Singapore Govt extends cash incentive scheme for green buildings

Singapore Govt extends cash incentive scheme for green buildings
 
Architects and engineers can also claim up to $100k

By Jessica Cheam 
 
THE Government’s bag of carrots to encourage the construction of green buildings just got bigger.
National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan announced yesterday that cash incentives paid to developers who put up green buildings will be extended.

In addition, key industry stakeholders such as architects and engineers will now be offered incentives, too, in recognition of the important roles they play, he said.

The Green Mark incentive scheme, launched by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) in December 2006, pays out cash grants of up to $3 million for buildings that reach high environmental standards.

Developers will see no change in the scheme, but architects and engineers can now claim up to $100,000 in cash incentives, depending on the building standard achieved and the floor area.

To encourage more green buildings, the scheme will now also apply to smaller buildings, said Mr Mah. The minimum gross floor area requirement will be cut from 5,000 sq m to 2,000 sq m.

The BCA Green Mark scheme, launched in 2005, rates buildings for their environmental impact and performance.

‘With the green building movement in Singapore gaining momentum, it is timely to enhance the scheme,’ said Mr Mah at BCA’s annual awards dinner last night.

BCA launched two new awards yesterday: the BCA Green Mark Champion Award for developers and the BCA-NParks Green Mark for Parks Award.

Local developer City Developments clinched the first award, with 21 projects rated Green Mark Gold or above. Five attained GoldPlus or platinum standards.

BCA chief John Keung said yesterday that the BCA Green Mark ‘has received strong support from major developers like City Developments’, and he hopes that more developers will ‘take the lead in achieving excellence in environmental sustainability…and strive for the higher ratings’.

For the first time, Singapore parks will be benchmarked against environmental sustainability standards.

Mr Mah gave out the new parks awards to Fort Canning Park, the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and the Chinese Garden. In addition, building professionals were honoured for construction excellence, safety and universal design.
 

Source : Straits Times  - 23 May 2008

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More homes, buildings in Singapore going green

More homes, buildings in Singapore going green
 
19,000 homes with energy-saving features built under BCA’s Green Mark scheme

By Jessica Cheam 
UP TO MARK: City Developments’ residential project The Solitaire at Balmoral Park is one of this year’s six platinum winners for achieving high Green Mark standards. — PHOTO: CITY DEVELOPMENT
 
EFFORTS to green Singapore’s buildings are paying off, with more than 19,000 environmentally friendly homes built across the island and 18,000 more in the pipeline.
The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said on Wednesday that the number of homes with energy-saving features has been on the rise since the BCA Green Mark scheme was introduced in 2005.

Under the scheme, buildings which meet a benchmark in terms of environmentally friendly features are awarded the ‘Green Mark’.

As more developers embrace environmental sustainability, ‘we are seeing the number of green buildings rising exponentially’, said BCA’s chief executive John Keung on Wednesday.

These homes can save their occupants as much as $1,800 a year on power bills, based on a recent survey of green homes by the BCA recently.

Green homes typically boast green features such as energy-efficient air-conditioners and water-efficient fittings which help to cut bills.

As energy costs escalate, it makes ‘even more economic sense to consider green homes’, said the BCA.

And the number of such homes is set to grow even further.

From last month, all new buildings and major retrofitting will have to meet the basic Green Mark standard.

The scheme, which rates a building’s environmental impact and performance, was slow to take off when it was launched. But the initiative has since gathered steam, with about 100 buildings getting the Green Mark stamp last year, and another 200 to be assessed this year.

Of these, about 60 residential projects with 19,000 green homes have been built, with another 60 projects, set to yield 18,000 green homes, in the pipeline.

The BCA has so far dished out $2.6 million in cash incentives to developers of 17 projects to encourage the adoption of green standards.

To recognise developers’ efforts, 42 projects which achieved high Green Mark standards received awards from National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan at the BCA’s annual awards last night.

