Strata board not obliged to rule on Singapore Horizon Towers sale by Dec 11

Strata board not obliged to rule on Singapore Horizon Towers sale by Dec 11

By Joyce Teo, Property Correspondent

THE Strata Titles Board (STB) hearing the Horizon Towers sale application said yesterday that it was under no obligation to deliver its ruling before Dec 11.
That is the deadline for the estate’s $500 million collective sale to Hotel Properties (HPL) and its partners.

The majority owners want approval for the sale, after it was thrown out on a technicality in August. The minority owners want it stopped.

The STB came to its decision after it took submissions from lawyers for both the majority and minority owners. The owners were asked if they considered that the STB had a legal duty to rule before Dec 11.

Both camps, after morning deliberations, said no.

But that did not sit well with the buyers. HPL group executive director Christopher Lim said it was ’surprising’ the tribunal took that view as it may ‘potentially scuttle’ the transaction.

‘We are also very disappointed that the majority sellers did not take the position that the matter be dealt with expeditiously and before Dec 11.’

Mr Lim said the buyers had made it clear during earlier hearings that the majority sellers would be in breach of contract if they did not deal with the sale expeditiously.

‘As a result of these developments, we are currently reviewing our position.’

The STB did try to move the proceedings along yesterday, by rejecting a request by lawyers representing the minorities that they be allowed to cross-examine expert witnesses such as valuers. It also rejected an application from the lawyers that Mr Arjun Samtani, chairman of the first sale committee, take the stand as a witness.

The hearing continued with the cross-examination of Mr Wee Hian Siew, the former sale committee secretary, that began on Tuesday.

He was again asked why he did not notify owners of the $500 million offer and if he recalled the talks with Mr Bharat Mandloi.

The latter resigned from the first sale committee because he regarded the $500 million sale price as too low.

Mr Mandloi had told the committee that the owners might as well sell their units in the Leonie Hill estate on the open market at the same price.
Source : Straits Times - 08 Nov 2007

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Singapore Raffles Place retailers face space crunch, soaring rents

Singapore Raffles Place retailers face space crunch, soaring rents

Rent may double for some, with near full occupancy and no fresh supply of space in the short term

By Joyce Teo, Property Correspondent
HIGHER COSTS: Shoe boutique owner Ms Kwok (above left), with her mother Mary Ho, expects to pay a higher rent soon as her shop lease at The Arcade in Raffles Place is coming up for renewal. While the rise in office workers is fuelling retail demand, prospective shop owners find it hard to obtain space, especially in the office districts. — ST PHOTOS: EDWIN KOO

SOARING rents for retail office space at Raffles Place have stunned Ms Yeap Cheng Guat, the executive director of Cedele By Bakery Depot, which has two outlets in the major office hub.
‘Rents have gone up by 100 per cent. It’s that crazy,’ she said.

The bakery cafe chain has operated at Republic Plaza for about eight years now and has a newer outlet at One Raffles Quay.

Singapore’s office space crunch is spilling over to tenants like Cedele in office districts such as Raffles Place.

‘When they told me about the increase, I nearly fell off my chair,’ Ms Yeap said.

‘If my rentals rise by 100 per cent, can my food price increase by the same?

‘Then the tenant can sell only bird’s nest and abalone,’ she said, referring to expensive delicacies.

Occupancy levels for retail space such as cafes and fashion outlets in Raffles Place are close to 100 per cent.

A recent study by property consultant Cushman & Wakefield found rent rises of up to 24 per cent over the past two years in the area.

Supply of shop space is tight with no major new retail space expected for the financial district in the short term.

That means retail rents there will keep rising by another 10 to 15 per cent in the year ahead, the firm’s managing director here, Mr Donald Han, told The Straits Times. This is up from about 14 per cent in the last 12 months, he said.

The rise is relatively high, considering that rentals in the traditional shopping belt of Orchard Road have experienced single- digit rises in recent years.

