12 sites to be made available for Singapore hotel development

12 sites to be made available for Singapore hotel development

By Margaret Perry, 
SINGAPORE: In the first half of this year, 12 sites will be made available for hotel development.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said these sites would potentially yield another 6,000 rooms which Singapore needs to meet growing demand.

Mr Mah was speaking at the official opening of the six-star St Regis Singapore on Sunday, where 1,000 of Singapore’s Who’s Who attended the event.

At St Regis, butler service is available at all 299 rooms and suites, and guests can hire chauffer-driven Bentleys.

But the glamour is a far cry from the gloom that overshadowed the planning of the hotel when it first begun.

Miguel Ko, president of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Asia Pacific, said: “To plan a hotel of this level of investment five years back, in the midst of SARS and a depressed hotel and real estate market, truly required someone of great determination and foresight.”

The St Regis Singapore is the latest hotel to open here to meet growing demand from tourists and businessmen.

“In 2007, about 1,000 hotel rooms were added and we have projected a further increase of some 12,000 rooms in the next three to four years as new hotels and integrated resorts open,” said Mr Mah.

The St Regis Singapore aims to recreate some of the glamour from the original St Regis in New York, plus a dash of the local flavour.

The original Bloody Mary cocktail was created at the St Regis in New York in 1934 and the same recipe is available at the St Regis Singapore.

But the St Regis Singapore also has its own version of the cocktail – the Chili Padi Mary.
- CNA/so
Source : Channel NewsAsia   - 21 April 2008

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Sea View condo comes with a piece of local history -Singapore

Sea View condo comes with a piece of local history -Singapore

By VINCENT WEE
RESIDENTS of Wheelock Properties’ new The Sea View condominium will be able to take pride in the fact that they have a classic piece of Singapore’s history in their estate.
 
Reminder of the past: Wheelock Properties has spent $1.3m to conserve, retrofit and furnish the 5,000 sq ft double- storey clubhouse formerly known as Pavilion 
Conservation work on the stately Neo-classical style bungalow off Amber Road formerly known as Pavilion has been completed, Wheelock said in a press release yesterday. Pavilion was built in the early 1900s and was owned by the Elias family, an established Jewish family at the time. The bungalow was gazetted for conservation in 2004.

The developer spent $1.3 million on conservation, retrofitting and furnishing the 5,000 sq ft double-storey clubhouse which will house two games rooms, a multi-purpose room with a pantry and a function room.

The extensive work done includes both the external and internal structure. Some key features include a panoramic 12-panel stained glass above the grand entrance and cast iron railing on the verandahs of both floors.

‘We volunteered to conserve the house as we felt that it was worth preserving a piece of history. The architecture of the house is seen as key to the charming character of the Amber Road/Katong area,’ explained Wheelock Properties (Singapore) director Tan Bee Khim.

Wheelock has also invested almost $500,000 on two art installations at the clubhouse. Both works by renowned local artist Kumari Nahappan spell life and energy for the space and provide visual focal points and vibrant colour contrast to the seamless landscape of water and greenery.

Source : Business Times   - 21 April 2008

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

St Regis a milestone: Singapore Minister Mah

St Regis a milestone: Singapore Minister Mah

By ARTHUR LEE

NATIONAL Development Minister Mah Bow Tan last night commended owners of the St Regis Hotel for bringing this fine name in hospitality to Singapore.
 
Distinguished hosts and guests: City Developments executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng, Mr Mah, Mrs Cecilia Kwek, Foreign Minister George Yeo and Mrs Yeo at last night’s function. Singapore is on track to achieve its Tourism 2015 goals, Mr Mah said 
‘The opening of St Regis reflects your confidence in the tourism industry here,’ he told some 500 guests at the official opening of the hotel. ‘This confidence is well founded.’

Mr Mah mentioned a host of tourism-related initiatives before concluding that Singapore is on track to achieve its Tourism 2015 goals of $30 billion in tourism receipts and 17 million visitor arrivals.

