Just one bid for Singapore Tampines condo site

Just one bid for Singapore Tampines condo site

By Joyce Teo, Property Correspondent

THE property slowdown was clear for all to see yesterday when the tender for a condo site overlooking Bedok Reservoir closed with just one bid - and at a price well below expectations.
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) will likely refuse to award the 3.2ha site, given the poor offer, consultants said.

Boon Keng Development bid $84.6 million, or $118 per sq ft (psf), for the 99-year leasehold site but consultants had expected anything from $150 to $230 psf.

Apartments on the site could sell for up to $700 psf, they said.

If Boon Keng does secure the site at the junction of Tampines Avenues 1 and 10, its break-even would be about $480 to $500 psf. It would then be able to sell the apartments for around $600 psf, said Knight Frank’s director of research and consultancy, Mr Nicholas Mak. But he does not expect the URA to sell the land at such a low price.

The increasingly cautious mood among developers explains why the site drew only one bid.

‘If this site was not on the confirmed list, it may not be triggered for tender,’ said Mr Mak.

Confirmed list sites are tendered out at pre-determined dates regardless of whether developers have shown interest.

‘If confirmed list sites were launched for tender in an increasingly uncertain market, they would attract opportunistic bids, such as the one we witnessed today,’ said Mr Mak.

Savills Singapore’s director of business development and marketing, Mr Ku Swee Yong, who had tipped bids of $150 to $180 psf for the site, said: ‘Most developers have ample land, so unless a choice plot is available, they won’t bid.’

Rising building costs are forcing developers to look for cheaper land. In such a climate, the Government has to decide whether to lower reserve prices to ensure a steady supply of mass-market private housing, or maintain the value of plots on the sales list as they form part of the nation’s reserve, said Mr Mak.

He does not expect any residential site on the government sales list to be triggered for tender unless reserve prices are lowered. If not, there could be a sharp drop in the sale of residential land from the Government this year.

Singapore tenders out land on the reserve list if developers indicate interest by committing to a minimum bid acceptable to them.

Source : Straits Times - 13 Aug 2008

Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Silent star of Singapore

Silent star of Singapore

Restored colonial bungalow is the PM’s official residence but none of them has lived there

By Lee Siew Hua

The red-roofed Sri Temasek sits serenely on a knoll on the Istana grounds, overlooking lush gardens. The 1,600 sq m bungalow fell into disrepair for some years and was not used. It has since been restored and will be used for small state functions.

THE Prime Minister has an official residence at the Istana?

Sri Temasek, a just-restored colonial bungalow in the Istana domain, has piqued curiosity since Mr Lee Hsien Loong delivered his National Day message there last Friday.

Built in 1869 for the then-colony secretary, it remains today the official residence of the Singapore prime minister.

But none of the three PMs - Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Mr Goh Chok Tong or Mr Lee Hsien Loong - has made it his home.

Instead, Sri Temasek stars silently at official functions and tells the story of Singapore’s early diplomatic life.

Foreign leaders near and far were hosted on its intimate premises, mainly in the 1960s and 1970s.

Among them was ‘the Father of Malaysia’, the late Tunku Abdul Rahman.

The late Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi dropped in too, as did Jordan’s King Hussein and US Vice-President Spiro Agnew in the Nixon days.

Lord Denis Healey, the defence secretary who announced the 1968 British troop withdrawal from Singapore, was pictured there wielding chopsticks at a small dinner while then-PM Lee Kuan Yew looked on, bemused.

In 1962, Mr Lee hosted a party to thank trade unionists and civil servants for their help with the referendum on Singapore’s merger with Malaysia.

In 1983, the body of the late finance minister Hon Sui Sen lay in state for a couple of days at the stately two-storey building for people to pay their last respects.

The bungalow was built by Major J. F. A. McNair, a civil engineer who also had a hand in the soaring Gothic design of St Andrew’s Cathedral.

Designed in an East-West style, the red-roofed Sri Temasek is 1,600 sq m, and distinguished by arches.

For some years, the national monument fell into disrepair and was not used.

It was mostly restored this March, and will be used for small state functions.

The Straits Times viewed Sri Temasek yesterday with architects from CPG Consultants, the firm restoring it.

Senior architect Maureen Soh highlighted the Western symmetry in its layout.

Eastern elements are present in the Malay eaves. Carved Chinese ‘breeze blocks’ with cut-out designs set into the wrap-around verandas let in lots of fresh air.

The 2m-wide verandas shade people from the brutal tropical sun.

