JTC launches Tuas industrial site for sale after $5.9m bid

JTC launches Tuas industrial site for sale after $5.9m bid
ON the back of good demand for industrial space, JTC Corporation yesterday launched a 235,400 sq ft land parcel at Pioneer Road/Tuas Avenue 11 for sale, and market watchers estimate that the site could fetch as much as $7.6 million - or $23 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr).
JTC launched the site after it received a bid of $5.9 million on July 18. Observers, however, said that the site could fetch more than the initial bid.

Savills Singapore’s director of industrial business space Dominic Peters pointed out that in February, an industrial site at Tuas Bay Drive/Tuas South Avenue 3 was awarded for $23 psf ppr. That site had a 60-year lease.

While the lease for the site launched yesterday is for 30 years, Mr Peters expects the site to fetch $20-23 psf ppr due to good demand. The price translates to between $6.6 million and $7.6 million.

‘We anticipate very strong demand from end-users,’ he said. Companies in certain sectors - such as oil & gas and construction - are doing well at the moment and could be interested in the site, he said.

The site has a 1.4 plot ratio, giving it a gross floor area of 329,600 sq ft. It is zoned for ‘Business 2′ use, which means it can be used for clean, light and general industrial purposes, and warehousing.

The land parcel was on the Reserve List before its sale was triggered by the $5.9 million bid. Now, it is being launched under the Confirmed List.

The government had previously announced that it will launch two industrial sites under the Confirmed List and seven industrial sites under the Reserve List in the second half of 2007 under its Government Land Sales programme.

The tender for the site will close at 11 am on Oct 18.
Source : Business Times - 07 sept 2007

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Mindy Yong
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HPL: Horizon Towers sales committee tried to scupper deal

HPL: Horizon Towers sales committee tried to scupper deal

By MICHELLE QUAH

(SINGAPORE) Several members of the Horizon Towers sales committee tried to scupper the en bloc sale by rallying the rest of the majority sellers into going back on their collective agreement, according to an affidavit filed in the High Court yesterday by the buyers.

The affidavit also quoted from other anonymous flyers sent to the residents of Horizon Towers, which said the sellers were being paid a ‘paltry sum’ for their development.

The claim is one of several in the late-night filing made yesterday by Hotel Properties Ltd (HPL), Morgan Stanley Real Estate-managed funds and Qatar Investment Authority.

HPL and its partners had in February signed a deal with 84 per cent of the owners of Horizon Towers to buy the Leonie Hill property en bloc for $500 million. The sale fell through last month when the Strata Titles Board (STB) refused to grant a collective sale order, saying that Horizon Towers had filed a defective application.

HPL and its partners, through their lawyers Allen & Gledhill, are suing the majority sellers for failing to file a proper application.

In its affidavit - a copy of which was obtained by BT - HPL and its partners alleged that some members of the Horizon Towers sales committee tried to defeat the collective sale by encouraging the other majority sellers to go back on the agreement.

The affidavit said an anonymous circular was sent to all residents of Horizon Towers in late April. The circular said: ‘If enough like-minded owners rescind the agreement and the majority falls below 80 per cent, the application to the STB can be repealed . . . With cohesive cooperation, this movement can be successful.’
The circular included a blank ‘Letter to rescind participation in the collective sale agreement of Horizon Towers’ and urged owners to send their replies to two mailboxes - which the affidavit claims belong to two current members of the sales committee.

The affidavit also quoted from other anonymous flyers sent to the residents of Horizon Towers, which said the sellers were being paid a ‘paltry sum’ for their development.

HPL and its partners charge that some of the sellers want to back out of the deal because they were unhappy with the price offered for the development.

There had been several media reports that some sellers regretted their decision to sell Horizon Towers to HPL and its partners for $500 million, when neighbouring developments - such as The Grangeford - subsequently sold for double the per-square-foot amount.

The buyers’ case is that the majority sellers of Horizon Towers did not do their utmost to submit a proper application for a collective sale order to the STB.

They said the sellers filed the application only in April - two months after the deal was signed, and just four months ahead of the deadline for the completion of the sale. The buyers said this was a ‘breach of (the sellers’) express obligation to apply expeditiously for the collective sale order’.

They also claim the sellers were ambivalent about the dates for the STB hearing and were slow in releasing documents which the objectors - the minority sellers who objected to the en bloc sale - had requested.

This affidavit comes just ahead of a meeting today of all the majority sellers of Horizon Towers. They are meeting to decide how they should respond to HPL’s suit.

The sellers need to decide if they should accede to HPL’s demand that the sellers extend the deadline of the sale by four months, appeal against the STB’s decision and file a fresh application to the STB, if necessary. Alternatively, they can contest the suit.

Source : Business Times - 07 sept 2007

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Mindy Yong
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mindy@mindyyong.com

CapitaLand sets up second China retail development fund

CapitaLand sets up second China retail development fund

By Nicholas Fang
PROPERTY PUSH: Mr Pua says the new fund will invest in mall developments in China. — BT FILE PHOTO

REAL estate giant CapitaLand has set up a second retail development fund, raising about US$600 million (S$917 million) to invest in property projects in fast-growing China.
The mainboard-listed company said yesterday that it has established CapitaRetail China Development Fund II. The fund is now closed.

CapitaLand holds 405 million units, or 45 per cent of the new fund, for which it paid $405 million, the company said in a statement.

The remaining stakes are held by insurance companies, pension funds and corporations.

The company’s CapitaRetail China Development Fund I, which also has a fund size of US$600 million, is already more than 90 per cent committed.

CapitaLand’s two retail development funds invest in retail mall development projects in China.

CapitaLand also has its CapitaRetail China Incubator Fund with a size of US$425 million, which closed in June last year.

This was established to warehouse retail properties with the potential to generate quality income after they are repositioned.

CapitaLand Retail chief executive Pua Seck Guan said yesterday: ‘With the three CapitaLand-sponsored private retail property funds, we have garnered more than US$1.6 billion of dedicated funding to support our long-term retail real estate business expansion plan in China.

‘Through leveraging on our established retail real estate platform, we will continue to strengthen our retail presence in various tiered cities to become a leading retail real estate player in China.’

The company said it has already identified a ’significant pipeline’ of real estate projects in China.
Source : Straits Times - 07 sept 2007

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Mindy Yong
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