There are six platinum winners this year, including City Developments’ residential project The Solitaire at Balmoral Park, and Lend Lease Retail’s eight-storey mall above Somerset MRT station, 313@Somerset.

Source : Straits Times  - 23 May 2008

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Singapore’s first heart-valve factory opens

Singapore’s first heart-valve factory opens
 
By Shobana Kesava 
BIG BUSINESS: Edwards Lifesciences makes heart valves, designed to replace damaged ones in the human body. — ST PHOTO: AZIZ HUSSIN
 
A GLOBAL leader in the manufacture of artificial heart valves, Edwards Lifesciences (EL), opened a US$20 million (S$27 million) plant in Singapore yesterday, its first full-fledged factory outside the United States.
By the end of next year, the facility is expected to produce up to 30 per cent of the company’s valves, said Mr Randel Woodgrift, EL’s vice-president of manufacturing operations.

The EL facility is the first heart-valve manufacturing plant in Singapore.

The valves are used to replace flaps in the heart connected to important blood vessels that have been damaged by disease.

They are made largely from the sacs that surround cow hearts, and metal wire that is also used in the aerospace industry.

The market for the valves is huge; global sales last year topped US$1 billion.

By the end of this year, the factory plans to expand from the painstaking assembly of heart valves to the manufacture of EL’s latest aids for the heart, said its corporate vice-president of heart valve therapy, Mr Donald Bobo.

The facility will serve as EL’s headquarters for the Asia Pacific, an area which he said has seen a dramatic increase in heart disease.

In some countries, such treatments for the disease ‘don’t even exist yet’, he said.

Covering 10,000 sq m in Changi North, the new facility sits on premises slightly larger than a soccer field and has room to grow.

EL is not entirely new to Singapore.

It began with 10 staff members in 2005 in rented premises at Kaki Bukit, just a tenth the size of its new site.

EL, which has about 5,600 employees globally, has a staff strength of about 300 here. This is expected to reach 500 by 2011.

Research and development may be considered in the Singapore facility in five years.

An Economic Development Board spokesman said EL’s investment is significant to growing the medical technology sector.

Growth in the sector is targeted at $5 billion by 2015. It hit $2.6 billion last year.

 
Source : Straits Times  - 23 May 2008

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4 firms snap up land at Singapore Seletar aerospace hub

4 firms snap up land at Singapore Seletar aerospace hub 
 
PLANS for an aerospace hub at the former Seletar airbase are shaping up well, with land that was available under the first phase of development fully taken up by four companies.
The front runners are Singapore Technologies Aerospace and Jet Aviation, both existing tenants with plans to expand their current facilities at Seletar.

The other two companies are new tenants - engine makers Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney.

The new and extended facilities should be up and running by the end of next year.

With Phase One out of the way, JTC Corporation, which is overseeing the development of the 140ha park surrounding the existing Seletar Airport, has started talking to potential Phase Two customers, its spokesman told The Straits Times.

Part of the plans for the next phase includes a multi-storey commercial building to house aviation companies, such as those in the business of chartering and leasing aircraft as well as aviation insurance.

To promote private-sector participation in industrial development, JTC Corp will invite bids from private developers to build and manage the new building, said the spokesman.

Apart from aerospace companies, there are also plans to set up aviation training schools at the new park.

Neglected for years, Seletar will also have new roads and better infrastructure to support the operations of the companies based there.

When fully completed by 2018, Seletar Aerospace Park will create 10,000 jobs and boost output in the aerospace sector, which hit a record $6.9 billion last year. This figure was a 10.4 per cent increase from a year earlier.

 
Source : Straits Times  - 23 May 2008

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Singapore HDB targets frivolous applicants

Singapore HDB targets frivolous applicants
 
First-timers who reject two offers to buy a flat lose priority status for a year

By Jessica Cheam 

THINK hard before you apply to buy a new Housing Board flat: Lodging frivolous applications will now get you sent to the back of the queue.
New HDB rules unveiled yesterday target flighty first-time buyers who have been hedging their bets by applying for flats when they often have no intention of closing the deal.