Said Ms Soh, who first saw Sri Temasek in 2004: ‘It was rundown. But I felt more for the building as I worked on it.

‘It is a simple building but has special features such as tiers of arches and columns,’ she added.

Set serenely on a knoll, Sri Temasek overlooks lush gardens, and there are glimpses of the city skyline.

In the 1998 book, The Man And His Ideas, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew is reported saying that his three children were seven, five and two when he became PM in 1959. He and his wife Kwa Geok Choo decided not to move into Sri Temasek.

He said: ‘We did not want them to grow up in such grand surroundings with butlers and orderlies to fuss over their needs.’

The family stayed there only briefly in 1965 - for security reasons, amid the turmoil of Singapore’s separation from Malaysia.

Mr Lee Hsien Loong too decided not to make Sri Temasek his home when he became PM in 2004.

Still, the family would have fond memories of the grounds.

The three children ran around in the evening, ‘while Kuan Yew played golf or practised on the practice tee and the putting green’, Madam Kwa said in a Straits Times interview in 2000.

These unspoken historical and personal reasons may have prompted the choice of Sri Temasek as the setting for this year’s National Day message.

Source : Straits Times - 13 Aug 2008

Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

SC Global to launch Singapore Martin No38

SC Global to launch Singapore Martin No38

By ARTHUR SIM

SC GLOBAL will launch Martin No 38 next month at an average price close to $2,000 per square foot.

Sleek beauty: Artist’s impression of the development, designed by award-winning architect Kerry Hill. It will launch at an average price close to $2,000 psf.
The company said in a statement yesterday that the 91-unit development in Martin Road, near Mohammed Sultan Road and Clarke Quay, will mostly comprise one-plus-one bedroom and two-bedroom apartments ranging from 969-1,130 sq ft. There will be a limited number of larger two-plus-one and three-bedroom apartments, ranging from 1,335-1,485 sq ft.

Knight Frank director (research and consultancy) Nicholas Mak said the pricing appears a little ‘bullish’ but the developer may feel the project’s ‘design’ merits this.

A unit in nearby Robertson Blue sold recently for around $1,800 psf, he said.

And in March, it was reported that about 30 units at Martin Place Residences in Kim Yam Road sold for an average price of of about $1,800 psf after discounts.

SC Global is best known for developing high-end niche projects. And according to its chairman and chief executive officer Simon Cheong: ‘There is always room for the right product. Martin No 38, with the SC Global reputation for quality, will be unique and original. We are confident it will be well received.’

The development is designed by award-winning architect Kerry Hill. It is based on warehouse lofts in New York and London and features high ceilings and seamless interior spaces.

SC Global says: ‘An austere and beguiling industrial aestheticism pervades the details of this development, from the blackened tap fittings to the sheet-metal panels in the bathrooms, with their exposed bolt heads, unplastered interior concrete walls, exposed plywood edges of the cabinetry and acres of unvarnished timber.’

SC Global bought the site in 1999 but deferred development until the area had ‘rejuvenated itself and the context for this housing concept became ripe’.

SC Global projects under construction include The Marq on Paterson Hill and Hilltops at Cairnhill. The group has a landbank of more than 1.1 million sq ft of gross floor area in the Orchard Road and at Sentosa Cove.

Source : Business Times - 13 Aug 2008

Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

Solitary, low bid for Singapore Tampines site

Solitary, low bid for Singapore Tampines site

At $118 psf ppr it is below expectations, but analyst says site is not plum anyway

By KALPANA RASHIWALA

(SINGAPORE) Cautious sentiment, soaring construction costs and a not-so-hot site all combined to yield just one bid at a state tender yesterday for a 99-year leasehold condo site at Tampines Ave 1/Ave 10 facing Bedok Reservoir.

The sole bid of about $118 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) was below general market expectations which ranged from $150 to $230 psf ppr.

The sole bidder at yesterday’s tender was Boon Keng Development, a unit of Midview group, which is involved in the construction and property businesses.

Most property consultants reckon there’s only a slim chance of the site being awarded.

Looking at the $118 psf ppr sole bid at yesterday’s tender, property consultants told BT that no 99- year leasehold condo/ apartment site has been sold at a lower price than this since 1991.

Yesterday’s top bid, which was for a private condominium site, was also below the $137 psf ppr at which the government sold a Design, Build and Sell Scheme site in Simei for development into Housing & Development Board flats in June.

‘This outcome is negative for property market sentiment. It may be even worse for sentiment if the government actually awards the site as that could affect land valuations for other residential sites too,’ Knight Frank director (research and consultancy) Nicholas Mak said.

