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Jit Poh Building Review

Jit Poh Building Review
Commercial Office Property Review — District 02

Jit Poh Building

A 1970s freehold strata office block on Keppel Road, priced for entry-level CBD-fringe buyers and back-office tenants.

SGCPI Research Desk Updated August 2026 19 Keppel Road, Singapore 089058 ≈FREEHOLD (SOURCES VARY — VERIFY VIA TITLE SEARCH)

Street-level view of Jit Poh Building, 19 Keppel Road. Imagery: Google Street View (user-contributed imagery), accessed August 2026.

Project Overview

Building NameJit Poh Building
Address19 Keppel Road, Singapore 089058
DistrictDistrict 02 (Tanjong Pagar / Keppel)
Tenure≈Freehold (verify at title search)
Zoning / UseCommercial — Office
Built Form11-storey block: 3-storey podium + 8-storey office tower
Land Area / GFA≈1,802 sqm land / ≈10,200 sqm GFA
Completion Year≈1975
Nearest MRTTanjong Pagar (EW15), Outram Park (EW16/NE3/TE17), Maxwell (TE18)
Key Road AccessMCE, ECP, AYE, CTE
Transacted PSF Range≈S$1,800 – S$2,300 psf
Sale Price Range≈S$1.1M – S$4.0M
Asking Rent RangeS$6,200 – S$8,700/month (≈S$6.20–6.50 psf/mth)
Occupier BaseTrading houses, insurance brokers, chemical/FMCG traders, a foreign diplomatic mission, and SME back-offices

Location & Connectivity

Jit Poh Building sits at the junction of Keppel Road and Cantonment Road, on the southern fringe of the Tanjong Pagar and Keppel commercial belt. It occupies a transitional pocket between the established Tanjong Pagar office cluster to the north and the Keppel waterfront precinct to the south, a stretch of Singapore’s Central Area that has quietly densified as older shophouse and low-rise commercial stock gives way to newer mixed-use towers nearby.

The building is within comfortable walking distance of Tanjong Pagar MRT (EW15) and Outram Park interchange station (EW16 / NE3 / TE17), with Maxwell MRT on the Thomson-East Coast Line a little further along. Road access is a genuine strength: the site sits close to the mouths of the Marina Coastal Expressway, East Coast Parkway, Ayer Rajah Expressway and Central Expressway, and the on-site season parking is positioned outside the ERP gantry zone, which keeps daily commuting costs down for staff who drive in.

At street level, tenants and visitors are within a short walk of Tanjong Pagar Plaza, 100 AM and Icon Village for retail, dining and banking, plus supermarkets including Fairprice Finest, Cold Storage and Don Don Donki. Maxwell Food Centre, one of the more recognised hawker centres in the Central Area, is also within easy reach for lunch crowds, and the wider Chinatown and Anson Road office belt is a short stroll north.

Location of Jit Poh Building. Map data: Google Maps, accessed August 2026.

Building & Facilities

Completed in the mid-1970s, Jit Poh Building is an 11-storey strata-titled office block comprising a 3-storey podium over an 8-storey office tower, with a typical tower floor plate of roughly 5,000 sq ft that can be subdivided into smaller suites. It is an older-generation commercial building by Singapore CBD-fringe standards, and its architecture, lift lobbies and finishes read accordingly — functional rather than showcase-grade.

Common facilities are modest: passenger lifts serving the tower, ground-floor retail and F&B frontage, and a season car park with a limited 57 lots, which is typical for a building of this vintage and footprint. Units are generally handed over in a bare or lightly fitted condition, with fit-out standards varying by individual owner, so incoming tenants and buyers should budget for reinstatement or renovation works depending on the unit’s history.

Given the building’s age of roughly five decades, prospective buyers and tenants should commission independent due diligence on mechanical and electrical systems, fire safety compliance, lift maintenance records and any Building and Construction Authority notices before committing. A management corporation strata title (MCST) or equivalent management body typically oversees common property upkeep, and prospective buyers should request recent MCST minutes and sinking fund statements as part of their due diligence.

