Singapore Marina Bay condo to be launched next year

Singapore Marina Bay condo to be launched next year

Developers expect high prices, with smaller units costing at least $4m-$5m

By Joyce Teo, Property Correspondent

LUXURY LIVING: Marina Bay Suites will have 223 three- to four-bedroom apartments - all with private lift lobbies. There will be a single-level penthouse on the 65th floor.
MARINA Bay Suites, the second and last residential block at the Marina Bay Financial Centre, will be launched early next year, as prices in the area continue to climb.
The developers - Cheung Kong (Holdings)/Hutchison Whampoa, Hong Kong Land and Keppel Land - are expecting strong interest in the condo, as well as high prices.

Market estimates expect smaller units to fetch at least $4 million to $5 million.

Sales for Marina Bay Suites have yet to start, although the condo was marketed recently at a Shanghai property exhibition.

Clients from China and Hong Kong made up almost 20 per cent of those who bought units at the first Marina Bay Financial Centre condo.

Marina Bay Suites will be marketed in Dubai next week, and then in Hong Kong.

It will have 223 three- to four-bedroom apartments ranging in area from 1,500 sq ft to 2,500 sq ft - all with private lift lobbies.

There will be a single-level penthouse on the 65th floor, and two duplex penthouses on the 63rd.

‘Marina Bay Suites will be a fitting, even more upscale, sister development to the 428-unit Marina Bay Residences, which sold out in just three days in December last year,’ said the condo’s head of residential marketing, Mr Kan Kum Wah.

There is talk that the 65-storey Marina Bay Suites could be priced at an average of $3,000 per sq ft (psf).

Mr Kan said it was too early to decide on pricing, although the developers will take ‘close reference’ to sub-sale prices of Marina Bay Residences.

The highest sub-sale price recorded for Marina Bay Residences was $3,600 psf in June. This compared with the average apartment price of around $1,850 psf at last December’s launch, when penthouses sold for up to $3,450 psf.

Recent Marina Bay Residences deals in August ranged from $2,061 psf to $3,080 psf for the 732 sq ft to 1,981 sq ft apartments.

A unit at the popular The Sail@Marina Bay nearby went for as high as $3,301 psf in August.

In the same month, other deals for apartments as small as 667 sq ft were recorded at $1,300 psf to $2,999 psf.

Phase one of The Sail - the first condo in Marina Bay - was launched at below $1,000 psf in late 2004.

Source : Business Times - 10 Oct 2007

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Next-gen Singapore HDB housing to offer greener lifestyles

Next-gen Singapore HDB housing to offer greener lifestyles

Minister notes keen interest in such housing: 80% of first eco-precinct taken up

By Jessica Cheam
BIG WINNER: Local architectural firm Surbana International Consultants swept all three HDB design awards for architecture, for The Coris in Seng Kang (above) and two other projects. — PHOTO: HDB

SINGAPOREANS increasingly aspire to greener lifestyles and the next generation of public housing will cater to these needs.
Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan delivered this message on growing interest in environmentally sustainable housing at the annual Housing Board awards and public housing seminar yesterday.

Nearly 80 per cent of Singapore’s first eco-precinct, Treelodge@Punggol, a public housing project launched by HDB in March, has already been taken up.

‘The strong public interest for this project demonstrates support from Singaporeans for a greener lifestyle,’ Mr Mah stated in a speech delivered by Parliamentary Secretary (National Development) Mohamad Maliki Osman to a 500-strong audience on his behalf.

Some green features at Treelodge@Punggol, due for completion in 2012, include solar-powered corridor lighting and common areas washed by recycled rainwater.

Mr Mah also called on the private sector to play a ‘key role’ in remaking the heartland. ‘A holistic approach, with close collaboration among industry partners, is needed for sustainable development of public housing to succeed,’ said Mr Mah.

This year’s seminar featured industry speakers addressing the theme: Sustainable Construction And Technologies.

HDB also launched a guidebook for the industry yesterday, called The Green Housing Book, which showcases its environmental initiatives over the years.

This included HDB’s innovations in the areas of environmental sustainability, energy, water, and resource materials.

Local firms were also recognised for their contribution towards good-quality public housing at the HDB awards.

Building firm Ho Lee Construction received two HDB Quality Awards for the building and upgrading categories.

One of its projects, Seng Kang Neighbourhood 2, was commended by HDB as ‘quality public housing with finishes comparable with that of private developments’.

‘We’re very happy and encouraged to receive the award, as it’s the first for the company from HDB,’ said Ho Lee senior project manager Susan Seah. Four other firms, including Teambuild Construction, a contractor, and EM Services, a supplier, also won the awards.

Local architectural firm Surbana International Consultants was the big winner of HDB’s design awards, bagging all three awards in the architecture category for its work on The Coris in Seng Kang, Ghim Moh Gardens, and Marine Terrace Walk.

Four construction firms, including Welltech Construction and Fonda Construction, won the HDB Construction Safety Awards.