The HDB said the move ‘will encourage applicants to consider their options carefully’. It also addresses concerns that the thousands of applications that pour in for HDB projects bear little relation to the actual take-up rate.

Look at Punggol Lodge, launched in October. There were 464 four-roomers on offer, attracting 1,484 applications, but when offers went out, 1,069 ‘buyers’ eventually said no thanks.

And when 60 three-room flats were offered in November’s launch of Segar Meadows in Bukit Panjang, 98 per cent of first-timers - those who applied to purchase a flat for the very first time - who were offered a flat, rejected the chance to buy.

The HDB hears all sorts of excuses. Some applicants said they wanted to also consider flats under other HDB sales or that the unit they really wanted had already been selected. Others indicated that they weren’t cashed up.

The demand for new flats shot up last year after young couples, who were priced out of the resale market, tried for new HDB homes, which are often cheaper.

The rush - and problem with frivolous applicants - prompted National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan to call for a review of the rules last month.

The new rules, which apply immediately, have a ‘two strikes and you’re out’ approach. A first-time buyer who rejects an offer to buy a flat twice or more at any HDB sales exercise, loses his first-timer priorities for a year. That effectively puts him at the back of the queue with the second-timers.

First-timers get two chances in a ballot. If they live near their parents, they get two more, under the Married Child Priority Scheme.

Last August, the HDB also began setting aside 90 per cent of the flats in a sales exercise for first-timers. The rest were earmarked for second-timers.

These are the first-time privileges a person could lose for a year if they get too picky.

But the HDB is also helping genuine first-timers who repeatedly miss out in ballots. If you apply twice and miss chances to buy, you can have another shot on your third try and your name goes into the ballot once more. For your fourth try, you get entered two more times, and so on.

This applies only to build-to-order projects in newer estates like Punggol. The old rules gave first-timers extra chances only on the fifth try, but at all estates.

First-time hopefuls like administrative officer Chen Xiuling, 26, said the new rules would help weed out those with a ‘just apply and see how’ attitude.

But 26-year-old insurance agent Sarah Teo thought the ‘two strikes’ rule was a bit strict: ‘What if both times you were left only with undesirable flats on a low floor, at bad locations?’

Source : Straits Times  - 23 May 2008

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$200 million facelift for Mandarin Gallery - Singapore

$200 million facelift for Mandarin Gallery - Singapore

Revamp will turn mall into high-end shopping and lifestyle destination
By WEE JUN KAI
OVERSEAS Union Enterprise Limited (OUE) yesterday announced plans for a $200 million renovation of the Mandarin Gallery at the Meritus Mandarin Hotel.
 
Mr Thio: ‘The revamp will inject new energy into the local retail landscape.’ 
The revamp will transform Mandarin Gallery into a high-end shopping and lifestyle destination with a sophisticated tenant mix.

Work will begin immediately and is expected to be completed by June 2009.

The total gross floor area will increase by 20 per cent from 176,000 sq ft to 215,000 sq ft. The number of retail shops will double to 120 units.

To provide an unrivalled shopping experience, the expected facelift will include a brand new mall facade in the form of a large-scale glass curtain wall.

Combining Singaporeans’ twin passions for shopping and eating, Mandarin Gallery will also feature an intriguing new food and beverage concept, spanning 15,000 sq ft on Level 4.

To drive shopper traffic to this level, the area will house an exciting mix of Japanese restaurants and a speciality bookstore.

In addition, OUE has engaged the services of AIM Create of the Marui Group for the mall’s interior design.

The design concept will highlight the internal spatial features of Mandarin Gallery to create a refreshing retail environment.