‘The opening of St Regis tonight is yet another milestone.’
Source : Business Times   - 21 April 2008

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Leng Beng breaks the mould with business budget hotel - Singapore

Leng Beng breaks the mould with business budget hotel - Singapore

No frills property at Mohamed Sultan Rd offers high-tech facilities
By KALPANA RASHIWALA

(SINGAPORE) A ‘business budget hotel’ may sound like a contradiction in terms. But hotel and property tycoon Kwek Leng Beng is finalising just such a concept - and it’s aimed at executives who don’t want the frills but who do require high-tech amenities in their rooms.
 
Mr Kwek: Confident that earnings of the upmarket St Regis Singapore at Tanglin Road can stabilise in a year’s time 
The first such hotel here will be a 370-room property that will open at Mohamed Sultan Road early next year. It is being developed by Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C), the London-listed hotel arm of City Developments Ltd (CDL), which in turn is the listed property arm of Singapore’s Hong Leong Group.

Elaborating on the new concept, Mr Kwek, executive chairman of Hong Leong Group, said: ‘It is high-end and I have called it ‘high-end budget’, so it sounds like a contradiction. But I would like to clarify. This niche is aimed at executives who want no frills but require high-tech amenities in their rooms which must meet certain standards, four-star or even up to five-star; they do not need the grand ballrooms or large function rooms or F&B outlets that may add to their bills unnecessarily.’

Yesterday was a proud day for Mr Kwek, 67, as he witnessed the official opening of St Regis Singapore, which will be his flagship hotel in Singapore. ‘We have many hotels around the world - M&C has 112 - but none as luxurious as this one. Normally, it takes a hotel about three years to stabilise earnings. However, for St Regis Singapore, I’m confident we can stabilise in a year’s time.’

The 299-room hotel, said to be worth about $1.2 million a room, as well as the next door 173-unit St Regis Residences, were developed by a joint venture involving CDL, Hong Leong Holdings Ltd and TID Pte Ltd. TID is a partnership between the Hong Leong Group and Japan’s leading real estate company Mitsui Fudosan.

To date, 157 of the 173 units at St Regis Residences have been sold.

‘The planning for a branded hotel and residences concept in the same development took about five years,’ Mr Kwek said.

‘I am quite excited, because this development was not acquired, but conceptualised and built from scratch.’

Mr Kwek started the group’s first hotel, what is now known as Copthorne King’s, at Havelock Road, in 1970. ‘When I was younger, I was bolder. In the early 1990s, the international hotels sector was competitive but it is very much more so today. There are more and bigger private equity funds among the major international players. The financial landscape is also much more different than when we went international over 14 years ago, or when we opened our first hotel more than 30 years ago.’

Mr Kwek acknowledged that the opening of the two integrated resorts will boost Singapore’s meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions business and pose a challenge to existing hotels and upcoming ones, but the market segments they cater to are not necessarily the same.

‘They will help make Singapore a tourism hub and ensure that Singapore is a key destination,’ he said. ‘Not forgetting that we have the new giant aircraft A380, and the increased popularity of budget airlines, so Singapore will have increasing numbers of visitors.’

He also said that talent is a key challenge ahead for the Singapore hotel industry. With India and China opening up, their hotels are taking up a significant portion of the global hotel talent.

‘Labour cost, which is a concern by itself, is bound to increase,’ he said. ‘In Singapore, because land is scarce, construction costs are high, and prices of building materials such as steel are also rising, so there is a challenge if one plans to build budget hotels, a sector which will be much needed here.’
Source : Business Times   - 21 April 2008

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Converted buildings offer huge payoffs -Singapore

Converted buildings offer huge payoffs  -Singapore
FROM OLD SCHOOL…: The building that used to house Gan Eng Seng Secondary School required extensive work to upgrade its facilities for office use.
 
 
WHEN the former Pasir Panjang ITE building at 991 Alexandra Road was put up for tender last year, property investment firm Richzone jumped at what it saw as a prize plot.
The site, opposite the PSA Building, offered 265,000 sq ft of office space in an established commercial and industrial zone.

‘It was delivered to us in a very rundown condition because it had been empty for eight years,’ Richzone said.

The firm, set up by a group of property veterans, planned to turn the building into modern low-rise offices that could be leased out to other tenants.