Unit Types & Floor Plan Notes

Strata units at Jit Poh Building range broadly from about 600 sq ft to 5,500 sq ft, giving the building unusually wide appeal across solo practitioners, small trading firms and larger back-office occupiers who want a full or near-full floor. The four indicative unit profiles below reflect the spread most commonly seen on the resale and leasing market.

Compact Suite

≈600 – 800 sq ft

Entry-level strata office suitable for a small trading office, consultancy or single-desk operation; typically one open-plan room with a pantry corner.

Standard Office

≈1,200 – 1,800 sq ft

The most commonly transacted size band; enough for a small team layout with one or two meeting rooms, popular with insurance and trading firms.

Combined / Corner Unit

≈2,500 – 3,500 sq ft

Formed by combining adjoining strata lots on the same floor; suits back-office operations needing open floor plates and dedicated server or storage rooms.

Full Floor

≈5,000 – 5,500 sq ft

A whole tower floor plate, occasionally available where a single owner has consolidated all lots; best suited to a headquarters occupier or an investor seeking a single large tenancy.

Typical tower floor plate: ≈5,000 sq ft
Building height: 11 storeys (3-storey podium + 8-storey tower)
Car park: ≈57 lots, season parking, outside ERP zone
Vertical transport: Passenger lifts serving all office floors
Handover condition: Generally bare or lightly fitted; varies by unit

Investment Case

Jit Poh Building’s appeal is straightforward: it offers relatively affordable strata office entry pricing on the fringe of the CBD, in a location with genuine expressway and MRT connectivity, at a building age and specification level that will not suit every buyer. The case for and against ownership here hinges largely on how much weight an investor places on capital appreciation versus income and locational convenience.

What Works

  • Genuine CBD-fringe address with walkable access to Tanjong Pagar and Outram Park MRT stations.
  • Strong expressway linkages via MCE, ECP, AYE and CTE, useful for staff and clients who drive.
  • Lower absolute quantum than newer CBD office stock, widening the pool of eligible owner-occupiers and SME buyers.
  • Wide unit size range from ≈600 to ≈5,500 sq ft supports diverse occupier profiles and exit strategies.
  • Season parking sits outside the ERP gantry zone, a genuine daily cost saving for driving occupiers.

What to Weigh Carefully

  • Building is roughly five decades old; M&E systems, lifts and common areas will show their age relative to newer stock.
  • Limited on-site parking (≈57 lots) can be a constraint for occupiers with larger headcounts or frequent visitors.
  • Older strata office buildings in this size class can see thinner resale liquidity than larger, better-known towers.
  • Fit-out and reinstatement costs on handover can vary significantly and should be budgeted for upfront.
  • Tenure should be independently verified via a title search rather than relied upon from listing portals alone.