Explaining the reasons for the redevelopment of Mandarin Gallery, executive vice-president Clement Wang said: ‘By replacing some of the hotel function space with higher-yield retail space, the Group will be able to maximise profits. It is also an opportunity to revitalise Mandarin Gallery’s outmoded retail space.

‘By revamping the tenant mix to focus on high-end international brands, we will enhance the image of Mandarin Gallery and Meritus Mandarin Singapore.

‘The redevelopment is in line with OUE’s aims to own and manage prime commercial properties, build a strong recurrent income base, and deliver first-class projects to enhance shareholder value.’

Targeting trendsetters and well-heeled jetsetters from all over the world, Mandarin Gallery’s 152m frontage promises unprecedented street-level prominence.

Among the confirmed list of luxury/high-end fashion labels that have signed on as tenants are Montblanc, Emporio Armani, Marc by Marc Jacobs, D&G, Bread & Butter, Mauboussin, Bell & Ross and FP Journe.

Mandarin Gallery will also be home to Y3, Just Cavalli and Ferre - brands that will be launching in Singapore for the first time.

Mr Thio Gim Hock, chief executive officer and group managing director of OUE, said, ‘We are very excited about the upcoming plan to rejuvenate Mandarin Gallery and bring it to greater heights. We are confident that the revamp will inject new energy into the local retail landscape by offering innovative concepts that will appeal to fashion-savvy shoppers.’

In conjunction with the preview, five paintings created by top Chinese ink artist Mr Wang Zijiang, specially invited here by OUE, were auctioned off yesterday, raising $117,000 for the Business Times Budding Artists Fund, which will pay for training programmes in visual arts for economically disadvantaged but talented children between the ages of five and 12.

OUE also donated one of Mr Wang’s masterpieces, which it purchased for US$100,000, to the Singapore Art Museum.

 
Source : Business Times  - 23 May 2008

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CapitaMall Trust bags Atrium for $839.8m - Singapore

CapitaMall Trust bags Atrium for $839.8m - Singapore

It will strengthen its retail presence by integrating Atrium, Plaza Singapura
By LYNETTE KHOO
(SINGAPORE) CapitaMall Trust (CMT) yesterday emerged the winner to clinch the Atrium@Orchard with a purchase price of $839.8 million or $2,249 per square foot (psf) of net lettable area (NLA) from the Singapore Land Authority.
This has raised the value of its assets to $6.9 billion and prompted the trust manager to revise its local targeted portfolio size from $8 billion to $9 billion by 2010.

This acquisition confirms an earlier BT report which pointed out CMT as one of the two final contenders for the Atrium and estimated the price of the sale to be $2,200-2,300 psf of NLA.

CMT is set to strengthen its retail presence at the premier Orchard shopping belt, given its plans to create more than 100,000 sq ft of prime retail lettable area at the Atrium.

Situated next to one of CMT’s existing properties, Plaza Singapura, Atrium comprises two Grade A office towers of seven and 10 storeys and some ground floor retail space.

CMT said that it plans to integrate Atrium with Plaza Singapura to create a combined 170 m of prime retail frontage along the Orchard Road strip to create duplex flagship stores and over 900,000 sq ft of net lettable space.

By decanting and converting lower yielding spaces at the Atrium and changing the use of gross floor area, the retail net lettable area on levels 1 and 2 of the property is expected to grow from the current 16,092 sq ft to 100,590 sq ft.

Pua Seck Guan, CEO of CMT, said in a briefing yesterday that the retail enhancement works at Atrium is expected to take place within the next three years.

‘With the improved integrated asset plan and the enhanced direct connectivity from the Dhoby Ghaut MRT interchange station to Level 3 of Plaza Singapura, the values of both assets are expected to increase,’ he added.

He noted that the grade A office space at the Atrium is currently under-rented, which provides opportunities for value creation. The current office rentals are locked in at an average $5.87 per square foot per month (psfpm), resulting in an initial property yield of about 2.1 per cent.