However, Savills Singapore director (marketing and business development) Ku Swee Yong noted that the Tampines site was not a plum one to begin with.

‘It does not have good attributes in terms of transportation links. Neither is it near major amenities,’ he said.

‘Generally, developers already have good landbanks, so unless a very good site comes along, we’ll not see too much participation,’ Mr Ku said.

‘But if a site with solid transportation connection and amenities comes up, like the Ophir Road white site or the condo plot next to Tanah Merah MRT station, these will be attention grabbers,’ he added.

The tender for the Tanah Merah plot closes on Sept 9 while that for the Ophir Road plot closes in December.

The $118 psf ppr bid for the Tampines plot, plus construction costs of about $320-350 psf of gross floor area, reflects a breakeven cost of about $500-550 psf for a new condo project.

Units in completed condos around the Bedok Reservoir area have been selling at between $550 psf and $680 psf, although the new Waterfront Waves condo which is being built on a choice spot along the reservoir has achieved average prices of about $750 psf for pool-facing units and $800 psf for reservoir-facing units.

The latest plot on Tampines Ave 1/Ave 10 can be built into a condo with about 650 units. It was offered through the confirmed list of the Government Land Sales Programme.

Debating the likelihood of the plot being awarded, a property consultant who declined to be named said: ‘There was just one bid. But I hope the government will award this site if it wants to show foreign investors that Singapore is a competitive place to invest in.’

Knight Frank’s Mr Mak said that the government will gradually lower reserve prices for sites offered through the Government Land Sales Programme, to take into account rising construction costs and weak property market sentiment.

‘It’s walking on a tight rope. The government can’t trim reserve prices too much as that may send a negative signal to the market; besides it also has to protect the nation’s reserves. But on the other hand, if the reserve prices are maintained too high and sites can’t be awarded at state tenders, the government may not be able to ensure a steady state of supply to avoid busts and booms in the property market,’ Mr Mak said.

Source : Business Times - 13 Aug 2008

Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com

iPhone to dock in Singapore on Aug 22

iPhone to dock in Singapore on Aug 22

By WINSTON CHAI

(SINGAPORE) The mystery surrounding the local debut of the iPhone 3G has been partially solved, with Singapore Telecommunications confirming Aug 22 as the official launch date for Apple’s second-generation touch-screen handset.

How do you like them Apples: According to SingTel Singapore CEO Allen Lew, tens of thousands of potential buyers have already registered through its iPhone website since it was launched in June
‘Consumers who have registered with us will be given first priority,’ SingTel Singapore CEO Allen Lew told reporters at the company’s first-quarter results briefing yesterday.

He said that ‘tens of thousands’ of potential buyers have already registered through SingTel’s iPhone website since it was launched in June. Consumers have until this Sunday to submit their pre-orders for Apple’s new phone, which boasts faster Internet speeds through support for 3G cellular networks, along with other enhanced features such as satellite positioning.

‘We can meet the demand,’ Mr Lew said.

In May this year, SingTel became the first local telco to secure the rights to sell the iPhone. Since then, the launch date and pricing details have been shrouded in secrecy and consumers will have to wait a bit longer before all is revealed.

The company said that it will only announce pricing plans for the iPhone in the next few days, but Mr Lew confirmed that the handset will come ’subsidised’. Operators typically give higher subsidies to popular handsets to push down their retail pricing and lure consumers to commit to longer-term subscription plans.

While SingTel is keeping mum for now, industry observers expect the company to take a cue from the plans offered by its Australian unit Optus. Australia was one of only four Asian countries to be chosen by Apple as the iPhone 3G’s launch destinations on July 11.

Optus is offering the baseline 8 GB (gigabyte) model for free when customers sign up for a two-year subscription contract costing A$79 (S$103) a month. A 16 GB version is also available at no cost if users commit to an A$89 monthly fee for 24 months.

When contacted, rivals M1 and StarHub maintained that they expect to bring in the iPhone by the end of this year.

Besides Singapore, the iPhone is also set to be launched in India and the Philippines on Aug 22 through SingTel’s regional affiliates Bharti and Globe as the group negotiates handset deals ‘collectively’, Mr Lew said.

‘Other (SingTel) associates) will be included as well,’ he added.

Source : Business Times - 13 Aug 2008

Singapore Property - Buy, Sell, Rent, Invest

Mindy Yong

(+65)91002985

mindy@mindyyong.com