KNG Realty wins tender for Pioneer Road North industrial site

KNG Realty wins tender for Pioneer Road North industrial site

By Yasmine Yahya

SINGAPORE : The tender for an industrial site at Pioneer Road North has been awarded to private developer KNG Realty.

The company had placed a bid of S$19.4 million for the site, or S$48 per square foot.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority had received eight bids for the site. It was offered for sale in November on a 30-year lease.

The site is intended to be used for clean or light industry, warehousing, public utilities, telecommunications or other public installations. - CNA/ms

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 11 December 2009

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Head of property agent watchdog picked

Head of property agent watchdog picked

MND tipped to announce Chionh Chye Khye’s appointment next year

By UMA SHANKARI

(SINGAPORE) THE Ministry of National Development (MND) has picked someone from within its ranks to head the new government agency that will be set up to regulate property agents in Singapore.

Mr Chionh: Currently executive director (designate) with MND
Sources said that the new agency, which is likely to be a statutory board, will be helmed by Chionh Chye Khye, currently executive director (designate) with MND.

Before joining MND in 2006, Mr Chionh was the chief executive of the Building and Construction Authority. During his four years there, he spearheaded initiatives to raise the quality and productivity of the construction industry, ensure building and infrastructure safety and also foster a regulatory framework.

MND is expected to announce his appointment and provide more details on the new government agency by early next year.

When contacted, MND said that views received from various channels and stakeholders are now being consolidated and studied, and will be considered in refining the new regulatory framework. Key elements are expected to be ready for announcement by early next year.

‘In the meantime, it would not be appropriate for us to comment on speculation,’ the Ministry said.

MND in October shared some details of the new regulatory framework that it is proposing for the real estate industry, which includes the creation of a new government agency to take on enhanced regulatory powers.

The move came as property agents here have come under increasing fire over the last few years for not having the right qualifications and for unethical practices. Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan commented in March this year that the status quo was ‘not tenable’ and that the whole system was ‘not satisfactory’.

Legislative enactment is expected by the second half of next year once the key elements are unveiled.

With the planned changes, agents’ activities will be monitored more closely and rules enforced more keenly. For example, real estate agents will no longer be allowed to be freelancers (agents who are not contracted with any accredited agencies). They will also be prevented from representing more than one agency.

Agents must also pass an industry examination and be accredited by a new accreditation body (to be set up next year) before they can practise.

The new government agency headed by Mr Chionh will be charged with enforcing the rules.

Right now, there are an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 real estate agents in the market with varying degrees of training and professional standards.

Source : Business Times - 11 December 2009

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Office rents may end long slide to basement

Office rents may end long slide to basement

Bottom in sight in 2010, observers say; leasing activity is gathering steam

By KALPANA RASHIWALA

(SINGAPORE) The Singapore office market has seen its prospects improve dramatically since a gloomy start this year.

While office rents are still expected to dip further next year, although at a much slower pace than over the past 15 months, an unexpected flurry of leasing activity recently has led some to predict a bottoming-out of office rents as early as mid-2010.

‘We are currently witnessing a strong recovery in leasing activity. Some tenants are even starting to look at expansion,’ says CB Richard Ellis executive director (office services) Moray Armstrong.

Property consultants are predicting a return to positive office demand to the tune of more than one million sq ft next year on the back of economic growth. But with over 2.7 million sq ft of new space slated for completion in 2010, vacancies will continue to rise and rents dip, albeit at a slower clip than in 2009.

Older buildings suffering a flight of tenants to new projects still face a challenging year ahead. Still, some expect the authorities to keep a close watch on the Republic’s competitiveness in office rents. Mr Armstrong suggests ‘it is not unrealistic to foresee that the government may release a couple of prime office sites in the Marina Bay area in the second half next year’.

It is not unrealistic to foresee that the govt may release a couple of prime office sites in H2 ‘10.

– Mr Armstrong

‘A lot will hinge on how the office market performs in the next three months. The government wants to ensure the supply pipeline is healthy so that businesses feel confident about Singapore’s ability to meet long-term demand for growth from headquarters and corporates.’

Jones Lang LaSalle’s regional director and head of markets Chris Archibold acknowledges ’some talk in the market that office supply may become limited in 2013 and 2014 in the CBD Core’. ‘The Singapore government is likely to continue monitoring the office market and inject supply into the market through the reserve list in anticipation of an upturn to avoid the supply crunch we saw in 2007,’ he added.

CBRE data shows gross average monthly rental value for Grade A office space has slipped 7.95 per cent quarter on quarter to $8.10 per square foot in Q4 this year. This is the smallest q-on-q drop since office rents began falling in Q4 last year. The latest Q4 2009 figure reflects declines of 46 per cent for the whole of 2009 and 57 per cent from the peak of $18.80 psf in Q2/Q3 last year. CBRE is projecting a further contraction of 13.6 per cent next year to reach $7 psf by end-2010.