Using the recent renewal of an office lease at Atrium at $13 psfpm as a gauge, Mr Pua said that there is room for average office rental to double to $10-12 psfpm by 2010-2011, even after taking into account rental cap conditions in certain anchor tenants’ leases.

Assuming that all the office leases are being renewed at $10 psfpm today, the estimated property yield today will be about 4.5 per cent, Mr Pua said.

The majority of the leases - some 89 per cent of the total committed NLA - will be up for renewal in 2009 and 2010. Only 7.9 per cent of the total committed NLA is due for renewal this year.

The acquisition of the Atrium, brokered by CB Richard Ellis, is expected to be completed by end-August. The total acquisition costs, including other fees and expenses, will work out to $850 million.

CMT will fund it with the issuance of $650 million worth of convertible bonds and the balance from the $395 million proceeds from its medium term notes programme that it has issued.

Moody’s yesterday affirmed CapitaMall’s ‘A2′ rating but changed the outlook to negative, citing the increase in gearing ratio to 45 per cent from 35 per cent and other execution risks related to the redevelopment of Atrium.

But Mr Pua said that he is confident that the gearing ratio will come down soon.

The five-year convertible bonds (CBs) due 2013, which is fully underwritten by Goldman Sachs, has a coupon rate of one per cent, a yield to maturity of 2-3 per cent per annum and a conversion premium of 20-35 per cent over the share price. Even if the CBs are fully converted, the funding provides yield accretion on a stabilised basis, CMT said.

Yesterday, CMT was trading at $3.51, 12 cents lower than Wednesday’s close before its units were halted, pending the announcement.

 
Source : Business Times  - 23 May 2008

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Entrepreneur of the year - the big search is on - Singapore

Entrepreneur of the year - the big search is on - Singapore

By OH BOON PING

(SINGAPORE) The search is on again for Singapore’s Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY), with the launch yesterday of Ernst & Young’s 2008 EOY Awards.
 
A toast to entrepreneurship: (From left) Ernst & Young’s EOY Awards Program leader Simon Yeo; Mr Ong Yew Huat; Dr Robert Yap; Ernst & Young partner Steven Phan; and Mr Tay Liam Wee 
The annual awards, introduced here in 2002 and now in their seventh year, recognise entrepreneurs whose ingenuity and perseverance have created successful, growing ventures.

The overall winner of the awards goes on to represent Singapore at the World EOY Awards.

‘For seven years we have been recognising the outstanding achievements of our local entrepreneurs through the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards,’ Ernst & Young’s Singapore managing partner Ong Yew Huat said at the launch of the awards last night. In showcasing their success, ‘we hope to inspire others who also have what it takes to be exceptional business leaders of the future’.

Ernst & Young said in a statement that the awards aim to foster entrepreneurship and ‘recognise the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement’.

The awards are supported by Economic Development Board, IE Singapore and Spring Singapore.

Since last year, the format has been modified to better address the diversity of entrepreneurial activity in Singapore and the varying profiles of entrepreneurs at different phases of enterprise development.

‘As such, this year we hope to receive more diversified nominations for entrepreneurs from emerging and fast-growing industries such as clean energy, new media, biomedical science and healthcare, to help to boost the growth of these sectors in Singapore,’ said Mr Ong.

Previous award winners include Venture Corporation chairman and chief executive Wong Ngit Liong and Sincere Watch group managing director Tay Liam Wee.

Last year’s winner - YCH Group chief executive Robert Yap, who will represent Singapore at the World EOY Awards at Monte Carlo next week - said that the award has ‘created much visibility and recognition in the industries we serve’.

‘It will spur the entire YCH Group to rise to greater heights and I wish to extend this passion and spirit of enterprise to all like-minded entrepreneurs as we strive in our respective niches,’ he said.

Entrants are assessed on criteria that include entrepreneurial spirit, innovation, personal integrity, financial performance, strategic direction and national/global impact.