Who This Suits

Jit Poh Building tends to suit owner-occupiers and small business owners who want a CBD-fringe address without paying CBD-core prices — trading companies, insurance brokers, freight and logistics-adjacent firms, and professional services outfits that value proximity to the port and expressway network over a premium-grade lobby. It also suits investors comfortable with an older, lower-quantum strata office asset who are prioritising rental yield and entry price over long-term capital growth. It is less suited to occupiers who need Grade-A specifications, large contiguous floor plates for headcount-heavy operations, or extensive on-site parking, and less suited to investors seeking the fastest possible resale liquidity, given the thinner transaction volumes typical of buildings in this size and age bracket.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Jit Poh Building zoned for, and what business activities are permitted?
Jit Poh Building sits on land zoned for commercial use, and the building itself is approved for office use, so permitted activities generally cover general office, trading, back-office administration, professional services and similar white-collar commercial operations. It is not approved for industrial, warehousing or manufacturing use, and any retail or F&B activity would typically be confined to designated ground-floor units rather than upper-floor office lots. Buyers or tenants planning a specific use — such as a showroom, training centre or clinic — should verify permitted use with URA and, where relevant, the relevant licensing authority before committing, since zoning compliance and any required change-of-use approval sit outside the scope of a standard sale and purchase agreement.
Can foreigners buy a unit at Jit Poh Building?
Yes. Commercial office units such as those at Jit Poh Building fall outside the Residential Property Act, so there are no citizenship or residency restrictions on foreign individuals or foreign-owned companies purchasing strata office space here, unlike restricted residential property categories. Foreign buyers can acquire, hold and lease out commercial units in their own name or through a Singapore-incorporated entity. That said, foreign buyers should still factor in financing considerations, since local banks may apply different loan-to-value ratios and documentation requirements for non-resident borrowers, and should seek independent legal and tax advice in both Singapore and their home jurisdiction before proceeding with a purchase.
Does Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) apply to a purchase here?
No. ABSD in Singapore applies specifically to residential property purchases and does not extend to commercial office units, so a buyer acquiring a strata unit at Jit Poh Building — whether Singaporean, Permanent Resident, foreigner or corporate entity — is not liable for ABSD on this transaction. Buyers will instead pay the standard Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD) calculated on the higher of purchase price or market value, using the prevailing tiered BSD rate schedule. This is one of the structural reasons commercial and industrial strata property appeals to buyers who already own residential property or who are building a multi-asset portfolio, since it avoids the additional duty layer applied to second and subsequent residential purchases.
What about Seller’s Stamp Duty (SSD) if I want to resell quickly?
Commercial property in Singapore, including strata office units at Jit Poh Building, is not currently subject to Seller’s Stamp Duty regardless of how soon after purchase the unit is resold, which differentiates it from residential property where SSD can apply within a holding period. This gives owners more flexibility to sell opportunistically without an SSD cost hurdle. That said, buyers should always check the prevailing rules at the point of transaction, since stamp duty frameworks are periodically reviewed by the Ministry of Finance and Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore, and should not assume historical treatment will remain unchanged indefinitely without verifying current guidance before executing a resale.
How is Buyer’s Stamp Duty (BSD) calculated on a unit at Jit Poh Building?
BSD for commercial property is charged on a tiered percentage of the purchase price or market valuation, whichever is higher, using the same progressive schedule that applies to residential and other property types. For a strata office unit priced in the low millions, buyers should expect an effective BSD rate in the region of three to four percent of the transacted price, with the exact figure depending on where the price falls across the tiered bands. BSD is payable within fourteen days of the signed sale and purchase agreement, and is typically arranged through the conveyancing lawyer handling completion. Buyers should always confirm the current rate table with IRAS or their lawyer before budgeting.
Is GST payable when buying or renting office space at Jit Poh Building?
Commercial property transactions in Singapore, including office sales and rentals, are generally subject to Goods and Services Tax where the seller or landlord is GST-registered, since commercial real estate is treated as a taxable supply unlike most residential property. A GST-registered corporate buyer may typically claim input tax credits on the purchase if the unit is used for a taxable business activity, while an individual or non-GST-registered buyer would bear the GST as a real cost. Rental payments are similarly subject to GST where the landlord is registered. Buyers and tenants should clarify GST treatment with their accountant and confirm the counterparty’s GST-registration status before finalising commercial terms.
Does the remaining lease affect financing, given the tenure question at this building?
Tenure records for Jit Poh Building vary across property listing sources, with some describing it as freehold and others as leasehold, so any prospective buyer should commission an independent title search via the Singapore Land Authority before assuming either position. If the property is confirmed freehold, financing is generally more straightforward, since banks do not need to factor in a declining lease tail. If a leasehold component is confirmed instead, loan tenure and loan-to-value ratios are typically capped with reference to the remaining lease term, and buyers using CPF funds should also check CPF usage restrictions tied to remaining tenure. This distinction is significant enough that it should be resolved before any offer is made.