Colliers International’s average grade A rental data for various CBD micromarkets show q-on-q dips of 1.9 per cent in Raffles Place/New Downtown and one per cent in Bugis/ Beach Road in Q4 2009, with rents unchanged in Shenton Way/Tanjong Pagar, City Hall/Marina Centre and Orchard Road. For the whole of 2009, the falls ranged from 42 to 53 per cent, but Colliers predicts rental declines will moderate to ‘within 5 per cent’ in the first six months of next year from current levels.

DTZ projects a 15-20 per cent drop in average monthly rental value for prime office space in Raffles Place next year, which it says has halved this year to $7.90 psf from $16 psf in Q4 2008.

Mr Armstrong sees rentals stabilising around mid-2010 particularly for better-quality buildings. DTZ’s SE Asia head of occupational and development markets Angela Tan says rents will likely bottom in 2011. ‘If the economy grows more strongly than expected, rents could bottom earlier in end-2010.’

The completion of new projects is creating a two-tier market. Says JLL’s Mr Archibold: ‘Given the pick-up in leasing activity, we expect the bottom in rentals for new prime Grade A office buildings to be as close as H2 2010. However, there’s likely to be longer downward pressure on rentals in existing prime Grade A office buildings as landlords seek to backfill vacancy caused by tenants relocating to new developments.’

Mr Archibold points to a ‘flight to quality’ by occupiers with leases expiring in older buildings to newer, higher-quality buildings, riding on lower rents and the larger contiguous spaces that could enable them to consolidate operations into a single location.

On a brighter note, CBRE’s Mr Armstrong says he has started seeing some of the resurgence in leasing activity being driven by expansion and not just replacement needs. This is laying the foundation for decent positive take-up.

Analysts expect positive demand to continue this quarter following the modest turnaround in Q3. However, with some 570,000 sq ft of negative demand in H1 2009, the year will still end in negative territory. Colliers’ executive director (commercial) Calvin Yeo forecasts positive demand of 1.55 million sq ft in 2010; CBRE predicts positive take-up of about one million sq ft next year and 2 million sq ft in 2011.

Meanwhile, shadow office space - surplus stock put up for subletting - has fallen to about 256,000 sq ft from 583,000 sq ft at its peak in June 2009, says Mr Yeo. ‘We expect shadow space to dissipate by H2 2010 as the economy recovers.’

Colliers estimates islandwide office vacancy rose from 12.2 per cent as at end-Q3 2009 to 12.8 per cent as at end-2009. On a full-year basis, this is a 4 percentage point rise. Mr Yeo expects the figure to inch up 1.1 points to 13.9 per cent by end-2010.

Source : Business Times - 11 December 2009

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Prices offered for Balestier plot too low

Prices offered for Balestier plot too low

A TENDER for a Balestier industrial plot that can be converted into a residential project failed to attract a high enough bid when it closed yesterday.

Marketing agent Credo Real Estate received several bids and expressions of interest from developers, but the prices offered were all below the reserve.

The site’s four owners wanted at least $27 million for the freehold 27,838 sq ft plot at 6 Jalan Ampas, which now houses four three-storey terrace factory units.

A successful bidder will also have to pay a development charge of about $18.7 million to re-zone and develop the site near Shaw Plaza.

The indicative price range after factoring in the development charge works out to $586 to $625 per sq ft (psf) per plot ratio. This puts a developer’s break-even point at $950 to $1,000 psf, Credo said.

Colliers International’s executive director (investment sales), Mr Ho Eng Joo, said the tender response showed that developers were still very keen to buy land, but only at a level they think is reasonable.

‘Developers are cautiously optimistic,’ he added.

A government tender for a landed site in Jurong West attracted a whopping 32 bidders earlier this week. This is because it is a landed plot - which is low in supply and high in demand - and the site is of a size that is affordable, said Mr Ho.

Government land tenders also come with lower reserve prices and typically have fewer conditions than a private land site.

At the height of the 2007 boom, the highest number of offers Credo received for a land tender was 10, said its deputy managing director Tan Hong Boon.

The property firm will negotiate with the interested parties to nail down a price.

Source : Straits Times - 11 December 2009

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FairPrice launches Singapore’s first eco-mart

FairPrice launches Singapore’s first eco-mart

By Tessa Wong

Shoppers at the eco-friendly supermarket in City Square Mall can enjoy a quick checkout if they bring their own shopping bags. The store also has recycling facilities for cans, bottles and cartons.