Award winners are selected by an independent panel of judges made up of leading figures from the Singapore business community and academia.

Nominations close on June 30 and the winners will be announced at a gala event on Nov 27.

The Singapore Awards were founded and are produced by Ernst & Young.

Credit Suisse and J Robert Scott Executive Search are the major sponsors this year, and The Business Times is the official newspaper.

Source : Business Times  - 23 May 2008

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Slowdown bites chunk off business sales and profits - Singapore

Slowdown bites chunk off business sales and profits - Singapore

BT-UniSIM survey finds companies more gloomy about next 6 months
By OH BOON PING

(SINGAPORE) Business sales and profits here have taken a hit in the first quarter of this year and economic growth looks set to slow in the months ahead, according to the latest BT-UniSIM quarterly survey of business activity.
 
Not surprisingly, a number of companies are now far less optimistic about the next six months, and the report forecasts Q1 GDP growth to be 6.4 per cent this year.

The survey of 120 local and foreign companies found that all indicators for Q1 were down from the year-ago period and three months ago.

In particular, the business prospects net balance - the difference between the percentage of companies that expect better times and those that expect worse - plunged 37 points to negative 17 per cent from Q4 last year. This was also lower than the 58 per cent seen a year ago.

Similarly, the profits net balance dived 37 points quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to minus 12 per cent, while the sales net balance fell 27 points to 8 per cent from three months earlier.

The orders and new business net balance sank 40 points to minus one per cent both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year.

As the sales net balance has been shown to be highly correlated with Singapore’s GDP growth, the report forecast an economic growth of 6.4 per cent last quarter based on the latest numbers.

In an email interview, survey director Chow Kit Boey noted that the overall balances on all indicators were down, and said slower growth in Q2 is expected, ‘even though US leading indicators rose for the second month in April and there is some view that the slowdown in the US economy will taper off by end of the year’.

‘Singapore will probably register another slow growth rate in Q3 given the strong base a year ago, but will pick up in Q4 because of US recovery and a low base in 4Q07. F1 will help to boost the economy in Q3 but not sufficiently to produce a high growth rate as a year ago.’

The BT-UniSIM survey found that local companies generally fared much better than their foreign counterparts, in that the key indicators fell less for them.

Sales net balance of local companies dropped 12 points to 15 per cent, while profit net balance slipped 14 points to negative 2 per cent.

The respective figures for foreign companies were minus 3 per cent, down from 48 per cent, and minus 23 per cent - down from 51 per cent a quarter ago.

In terms of orders and new businesses, foreign companies reported a 67-point plunge to a net balance of minus 16 per cent, while local companies reported a 28-point drop to 4 per cent.

In terms of business prospects in the next six months, local firms were less pessimistic than foreign companies, although the number of optimistic local firms fell from three months earlier.

A net balance of minus 3 per cent of local companies reported positive sentiments - down from 19 per cent in Q4 last year.

The comparative figure for foreign firms is at negative 32 per cent, and this was worse than the 36 per cent seen three months ago.

Small firms bucked the trend with higher sales net balance of 24 per cent - up from negative one a quarter ago, even though profit net balance shed one point to negative 5 per cent.

In contrast, sales net balance among large firms plunged by a sequential 32 points to 7 per cent, while profit net balance lost 41 points to negative 13 per cent.

Among smaller companies, the orders and new businesses net balance surged by a sequential 16 points to 15 per cent, while the equivalent for large firms fell 46 points to negative 2 per cent.

In terms of business prospects, the net balance for small companies lost 8 points to 18 per cent, while larger companies reported a 41 point drop to negative 21 per cent.

A comparison of overall and overseas business prospects, and orders indicated that the business climate here was better than those overseas.

For example, overseas business prospects balance was a negative 21 per cent - lower than minus 17 per cent for overall figure.

Similarly, the orders/ new businesses from overseas posted a net balance of minus 4 per cent - lower than minus one per cent overall figure.

