Completed
- Not on record
- Storeys
- Not on record
- Listed as
- Food & Beverage, Mall Shop
- Transactions on record
- None recorded
- Live listings
- 5
- ACRA registrations
- 0
No recorded transactions — this building has never generated a strata caveat (typically single-owner or lease-only stock). That is not missing data, and it says nothing about the building's value, occupancy or availability.
About Cathay Building
Cathay Building is a commercial building in Museum (District 09). It is located along Handy Road.
Under the URA Master Plan it sits on land zoned commercial with a gross plot ratio of 4.2. It lies inside the Central Area.
The nearest MRT is Dhoby Ghaut MRT, 167 m away (about a 3-minute walk). The closest bus stop (Aft Dhoby Ghaut Stn) is 140 m away (about a 2-minute walk). The Cathay is 31 m away (about a 0-minute walk).
What is Cathay Building zoned as?
- Land-use zone
- COMMERCIAL
- Gross plot ratio
- 4.2
- Urban design area
- Udga
- Central Area
- Yes
What does space at Cathay Building rent for?
Retail space on Handy Road
Street level · 2026Q2S$ per sq ft per month (median only published) · median -35.3% on a year earlier
URA's percentiles of RETAIL rents (shop, F&B, entertainment, health & fitness) across every lease stamped with IRAS on this STREET in the quarter — the street's figure, not this building's rent and never a unit's. Retail rent swings with floor and frontage, so the spread matters as much as the median. A median needs at least 2 buildings and 3 contracts (percentiles need 4); a blank means below that threshold, not zero.
Source: URA rental statistics by street (IRAS-stamped contracts).
Retail space — District 9 retail
Region band · 2026Q3S$ 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 9 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 Cathay Building
- Singapore total: Rent S$30.38 psf/mth · Vacancy 6.3% (1Q 2026) · Planned / under construction 2.38m sq ft
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.
How fast units move at Cathay Building
Rent: between 6 Aug 2026 and 28 Aug 2026, 3 new listings appeared and 1 came off (sold, let or withdrawn). Days on market: not enough history yet — we began tracking on 6 Aug 2026.
One count per unit, however many agents list it. Asking prices are not tracked over time, so price cuts are not shown.
What's been approved at Cathay Building?
- 10 Oct 2024ApprovedAdditions & alterations
Proposed amendment to approved addition and alteration to existing "the cathay" retail podium involving reconfiguration of interiors and facade works to non-gazetted facade on 2nd to 4th storey on lots ts19 on lots 00415k, 00481n, 00483l, 00485m, 00486w, 00487v, 00489t, 00491p, 00492t, 00564t, 00566k, 00568x, 99888k, 00658l and 00706v at 2 handy road (museum planning area)
- 8 Feb 2024ApprovedAdditions & alterations
Regularisation and proposed amendment to approved addition and alteration to existing "the cathay" retail podium involving reconfiguration of interiors and facade works to non-gazetted facade on 2nd to 4th storey on lots ts19 on lots 00415k, 00481n, 00483l, 00485m, 00486w, 00487v, 00489t, 00491p, 00492t, 00564t, 00566k, 00568x, 99888k, 00658l and 00706v at 2 handy road (museum planning area)
- 4 Jul 2023ApprovedAdditions & alterations
Proposed addition and alteration to existing "the cathay" retail podium involving reconfiguration of interiors and facade works to non-gazetted facade on 2nd to 4th storey on lots 564t, 486w, 485m, 489t, 491p, 487v, 481n, 492t, 483l, 566k, 568x, 415k and 99888kts 19 at 2 handy road
- 17 Feb 2023ApprovedFloor 4Change of use to massage establishment
Proposed change of use of unit #04-XX to massage establishment at the cathay
- 10 Nov 2022RenewedFloor B1Continued use as karaoke lounge
Continued use of units #B1-XX, #B1-XX, #B1-XX, #B1-XX, #B1-XX, #B1-XX, #B1-XX, #B1-XX and #B1-XX as karaoke lounge at the cathay
- 2 Aug 2022ApprovedFloor 5Change of use
Proposed change of use of part of unit #05-XX bar with live entertainment at the cathay
- 23 Jul 2021ApprovedFloor 4Change of use to gym with ancillary refreshment area
Proposed change of use of unit #04-XX to gym with ancillary refreshment area at the cathay
- 15 Jul 2021ApprovedFloor 1Change of use to golf simulator outlet
Proposed change of use of unit #01-XX, #01-XX, #01-XX, #01-XX to golf simulator outlet at the cathay
- 20 Aug 2020ApprovedFloor 3Change of use to massage establishment
Proposed change of use of unit #03-XX to massage establishment at the cathay
- 27 Sept 2017RenewedFloor 3Continued use as karaoke lounge
Continued use of units #03-XX, #03-XX and #03-XX as karaoke lounge - the cathay
- 10 Jul 2017ApprovedFloor 1Change of use to restaurant
Proposed change of use of shop unit #01-XX to restaurant at 2 handy road - the cathay (museum planning area)
- 8 Feb 2017ApprovedFloor 1Change of use to shop
Proposed change of use of unit #01-XX to shop at 2 handy road - the cathay (museum planning area)
21 earlier change-of-use and A&A decisions are on record since 2000.