Overall, rentals for prime retail space are expected to climb by 15 to 20 per cent year on year, with capital values up by 10 to 15 per cent, according to Knight Frank.

Ms Maye Kwok, 32, who sells bags and shoes from a ground-level shop at The Arcade, is convinced she will soon be paying higher rent.

‘Across the board, rents have gone up. My neighbours here have paid higher rents. I am 100 per cent sure they will raise the rent when my lease is up for revision.’

Mr Han said the office space crunch was affecting nearby retail space.

‘Most developers within the financial district prefer to maximise office use rather than retail,’ he said.

‘The irony is that when more offices are built, retail demand from the office population will grow in tandem.’

Most retail centres in Raffles Place such as OUB Centre, Raffles Xchange, One Fullerton and Republic Plaza are enjoying full occupancy.

Average gross rent for Raffles Place ground-level shops is between $18 and $35 per sq ft (psf) a month - well up from $13 to $25 psf two years ago.

Basement level space is between $12 and $25 psf a month, again well up from $9 to $18 psf two years back.

On the upper floors, which have less pedestrian traffic, rents hover between $8 and $14 psf a month, up from $6 to $9 psf a month two years ago.

As Raffles Place’s retail rents rise, several landlords have already started to either reposition their retail developments or add new retail supply, said Cushman & Wakefield.

Sino Land, the Hong Kong-based sister firm of property developer Far East Organization, recently announced plans to revamp a 26,000 sq ft retail and entertainment complex at Clifford Pier, a site that it had obtained late last year.

At OUB Centre, an additional 32,000 sq ft of retail space will be added, said Cushman & Wakefield.

It noted that newly retrofitted projects like the Market Street carpark have done well, with space nearly fully leased out at $10 to $25 psf a month.

‘The retail market situation in Raffles Place is coming to a level where nothing is available. This sub-market is being ignored when there is demand,’ said Mr Han.

Source : Straits Times - 08 Nov 2007

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$10m plan to create Singapore first zero-energy building

$10m plan to create Singapore first zero-energy building

BCA Academy to be retrofitted with solar panels and green innovations

By Jessica Cheam

IT MIGHT not look too inspiring now, but a three-storey building in Braddell Road is about to open a new frontier in the campaign for greener energy.
The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) Academy opposite ComfortDelGro will harness the sun’s energy in an ambitious bid to create Singapore’s first zero-energy building, or ZEB.

A massive array of solar panels covering about 1,300 sq m - almost half a football field and the biggest such installation here - will be integrated on the roof of one of the academy’s buildings.

The $10 million retrofitting project, unveiled by the BCA yesterday, will create a highly efficient complex that produces as much energy as it consumes from renewable sources. Over a typical year, its net energy consumption is expected to be zero.

The building, the first of its kind in South-east Asia, will also be a test bed for green technology.

It will be linked to a normal power grid and draw electricity if needed. But it will feed back to the grid the same amount it uses from clean sources like solar energy.

Parliamentary Secretary (National Development) Mohamad Maliki Osman said at the academy’s graduation ceremony yesterday that the ZEB will ’serve as a showcase of green building technologies’ for education, training and research.

BCA’s deputy director of research and innovation, Mr Ang Kian Seng, added that the ZEB was a ‘milestone’ for the academy: ‘It shows we’re not just talking about it, but we’re taking action to take the lead.’

The ZEB, which has a gross floor area of 3,000 sq m, is due for completion in early 2009. It will boast a whole range of features and will be 60 per cent more efficient than a normal commercial building.

It will also test cutting-edge innovations, including an imported United States air-conditioning chiller system that can achieve up to 30 per cent higher efficiency than standard ones of the same capacity.

Technologies developed by the National University of Singapore (NUS), which is jointly creating the ZEB, will also be tested.