In Q1, the construction sector displaced the financial and business services sector as the star performer. It has retained its top position in having the best business prospects for the 9th straight quarter.

Source : Business Times  - 23 May 2008

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New initiatives launched to promote Singapore green building movement

New initiatives launched to promote Singapore green building movement

By Wong Siew Ying,

SINGAPORE: The green building movement in Singapore has gained momentum and the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) hopes to spur it further by enhancing its Green Mark Incentive Scheme.

At the BCA awards ceremony on Thursday, City Developments was named Singapore’s first Green Mark Champion.

This new award is given to developers and building owners who have at least ten projects that have attained the BCA Green Mark Gold and Platinum standards.

However, BCA was unable to find a winner for the ultimate prize – the Green Mark Champion Platinum Award, which requires developers to have at least 50 eco-friendly projects to qualify.

Among the 97 winners at this year’s BCA award ceremony, three CityDev projects secured the Green Mark Platinum prize. They are 9 Tampines Grande, Cliveden at Grange and The Solitaire. They were evaluated based on several criteria, with more weightage placed on energy efficiency.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said: “A key aspect of sustainability in the built environment is how efficiently you use resources, especially energy.

“All indications show high energy prices are here to stay for quite some time, so a focus on energy efficiency will reduce costs and enhance the competitiveness of the building.”

BCA expects more industry players to tap into its S$20 million fund, which has been set aside for the Green Mark Incentive Scheme in 2006. So far, S$2.6 million has been committed to 17 projects.

There are over 100 green buildings in Singapore and BCA said another 200 are waiting to be certified.

With effect from Thursday, it has expanded the scheme to smaller buildings and other stakeholders in the industry, as the minimum gross floor area (GFA) eligibility is reduced from 5,000 square metres to 2,000 square metres.

Dr John Keung, CEO of BCA, said: “If you do your green building design from day one with that objective of energy efficiency in mind, you’ll tend to have a more cost-effective design, so we are extending the incentive scheme to the architects and to the mechanical and electrical engineers to encourage them to take charge from day one.”

Huge savings can be reaped from green developments. For instance, the new mall 313@Somerset is expected to generate S$1.3 million in energy savings a year.

Another new initiative is the Green Mark for Parks Award as the BCA is working with the National Parks Board to promote sustainable practices and features in parks.

The three winners for the new award this year are Fort Canning Park, Chinese Garden and the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve.

BCA also launched the inaugural Design and Engineering Safety Excellence Award on Thursday to commend industry players who have upheld high construction safety standards.

 
Source : Channel NewsAsia  - 23 May 2008

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Singapore HDB revises flat application rules

Singapore HDB revises flat application rules

By Hoe Yeen Nie,

SINGAPORE: The Housing & Development Board (HDB) has revised the application process for its Build-to-Order (BTO) and Balloting Exercise (BE) modes of sale to address recent increases in non-selection of new HDB flats. The changes will take effect from the May 2008 BTO exercise.

Under the revision, first-timer applicants who reject two chances to select a flat will have their first-timer priorities removed for a one-year period in HDB’s sales exercises.

This means that they will be treated like second-timer applicants, and will no longer be able to ballot for the 90% of publicly available flats which HDB safeguards for first-timers. They will also not be eligible for the Married Child Priority Scheme which gives them two additional tries.

Additional chances for repeatedly unsuccessful first-timers - that is those not invited to select a flat - will be limited to only BTO exercises in non-mature estates. No additional chance will be accorded if they participate in the BE or the Quarterly/Half-Yearly Sales Exercise, where the supply of flats is limited.

The additional chances will be accorded to first-timer applicants who had been unsuccessful twice (that is, starting from the third try), instead of the existing practice where additional chances are only given starting from the fifth try.