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$54.50 per unit).
How does Handy Road price?
Too few strata sales on this street to support a median — the count is shown without one.
Street figures cover strata deals only — land and strata PSF are not comparable.
What do commercial rents run near Cathay Building?
Indicative area yield — District 9 retail
An INDICATIVE AREA yield for District 9 retail — NOT this building's yield, and not any unit's. Commercial rents are published as a district percentile grid, so both halves describe the district.
Priced on STRATA sales only: rent is quoted per unit of lettable area, and commercial land PSF runs far above strata — mixing them would shift the ratio sharply.
Net deducts the 10% non-residential property tax ONLY — not vacancy, maintenance, agent fees, financing, or the 9% GST on purchase.
Retail rents — District 9 ($ psm/month, 2026Q3)
| Floor level · size band | 25th pct | Median | 75th pct |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 4 & Above · 30 & Below | $101.79 | $127.98 | $144.93 |
| B1 & Below · 30 & Below | $231.82 | $392.95 | $544.95 |
| Level 2 & 3 · 30 & Below | $97.06 | $128.26 | $157.50 |
| Level 1 · 30 & Below | $131.15 | $157.04 | $196.05 |
| Level 1 · >30 - 100 | $112.35 | $161.16 | $217.81 |
| Level 2 & 3 · >30 - 100 | $91.89 | $118.41 | $156.35 |
| Level 4 & Above · >30 - 100 | $81.28 | $100.52 | $133.94 |
| B1 & Below · >30 - 100 | $155.98 | $328.55 | $492.13 |
Office rents — Central Area ($ 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 available at Cathay Building right now?
For rent (5)
- Cathay BuildingS$17k/mo · 848 sqft
- Cathay BuildingS$2k/mo · 158 sqft
- Cathay BuildingS$23k/mo · 1,500 sqft
- Cathay BuildingS$18k/mo · 1,540 sqft
What is near Cathay Building?
Getting around
- Dhoby Ghaut MRT167 m · ~3 min
Amenities nearby
Straight-line distances. Source: PropKaki amenities data.
Getting there and parking at Cathay Building
nearest MRT/LRT Dhoby Ghaut (NS24/NE6/CC1) 150 m, about 64,000 taps a weekday; 8 more stations within 1 km; bus stops within 400 m: 9, about 38,000 taps a weekday; Museum: 12,672 resident workers (Census 2020, by workplace); about 12,000 residents within 1 km (June 2026); 11 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
- Dhoby Ghaut (NS24 / NE6 / CC1)150 m · about 64,000 weekday taps
- Bencoolen (DT21)249 m · about 20,000 weekday taps
- Bras Basah (CC2)345 m · about 10,000 weekday taps
- Rochor (DT13)681 m · about 22,000 weekday taps
- Little India (NE7 / DT12)709 m · about 55,000 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 Cathay Building. Transfers between lines don't tap, so interchanges read low.
Bus
9 bus stops within 400 m, with about 38,000 boardings and alightings on an average weekday.
Public car parks within 500 m
- The Cathay (development car park)10 mrates not published as open data
- The Atrium@Orchard (development car park)245 mrates not published as open data
- Sophia Rd (URA)276 mS$1.20 per half-hour at midday on a weekday · 3 car lots
- Fort Canning Park A Of F St (URA)336 mS$1.20 per half-hour at midday on a weekday · 46 car lots
- Plaza Singapura (development car park)345 mrates not published as open data
Nearest URA season parking: Mackenzie Road Area, 705 m away, S$100/month.
Public car parks only, by straight-line distance, with the operator's published rates. Cathay Building's own car park, if it has one, and its charges are not in the open data.
How many companies are registered at Cathay Building?
- Live registrations
- 0
- Registered last 3 years
- 0
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.
Frequently asked questions about Cathay Building
Where is Cathay Building?⌄
Cathay Building is at Handy Road, in the Museum planning area.
What is Cathay Building zoned as?⌄
Cathay Building sits on land zoned commercial under the URA Master Plan, with a gross plot ratio of 4.2.
Have there been any recorded transactions at Cathay Building?⌄
No caveats have been lodged for Cathay Building in the URA records we track. That is common for buildings held by a single owner, which never generate strata transactions.
What is the nearest MRT station to Cathay Building?⌄
Dhoby Ghaut MRT is the closest, 167 m away (about a 3-minute walk).
The facts are here — now get the verdict on Cathay Building.
Ask what a unit here would fetch, what the zone allows, or how it compares.
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