But it ran into flooding and power problems and broke the budget because of inflated construction costs and unexpected ‘invisible expenses’.

Still, the work has paid off. The first phase of offices has been fully taken up by big-name tenants, such as LG Electronics. They are paying about a third of what they would have to fork out downtown.

Another company, Hean Nerng, also got more than it bargained for with the former Gan Eng Seng Secondary School.

Luckily, Mr Kelvin Lim, the managing director of the space resource management firm, is an old hand at converting worn-out buildings for new uses.

He was attracted by the building’s size - it sits on a 290,626 sq ft plot in Raeburn Park near Outram - and its low rent.

Hean Nerng is paying about $200,000 a month, or $1.25 per sq ft (psf), and sub-letting the converted offices at about $4.50 psf. About 40 per cent of the building has been occupied by tenants that include the Marketing Institute of Singapore, the National Safety Council and several advertising companies.

A lot of work had to be done to maximise the building’s potential office space. The firm also had to spend nearly $1 million to upgrade the substation to provide air-conditioning.

Mr Lim, however, is confident that the whole building will be rented out by year-end, even though demand has slowed because of weaker sentiment and because more office space has been released by the Government.

‘We managed to overcome challenges greater than we had expected, so there are no regrets,’ he said.
FIONA CHAN
 

Source : Straits Times   - 21 April 2008

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Tricky to convert old schools into offices

Tricky to convert old schools into offices 

Some firms leasing the buildings from Govt have run into teething problems

By Fiona Chan, Property Reporter 
TAKING SHAPE: Project manager Leong Peng Ho oversees refurbishing works at the former River valley Primary School. Behind him is one of the converted blocks. — ST PHOTO: ASHLEIGH SIM
 
IT WAS an unusual proposition by the Government: Turn old, empty school buildings into functional offices fit for companies to occupy.
Firms hit by the acute office crunch last year responded warmly to the suggestion. They took up several former schools leased out by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), drawn by their attractive locations, sizeable grounds and low rentals.

The offer by the Government was part of its efforts to meet the immediate needs of companies forced out of the central areas by office shortages and soaring rents. Since February last year, the SLA has tendered out 15 vacant buildings, including schools and community centres.

Experts hailed the move as prompt and quick-thinking - but some of the companies that actually took on the conversion tasks quickly found themselves mired in unexpected problems and hidden costs.

The SLA does not make public the names of companies that win its tenders, but it asked three firms to share their experiences with The Straits Times. All said that while they had expected some complications with these old buildings, they had not expected the going to be so rough.

Two ended up busting their renovation budgets tackling problems such as a lack of power supply, flooding grounds and missing blueprints.
Mr Andy Ong, the managing director of education provider ERC Holdings, had to get leaking pipes repaired at the former River Valley Primary School after they flooded the field twice.

‘We had no water for three days while they were being fixed,’ he said. ‘We had to bring in portable toilets.’

The conversion process was ‘nightmarish’, he added. ‘Every step we took was like being on a roller coaster. It was much harder than we had thought it would be.’

Property investment firm Richzone, which is converting the former Pasir Panjang ITE into modern office blocks, also ran into problems.

Heavy rains led to more water flowing in than the existing drainage could handle, so Richzone had to spend more than $1 million on 1km of new and improved drains. Another $1 million had to be spent on underground wiring and electricity. A new substation was installed, as were four lifts.

‘It was not just plastic surgery, it was more like organ transplants,’ said Ms Agnes Tay of Knight Frank, who worked closely with Richzone in leasing out the former school as offices.

Both ERC and Richzone ran over budget, the latter by about 30 per cent. Richzone said it now needs about five years to break even; it had estimated four originally. Meanwhile, it has to pay rent to the Government even before it collects any from its own tenants.

A third company, Hean Nerng, which specialises in converting old properties for new uses, is still within the $4 million budget it drew up for renovating the former Gan Eng Seng Secondary at Raeburn Park.

But managing director Kelvin Lim said Hean Nerng would now need longer to break even on the project because of unanticipated hiccups. For one thing, the old school had been designed to fit safety codes that are now outdated.