What rental yield can an investor realistically expect?
Based on current asking rents of roughly S$6,200 to S$8,700 per month against an estimated purchase price in the low-single-digit millions depending on unit size, gross rental yields for strata offices at Jit Poh Building likely fall in the region of four to six percent per annum, broadly in line with older CBD-fringe strata office stock in Singapore. Actual yield will depend heavily on the specific unit’s size, floor level, fit-out condition and the tenant secured, and investors should net off property tax, MCST maintenance fees, agent commissions and periodic reinstatement or refurbishment costs when calculating a realistic net yield rather than relying on the gross headline figure alone.
How does the building’s age affect its investment appeal?
At roughly five decades old, Jit Poh Building is firmly in the older-generation category of CBD-fringe commercial stock, which typically translates into lower entry pricing but also higher ongoing maintenance risk compared with newer Grade-A or Grade-B office towers. Ageing mechanical, electrical and lift systems can mean higher MCST sinking fund contributions over time, and building specifications such as ceiling heights, floor loading and cabling infrastructure may not match modern tenant expectations, which can cap achievable rents relative to newer buildings nearby. Buyers should request maintenance and capital expenditure records from the MCST and factor in a reasonable allowance for near-term building upgrading works when underwriting a purchase.
What are the chances of an en-bloc sale or redevelopment at Jit Poh Building?
There is no confirmed en-bloc sale process underway at Jit Poh Building at the time of writing, and any collective sale would require the consent thresholds set out under Singapore’s Land Titles (Strata) Act, typically eighty percent of both share value and strata area for a building over ten years old. Given the building’s age, freehold-leaning tenure profile (subject to verification) and CBD-fringe location, it sits in a category where a future collective sale is plausible over a long horizon, similar to other ageing strata office blocks in the area, but timing is inherently speculative and should not be treated as a near-term investment driver. Buyers should evaluate the asset on its own income and use merits first.
Is parking and loading access adequate for a business operating here?
Jit Poh Building offers a limited season car park of around 57 lots, which is modest relative to the building’s total floor area, so businesses with larger headcounts or frequent client visits by car may find on-site parking insufficient during peak hours. A practical advantage is that the car park sits outside the ERP gantry zone, which keeps daily commuting costs down for staff and visitors who do drive in. There is no dedicated heavy-vehicle loading bay suited to bulk goods movement, so the building is better suited to office and light back-office use than to any activity requiring regular container or pallet-level deliveries. Visitor and public street parking nearby can supplement capacity when needed.
What ongoing maintenance or MCST fees should a buyer budget for?
As a strata-titled development, Jit Poh Building is managed by a Management Corporation Strata Title body responsible for common property upkeep, security, cleaning, lift servicing and building insurance, funded through monthly maintenance fees and periodic sinking fund contributions levied on unit owners in proportion to share value. Given the building’s age, maintenance fees may run somewhat higher than a comparable newer building to cover more frequent repairs to ageing lifts, plumbing and electrical systems. Prospective buyers should request at least twelve to twenty-four months of MCST meeting minutes, the latest sinking fund balance and any planned major works budget before purchase, so ongoing holding costs can be accurately underwritten alongside rental income projections.
How liquid is the resale market for strata units at this building?
Resale liquidity for Jit Poh Building appears moderate to thin based on available transaction records, with several listing platforms noting insufficient recent transaction data to establish a clear pricing trend, which is fairly typical for an older, smaller strata office building outside the mainstream CBD core. Buyers should expect a longer marketing period than for larger, better-known office towers, and should price realistically against comparable transactions in nearby Tanjong Pagar and Anson Road buildings rather than assuming a quick sale. This liquidity profile makes the building better suited to medium-to-long-term holders — whether owner-occupiers or income-focused investors — than to buyers seeking a fast flip or short holding period exit.
What types of businesses are best suited to operating from Jit Poh Building?
The building’s tenant history includes trading companies, insurance brokers, chemical and consumer goods traders, and a foreign diplomatic mission, reflecting its practical appeal to firms that value port and expressway proximity over a premium corporate address. It suits general office use, back-office and administrative functions, trading and logistics-adjacent businesses, professional services firms, and small-to-medium enterprises seeking an affordable CBD-fringe base. It is less suited to businesses requiring showroom-grade street frontage, large open-plan trading floors for financial services, heavy foot traffic retail, or any use requiring industrial-grade power, ventilation or loading infrastructure, all of which are better served by purpose-built commercial or industrial stock elsewhere in Singapore.

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, legal or tax advice. Figures marked with the ≈ symbol are reasoned estimates based on publicly available listing and market data at the time of writing and should be independently verified, including tenure, via a formal title search and professional due diligence before any transaction. Prices, rents and availability are subject to change without notice.

© 2026 SG Commercial Property Insights. All rights reserved.

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