HDB said the above measures will encourage applicants to consider their options carefully before participating in an HDB sale exercise. The measures will also help to minimize non-selection of HDB flats by applicants who repeatedly participate in sales exercises and thus divert HDB’s time and resources from those with urgent housing needs.

Recent launches of Build-to-Order flats have seen an overwhelming number of applications, especially those in mature estates, leading to speculation that there is a shortage of new flats. But HDB said, on the contrary, the bulk of applicants often do not end up making a purchase.

The recent Coral Spring project, for instance, saw about 30% of flats not taken up even after all applicants had been invited to book a flat.

HDB said in the last four Build-to-Order exercises, about 50 to 70 percent of applicants rejected their chance to book a flat, citing reasons like location and cost. However, HDB said such information was readily available to applicants when the projects were first announced.

It said it had considered other options - such as raising the administration fee and reverting to the old queue system. However, these measures are not necessarily effective deterrents, and in the case of the latter, may in fact lead to an over-supply.

Reactions to the changes were mixed, with most first-timers cheering the increased priority.

“For a first-time buyer, to get a flat is very important. For second-time buyers, maybe they already have a flat… but (for first-time buyers like us), we are just starting to build a family, so we should have more priority,” said a flat applicant.

For those who have rejected the allocated flats, some said the HDB should consider such applicants on a case-by-case basis.

Eric Chong, a first-time flat buyer, said: “There must be a reason why people want to reject, because they might not like a second-floor flat, or other reasons. I must purchase the one that I like most, because it’s a big investment.”

The new rules kick in with HDB’s latest BTO projects - Compassvale Pearl in Sengkang, and Punggol Sapphire. These will add another 1,485 new flats to the market.

Including upcoming projects in Punggol, Sengkang, Woodlands and Bukit Panjang, to be launched in the second half of this year, the total planned supply for 2008 is 8,000 flats. The number is more than the 6,000 in 2007 and 2,400 in 2006. - CNA/ir

Source : Channel NewsAsia  - 23 May 2008

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CapitaMall Trust buys Singapore The Atrium@Orchard for S$840m

CapitaMall Trust buys Singapore The Atrium@Orchard for S$840m

SINGAPORE: CapitaMall Trust (CMT) has bought The Atrium@Orchard office development for about S$840 million.

The Atrium@Orchard is a commercial development comprising two Grade A office towers and some ground floor retail space.

CMT said the purchase from the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) will be funded by a mix of debt and convertible bonds. Predicting a 2.1 percent initial property yield, the Trust plans to issue at least S$650 million worth of bonds.

While some analysts have expressed concern, CMT said current office rent at The Atrium is low by market standards and it has room to more than double.

It expects a 4.5 percent yield to be achievable by 2010 when almost all the leases are due to expire.

CMT plans to integrate the development with the Plaza Singapura shopping mall next door, which it also owns.

Deputy Chairman of CapitaMall Trust Management, Liew Mun Leong, said the proposed merger of the two properties will create one of the largest integrated developments along Orchard Road.

The combined property will have about 170 metres of prime retail frontage and over 900,000 sq ft of net lettable space.

The acquisition will also grow CMT’s asset size by 15 percent to some S$6.9 billion.

With the latest purchase, CMT has revised its local target asset size from S$8 billion to S$9 billion by 2010.

Asked why CapitaCommercial Trust (CCT) was left out in the deal, CMT said it is to avoid a conflict of interest for both sides.

Pua Seck Guan, CEO of CapitaMall Trust, said: “Although The Atrium currently is predominantly an office building, our intention is to convert the office space into retail and create a synergy with Plaza Singapura.

“Since CMT owns 100 percent of PS (Plaza Singapura), it makes sense for CMT to own The Atrium at this moment, until we work out the asset plan to convert the office space into retail. As a result, we don’t think it’s wise to have a joint venture with CCT at this moment because that will create conflict.”
- CNA/so

 
Source : Channel NewsAsia  - 23 May 2008

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Mindy Yong

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