Source : Business Times - 10 Oct 2007

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Singapore Shophouses in the CBD for sale

Singapore Shophouses in the CBD for sale

By ARTHUR SIM

A BLOCK of 13 conservation shophouses in Telok Ayer and Boon Tat streets is for sale through an expression-of-interest exercise at an indicative price of $67 million.

On sale: The block of 13 shophouses is going for an indicative price of $1,200 psf
This works out to about $1,200 per square foot based on the gross floor area of some 56,000 square feet. The shophouses are on land that totals 16,987 sq ft and have 999-year leasehold tenure from 1884.

They are zoned for ‘commercial’ use, but Ho Eng Joo, executive director (investment sales) at marketing agent Colliers International, believes that the buyer could amalgamate the interiors into a single large floor plate to achieve greater space efficiency. This would make the property suitable for creative companies such as advertising or design agencies or for financial and professional services firms.

‘The tight office supply and the surge in office rents have resulted in an increasing number of tenants seeking alternative commercial space such as shophouse units, as well as investors looking for well-located shophouse units for investment,’ Mr Ho said.

He estimates the current yield to be around 2.5 per cent. The first storey of the shophouses is now used mainly by food and beverage outlets, while the upper storey is occupied by office tenants.

Mr Ho reckons the potential yield could be 5-5.5 per cent based on rent of about $5.50 psf per month.

It is rare for so many shophouses to be offered in one transaction. The recent sale of three shophouses in Ann Siang Road for $28.8 million worked out to $1,519 psf over their floor area.

Mr Ho said that most shophouse transactions involve individual units. A shophouse in Amoy Street was recently sold for about $1,100 psf, he said.

Source : Business Times - 10 Oct 2007

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F1 race to give boost to Singapore shops and restaurants

F1 race to give boost to Singapore shops and restaurants

Ex-sponsorship chief sees property price hikes along route
By UMA SHANKARI

(SINGAPORE) Business will race ahead for shops and restaurants along the Formula One (F1) circuit, and tenants in office buildings in the area also stand to benefit, a sports management specialist said yesterday.
Mark Gallagher, who heads Eden Rock Sports and was sponsorship and marketing chief for the Jordan and Red Bull F1 teams, reckoned retailers and F&B operators will see business spiking during race week in September 2008, as tens of thousands of tourists flock into town.

He said that restaurants can be expected to offer week-long race promotions. And office tenants with a view of the circuit can either hold corporate parties on race day or allow outside operators to use the space.

Mr Gallagher, who has more than 20 years’ experience of F1, was in Singapore yesterday to speak to tenants of One Raffles Quay (ORQ) and future occupants of Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) to help them consider the impact and opportunities arising from Singapore’s addition to the F1 calendar.

ORQ tenants that BT spoke did not rule out the idea of holding parties in their offices, but most said they would prefer to lock down trackside hotel venues with luxury facilities not found in their offices.

‘We are looking at organising something around the race but nothing has been fixed up yet because it is still early,’ said a foreign bank with its headquarters in ORQ. The bank said it is considering only hotels at the moment.

Mr Gallagher estimated that major companies could fly in 10,000 to 12,000 corporate guests for the race. The race is expected to bring in about 80,000 tourists in all.

He also said residential and commercial property prices could get a boost - especially in the immediate vicinity of the race track.

‘In Monte Carlo, for example, there is no question that most people who buy property now try to buy property near the track,’ he said.

Source : Business Times - 10 Oct 2007

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S’pore economy is not overheating : Singapore PM Lee

S’pore economy is not overheating : Singapore  PM Lee

Inflation well under control even though economic growth this year is expected to be 7-8%
(BUDAPEST) Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday said that he did not believe the Republic’s economy was overheating, with inflation under control despite firm economic growth.
Rosy relations: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (right) and his Hungarian counterpart, Ferenc Gyurcsany, in Budapest. Singapore and Hungary signed cooperation agreements on economic, scientific and educational matters
‘This year, we expect 7-8 per cent growth. It’s a good figure but at the same time inflation is well under control,’ Mr Lee said.

He acknowledged that property prices had increased rapidly and that there were shortages in office space, which the government was trying to solve by, for example, building interim office space.

‘In the medium term, we will have enough supply but in the short term there is a problem because so many businesses want to set up in Singapore,’ Mr Lee said after officials from the two countries signed cooperation agreements on economic, scientific and educational matters.

Mr Lee also described the situation in Myanmar - where the government has violently suppressed pro-democracy protests - as ’serious’, saying international powers needed to work on bringing together the two sides of the conflict - the ruling military and the opposition groups.

‘What is necessary is to find reconciliation and an agreement amongst the parties in Myanmar on the way forward,’ he said after meeting his Hungarian counterpart, Ferenc Gyurcsany. ‘There’s no easy way forward . . . It is not simply a matter of regime change,’ Mr Lee added.

‘I think that if you look at Iraq, you know that regime change is a slogan but may not be a policy.’ - AP

Source : Business Times - 10 Oct 2007

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