CDL unit puts in highest bid for Sengkang site

CDL unit puts in highest bid for Sengkang site

By Harsha Jethnani

A UNIT of City Developments (CDL) lodged the highest bid for a Sengkang site in a hotly contested tender that attracted some of the biggest names in property development.

Sunmaster Holdings trumped its nine rival bidders with an offer of $200.5 million, or $365.26 per square foot (psf) of potential gross floor area, for the 182,986 sq ft plot.

This was 185 per cent above the reserve price of $70 million or $128 psf, said Mr Li Hiaw Ho, executive director at CB Richard Ellis Research.

The Sunmaster Holdings bid for the 99-year leasehold residential site at the corner of Sengkang West Avenue and Fernvale Link was followed by Tuas Hi-Tech Park’s offer of $177 million.

Frasers Centrepoint was just $92,000 behind at $176,908,000.

Other bidders included a joint venture between Hoi Hup Realty and Sunway Developments, First Changi Development, Allgreen Properties, CEL Development and Lippo Estates, with the lowest bid at $115.6 million.

‘The healthy number of bids received shows that developers remain confident of the market for mass-market homes,’ said the director of research and advisory at Colliers International, Ms Tay Huey Ying.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak pointed out that although developers ‘are still somewhat hungry for good development sites’, most bids were reasonable.

This is possibly because of the ample supply of government land sales projects coming up in the first half of the year, he said.

The site is estimated to be able to accommodate up to 465 condominium units and has a maximum allowable gross floor area of 50,996 sq m or 548,916 sq ft. It is near the Layar LRT station on Sengkang West Avenue.

Based on breakeven estimates of $650-$700 psf, Mr Li expects selling prices at the new development to range from $750 to $800 psf.

Units at another condominium in the vicinity, the Quartz, had been transacting at prices averaging $745 psf since last October, Ms Tay said.

With five-room and executive resale HDB flats in Sengkang selling for $400,000 to $500,000, Mr Li believes that there should be demand from HDB upgraders whose flats have or will soon turn five years old.

Demand could also come from the nearby Seletar private estate, he said.

The Housing Board will award the tender within the next two weeks.

Source : Business Times - 05 February 2010

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CDL unit puts in highest bid for Sengkang site

CDL unit puts in highest bid for Sengkang site

By Harsha Jethnani

A UNIT of City Developments (CDL) lodged the highest bid for a Sengkang site in a hotly contested tender that attracted some of the biggest names in property development.

Sunmaster Holdings trumped its nine rival bidders with an offer of $200.5 million, or $365.26 per square foot (psf) of potential gross floor area, for the 182,986 sq ft plot.

This was 185 per cent above the reserve price of $70 million or $128 psf, said Mr Li Hiaw Ho, executive director at CB Richard Ellis Research.

The Sunmaster Holdings bid for the 99-year leasehold residential site at the corner of Sengkang West Avenue and Fernvale Link was followed by Tuas Hi-Tech Park’s offer of $177 million.

Frasers Centrepoint was just $92,000 behind at $176,908,000.

Other bidders included a joint venture between Hoi Hup Realty and Sunway Developments, First Changi Development, Allgreen Properties, CEL Development and Lippo Estates, with the lowest bid at $115.6 million.

‘The healthy number of bids received shows that developers remain confident of the market for mass-market homes,’ said the director of research and advisory at Colliers International, Ms Tay Huey Ying.

Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak pointed out that although developers ‘are still somewhat hungry for good development sites’, most bids were reasonable.

This is possibly because of the ample supply of government land sales projects coming up in the first half of the year, he said.

The site is estimated to be able to accommodate up to 465 condominium units and has a maximum allowable gross floor area of 50,996 sq m or 548,916 sq ft. It is near the Layar LRT station on Sengkang West Avenue.

Based on breakeven estimates of $650-$700 psf, Mr Li expects selling prices at the new development to range from $750 to $800 psf.

Units at another condominium in the vicinity, the Quartz, had been transacting at prices averaging $745 psf since last October, Ms Tay said.

With five-room and executive resale HDB flats in Sengkang selling for $400,000 to $500,000, Mr Li believes that there should be demand from HDB upgraders whose flats have or will soon turn five years old.

Demand could also come from the nearby Seletar private estate, he said.

The Housing Board will award the tender within the next two weeks.

Source : Straits Times - 05 February 2010

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JTC to build 7 factories at Seletar

JTC to build 7 factories at Seletar

$30m project will boost aerospace sector and back Rolls-Royce unit

By Karamjit Kaur, Aviation Correspondent

SEVEN new factories, each up to 3,000 sq m in size, will come up at Seletar Aerospace Park next year, near the future Rolls-Royce facility.