One is a personalised ventilation system that delivers fresh air directly to a user; another is a ’solar chimney’ that improves a room’s ventilation tenfold by using differences in air pressure.

All this plus innovative ideas like vertical greening, where shrubs are planted on a wall’s facade to reduce heat gain, will help the building save $84,000 a year.

One special feature is a viewing platform - also with solar panels - where visitors can view the whole solar roof.

‘This will help raise awareness; schools can organise educational trips,’ said NUS Associate Professor Lee Siew Eang, who is spearheading the project.

The ZEB will also house an ‘experimental school’ to test new technologies for eco-friendly classrooms, and the BCA Academy’s office.

‘This ZEB is significant for Singapore, especially in developing our clean energy industry,’ said Prof Lee.

‘It shows the industry that ‘greening’ an existing building to make it sustainable is possible - without sacrificing comfort and air quality.’

The ZEB will be co-funded by the Ministry of National Development and the Economic Development Board.

BCA also announced a new engineering diploma programme, with an emphasis on green building technology, to start next July.

Source : Straits Times - 08 Nov 2007

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Singapore Tiong Bahru Sers flats to be rented for up to $4,500

Singapore Tiong Bahru Sers flats to be rented for up to $4,500

Winning bidder in HDB pilot scheme aims to target foreign students, expatriates

By Joyce Teo, Property Correspondent
A COMPANY that has just won an HDB tender in a pilot scheme plans to rent out 120 flats at Tiong Bahru for up to $4,500 a month to foreign students and expatriates.
It is the first step to boost the supply of flats in the rental market amid growing demand. It aims to put flats vacated under the Selective En Bloc Redevelopment Scheme to better use.

Former residents of the 120 flats have moved to new and better flats nearby.

The HDB said the flats that had been vacated were identified for its rental scheme, pending long-term development plans.

The Tiong Bahru flats will get a $3 million facelift and be ready for tenants by the year’s end.

The winning tenderer, Katong Hostel, which provides international student housing, will be the managing agent for the 60 three-room and 60 four-room walk-up flats.

$3m facelift for old flats
The 120 Tiong Bahru flats comprise 60 three-room and 60 four-room walk-up flats.
The firm, part of the privately-held Vita Group of hostels, plans to rent out at least two blocks to students and possibly the rest as service apartments to expatriates.

Katong Hostel won the tender with the highest bid of $230,280 a month, 22 per cent above the next bid of $188,000 a month.

That price is the sum the firm will pay HDB to lease the flats for three years, with an option for three more years.

Katong Hostel aims to rent out these flats - Blocks 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 in Tiong Bahru Road - at a relatively high price of between $3,500 and $4,500 a month.

While rents in the Tiong Bahru area have risen significantly, the HDB flats there have so far achieved only up to $2,500 a month in rent, said HSR property group’s executive director Eric Cheng.

But the Tiong Bahru flats are different in that they will be managed and aimed at a specific clientele, said Ms Joyce Sim, 25, a Vita group director.

She said the student housing - to be charged on a per person basis with two to a flat - is aimed at those looking for quality housing.

These could be doctorate students, for instance, who could be paying their own fees or sponsored by firms.

‘These Tiong Bahru flats are among the early batches of flats,’ Ms Sim said. ‘We will preserve the heritage of the buildings, which have a unique design.’
Source : Straits Times - 08 Nov 2007

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Singapore Katong Hostel wins master lease tender for Tiong Bahru flats

Singapore Katong Hostel wins master lease tender for Tiong Bahru flats

THE Housing & Development Board (HDB) yesterday awarded the tender for the master lease of 120 three- and four-room vacated flats in Tiong Bahru to Katong Hostel at a tender price of $230,280 per month. The company was the highest of 15 bidders at the tender which closed on Oct 9.

Katong Hostel will be given a master lease on the flats on a 3+3-year tenancy. The flats were vacated under the Selective En bloc Redevelopment Scheme (Sers) and the tender to seek a master tenant was a pilot project by HDB to boost the supply of flats for rental housing.