THE drive to go green has revved up with the opening of Singapore’s first eco-friendly supermarket. But shoppers here seem slow to take part.

Yesterday, NTUC FairPrice, the nation’s largest supermarket chain, officially launched its first green supermarket at the eco-themed City Square Mall, along Kitchener Road.

The store carries a wide range of environmentally friendly products such as cutlery made from corn and stationery made from recycled newspapers. It also offers biodegradable plastic bags.

Customers who bring their own shopping bags can use dedicated checkout lanes. There are also collection points for the recycling of beverage cans, bottles and cartons.

Still, when it comes to changing mindsets, FairPrice has some way to go.

Since the store opened in September, shoppers have been filling the recycling machine with items such as shampoo bottles and cardboard instead.

Customers carrying their own bags are a rare sight. A cashier at a reusable bag lane said that on average, she serves fewer than 10 customers an hour, whereas those manning regular lanes see 50.

And while FairPrice has been enthusiastically pushing a new range of biodegradable household products by local firm Envizyme, response has been tepid.

‘Sales have been very slow because the line is new and because of the price,’ said Envizyme marketing manager Wang Shaowei. Its dishwashing liquid sells for $6.80 a bottle, nearly twice the price of regular brands.

Still, FairPrice is confident that Singaporeans will be won over eventually.

‘We believe Singaporeans are growing more environmentally conscious, and they are very aware of our green efforts,’ said Mr Gerry Lee, FairPrice’s deputy managing director for group business and the chairman of its green committee.

He pointed to the growing success of its Green Rewards scheme, under which customers get 10 cents back whenever they use a reusable bag and spend at least $10. Rebates given out in a month have doubled since 2007, growing from $10,000 to $20,000.

Even though the eco-friendly store cost FairPrice 30 per cent more to build than a regular store, the chain is keen on using this model for future branches.

The store uses 30 per cent less electricity, thanks largely to energy-saving lighting and appliances, which include an organic waste disposal machine.

The chain plans to outfit all its stores with energy-saving features eventually.

As for offering recycling facilities and products like corn bags, ‘we will have to see if such green measures are viable for Singaporeans’, said Mr Lee.

Source : Straits Times - 11 December 2009

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Facebook boosts privacy controls

Facebook boosts privacy controls

Users will have more say over who sees their personal information

Facebook’s previously cumbersome privacy settings confounded users. As a result, only 15 to 20 per cent of users bothered to set them.

NEW YORK: Facebook is changing its privacy settings to give users more control over who sees the information they post on their personal pages.

As of Wednesday, the networking website has taken the rare step of requiring its more than 350million users to review and update their privacy settings.

The new controls are designed to simplify the cumbersome privacy settings that have confounded many people - which is one reason why only 15per cent to 20per cent of Facebook users have specified their privacy settings. Facebook hopes people will now get comfortable with sharing even more information.

Privacy advocates still worry that users will expose too much about themselves, inadvertently or not.

It remains to be seen whether the shift will mean fewer surprises for people who have unintentionally shared party photos with their bosses.

As part of the changes, Facebook users will be able to select a privacy setting for each piece of content, such as photos or updates, that they share on the site - as they share it.

The choices are ‘friends’ only, ‘friends of friends’ or ‘everyone’, which means not just Facebook users, but everyone on the Internet. The exception: Minors will not be able to share their content with everyone. For people under 18, the ‘everyone’ setting will send information to ‘friends of friends’.

There is also an option to customise groups of friends - such as ‘college buddies’ - for certain kinds of updates.

Mr Jules Polonetsky, co-chairman and director of the Future of Privacy Forum think-tank in Washington, praised how this process resembles the way people decide what to share in their day-to-day lives.

He said putting the controls ‘when you need it, right there, is far better than putting it in a ‘privacy’ or ‘help’ location’ on the site’.

Facebook is now asking users to review and alter their settings through a tool that explains the privacy changes. People will be able to keep their old settings or take recommendations.

Some privacy advocates said the overhaul would actually reduce the amount of control Facebook users have over personal data. The lists of friends and pages that they are fans of will now be easily viewable by the public, for instance.

That is troubling because ‘even something as seemingly innocuous as your list of friends can reveal a great deal about you,’ Mr Kevin Bankston, senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, wrote in a blog post.

While it is still possible, he noted, to hide your list of friends from the public, the setting is hard to find - which goes against Facebook’s aim of simplifying the privacy settings.

As promised, Facebook is also getting rid of its geographic networks because many of them have gotten too big.

There were 5.7million people in the London network, for example.

If users were previously part of such a geographic network, this location will now be listed in their profiles under ‘current city’.

Other networks, for schools and workplaces, are staying.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Source : Straits Times - 11 December 2009

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