‘Part of the school building we inherited could not be used because it adhered to old fire safety codes,’ Mr Lim said.

For instance, a soundproof room in the basement that had been used by students as the school’s rifle range is now just dead space because it has only one exit.

Nevertheless, having graduated from the school of hard knocks, most of the companies are now happy with their newly done-up offices and their sprawling grounds.

‘Financially, it works out to be about equal to our old space, but we now have our own building and branding, and all this is unquantifiable,’ said ERC’s Mr Ong.

‘People are amazed we’re occupying such a big space in a prime location. Even if we stay only six years, it would be worth it.’
A dream come true despite obstacles
TRAINING firm ERC Holdings had to move out of its Robinson Road premises when rents there tripled.
Rather than move to an affordable but inconvenient location, managing director Andy Ong decided to tender for the former River Valley Primary School and convert it into offices.

‘It’s a great location: five minutes from Orchard Road, five minutes from our old office,’ he said.

ERC kept 5,000 sq ft at Robinson Road, a quarter of its original space, and moved the rest over to River Valley. With 250,000 sq ft of land and 70,000 sq ft of office space, there was so much room, ERC leased out half to luxury watchmaker Audemars Piguet.

The rents, at about $2 per sq ft (psf), seemed like a dream. At Robinson Road, they had come to over $3 psf and were set to rise to more than $10 psf. But the dream soured a bit for Mr Ong when he realised how much work had to be done to convert the premises. ‘My to-do list had 210 items.’

As for the expenses, he said: ‘The bills are still coming in. Hopefully, we will not exceed $5 million.’

Still, he said the company had ‘no choice’ but to take on this project. ‘We would have spent $5 million in rental over three years anyway.’

Source : Straits Times   - 21 April 2008

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Singapore luxury home prices surge 31%

Singapore luxury home prices surge 31% 
WHEN it comes to luxury homes in prime locations, Singapore had the eighth-most expensive properties in the world last year, ahead of cities such as Tokyo, Hong Kong and Paris.
Average prices of top-end properties in the Republic rose by 31 per cent to £1,197 (S$3,232) per sq ft (psf), the sixth-biggest price jump globally, according to a survey by Knight Frank and Citi Private Bank.

Their 2008 Annual Wealth Report found that the prices of luxury homes around the world increased, on average, by 11 per cent last year.

The sub-prime credit crisis led to ‘falling prices, restricted financing and declines in sale volumes’, which spread from the United States to Europe, but the report also noted the emergence of a new breed of super rich.

‘Commodity price rises have brought wealth and created a significant number of additional new high net worth individuals in countries that benefit from a high level of natural resources - Brazil, Canada, Australia and Russia, which each added more than 8,500 additional wealthy residents in 2007.’

Rising affluence has also generated another market for second homes and holiday homes, said the report.

‘We have yet to see the full impact on demand for property from the rising mass affluent population of central and eastern Europe, let alone from China, India, South Korea and other Asian economies,’ it said, adding that ‘the boom in second home ownership over the past decade will be nothing compared with the growth we will see over the next decade’.

The highest price growth was achieved by prime residential properties in Cortina D’ Ampezzo in Italy (61 per cent), St Jean Cap Ferrat in France (50 per cent) and Antigua (40 per cent) .

Mr Liam Bailey, Knight Frank’s head of residential research and author of the report, said prices grew strongly in the emerging economies, especially China and central and eastern Europe.

A second area of strong growth was in the global financial centres and second-home hot spots in France, Italy and the Caribbean, he added.

‘Overall in 2007, capital growth in prime residential properties has been strongest in the main global financial centres and those with benign tax jurisdictions,’ he added.

Five of the top 10 locations fell into this category, with London outperforming all other centres. It had 29 per cent growth and prices averaged £3,025 psf. Prices of properties valued over £10 million there grew by 37 per cent.

Monaco, in Europe, was second priciest at £2,877 psf and St Jean Cap Ferrat was third at £2,860 psf.
Source : Straits Times   - 21 April 2008

Singapore Property - Buy , Sell , Rent , Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com