‘This will put these flats to better use in the interim period, pending their redevelopment,’ HDB said. ‘HDB will assess the response to this pilot project before deciding whether to expand the scheme in future. If needed, HDB has a potential supply of about 4,000 to 5,000 units that can be introduced to bolster rental supply in the HDB market over the next three years.’

Source : Business Times - 08 Nov 2007

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Singapore Horizon Towers sale could be timed out by tribunal decision

Singapore Horizon Towers sale could be timed out by tribunal decision

STB says it is not bound to rule by sale completion date; lawsuit looms
By MICHELLE QUAH
(SINGAPORE) The Strata Titles Board (STB) tribunal has delivered a startling decision that could spell the end of the en bloc sale of Horizon Towers. The ruling could in turn resurrect the $1 billion lawsuit filed by the buyers against the sellers.
Tribunal chairman Philip Chan announced yesterday that the board was under no legal obligation to rule on whether to approve the collective sale on or before Dec 11, the sale completion date.

This means, if the tribunal chooses to make a decision only after Dec 11, the sale agreement between the buyers and the sellers will lapse - and the en bloc sale will collapse.

The decision took many observers by surprise since a ruling after the sale completion deadline would effectively render the role of the tribunal pointless.

Mr Chan said yesterday the board made its decision after considering the submissions made by all the parties involved: the majority owners who have applied for a collective sale order, and the minority owners who are opposing the sale.

The would-be buyers - Hotel Properties (HPL) and its partners - were not permitted to be parties to this hearing, and could not make any submissions on the matter.

The tribunal on Tuesday asked the relevant parties to submit their arguments on whether the board had a legal obligation to make a decision on the collective sale order on or before Dec 11.

Mr Chan announced yesterday that, as all parties were in agreement that the board was under no such obligation, the tribunal would not be bound to make a decision by Dec 11.

The position seemingly runs counter to the one taken by the tribunal at an earlier Horizon Towers hearing in June, when Mr Chan agreed to bring forward the hearing dates - so as to allow the tribunal to make its decision before the earlier sale completion deadline of Aug 11.

Mr Chan said then, as grounds for doing so, that ‘courts do not sit for futility’, adding: ‘Courts are here to make sure that if we do give an order, that order must stick. The order must be put into operation; otherwise it would be unproductive. It may even be silly for a court to sit.’

The tribunal’s decision yesterday has not gone down well with HPL and its partners.

HPL group executive director Christopher Lim told BT: ‘We are very concerned about this development. It is surprising that the tribunal took the view that it had no duty to make a ruling before Dec 11, as that may potentially scuttle the transaction.’

He added: ‘We are also very disappointed that the majority sellers did not take the position that the matter be dealt with expeditiously and before Dec 11. During the earlier hearings, we had made it clear that such conduct by the majority sellers is in breach of contract.

‘As a result of these developments, we are currently reviewing our position.’

HPL and its partners have already sued the majority owners for breach of contract - claiming damages of up to $1 billion - but that suit has been stayed, pending the outcome of this STB hearing.

But HPL and its partners earlier also made it clear that they will consider resurrecting the legal claim against the majority owners if the en bloc sale ultimately falls through.

The dramatic reaction sparked by this one announcement was in marked contrast to the humdrum proceedings of the rest of the day. Former sales committee member Wee Hian Siew spent a second day on the stand, being grilled on whether he did his utmost to act in the owners’ best interests in the en bloc sale.

The session also saw a few laughs, as Mr Chan quipped that he would refrain from making any more jokes during the hearing - ‘in case I get reported’, he said. BT reported Mr Chan’s wisecrack about Mr Wee being a secretary ‘without a skirt’ yesterday.

The mood among the owners was generally upbeat, with some even distributing Deepavali sweets to those present.
Source : Business Times - 08 Nov 2007

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