The $30 million project by JTC Corp is partly to support the British power systems and engines giant, which will assemble and test engines, as well as make fan blades for large aircraft, at the site.

Getting big boys like Rolls-Royce in is a good way to grow the local aerospace sector as they can play ‘queen bee’, attracting other supporting suppliers and firms to set up shop here, said JTC and the Economic Development Board (EDB) at a joint industry briefing yesterday.

EDB director of transport engineering Sia Kheng Yok said: ‘There are many discussions now on with local and overseas companies about supply opportunities.’

Growing the manufacturing arm of the aerospace industry is a key priority for Singapore, which currently does more work in aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO). This segment accounted for about 90 per cent of the industry’s total output last year, which hit just over $7 billion - about the level seen in 2008.

Despite the business downturn, which took its toll on airlines and other aviation firms last year, Singapore’s aerospace industry has demonstrated its resilience in the face of hardship, said Mr Sia at the briefing, held at the Singapore Airshow.

The future looks good, he said, noting that signs suggest business is picking up.

As an example, he named Singapore Airlines. The carrier announced earlier this week that it had made a profit of $404 million over the three months ended December last year, reversing two previous quarters of losses.

As Singapore continues to work towards expanding its aerospace sector, manpower development and training will be another key focus, Mr Sia said.

The Republic’s various universities, polytechnics and other institutes now churn out about 1,400 aerospace-qualified people a year. In 2003, there were just 200 graduates.

Industry players welcomed plans to boost the sector further.

Mr Nick Sng, the business development manager at JEP Precision Engineering, which does engine-related work, said bringing in more firms would raise competitiveness and lower costs.

Business growth and strong Government support for the sector have already encouraged new players to come in.

Executive director Sam Tan of Soon Lian Holdings, which supplies aluminium alloy products, said: ‘Our main business had always been the marine industry and precision engineering. More recently, however, we moved into the aerospace industry because we saw the potential for growth in this area, especially with the Government pushing for it. We have reaped the rewards from this move.’

Source : Straits Times - 05 February 2010

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HDB to install lift floor displays at 370 blocks

HDB to install lift floor displays at 370 blocks

The electronic panels will tell users which floor a lift is at

By Ang Yiying

THE Housing Board (HDB) will be going back to 200 blocks islandwide which underwent the Lift Upgrading Programme (LUP) and re-doing work on the lifts.

Some of the lifts at these blocks started operating months ago, but after residents complained, lifts in the affected blocks will be ‘re-upgraded’.

At issue: Electronic panels that tell residents which floor a lift is at.

The board had initially decided to do away with the panels at lift landings - except for the lobby - to save costs.

The lift landings were fitted only with displays that showed arrows pointing upwards or downwards that would light up just before a lift arrives.

Another 170 blocks that have not been upgraded yet were to have received similar up/down indicators.

But when residents in the upgraded blocks complained that their new lifts were worse than the old ones because they could not tell how long they would have to wait for them, the HDB changed its mind.

It will now retrofit the lift landings in the affected blocks. The plans for the 170 blocks that have not been upgraded yet have also been changed.

In notices that went up on noticeboards of the affected blocks this week, the HDB said: ‘In response to feedback from residents, HDB will be gradually replacing the up/down indicators with simplified position display panels.’

The electronic panels will display a floor number and an arrow to indicate the lift direction, but will not display other electronic text, like the block number.

The notices did not give a timeline for the replacement works, but said they would be done ‘progressively’ when the new panels become available.

HDB said it initially chose simple up/down indicators because they were cost-effective: They were 65 per cent cheaper to install, 80 per cent cheaper to maintain and have a longer lifespan - seven years compared with four years - than position display panels. This, it said, would help town councils reduce capital and maintenance costs.

Asked about whether retrofitting upgraded lifts with position indicators would be more expensive than fitting them to begin with, HDB would only say that the cost would vary from site to site. It added: ‘However, as the number of blocks affected is not large, and the replacement works straightforward, the cost is estimated to be very much less than 1 per cent of the overall LUP cost for each precinct.’

It said the change would not affect residents’ share of the lift upgrading cost indicated during the polling phase - which varies from block to block, but is capped at $3,000 for Singaporeans.

When asked how much more a retrofitting exercise would cost, lift company Fujitec Singapore’s director of operations Phuah Cheng Kok estimated it would be between $5,000 and $10,000 per lift, but added that this could vary depending on the product.

Fujitec was not involved in putting up lifts at the affected blocks.

Residents of 11 blocks at Bedok North Street 4 and Avenue 4 who had called for better lift indicators welcomed the news, though they added that it was overdue.

The Straits Times reported last October that they had called the block’s LUP hotline and their town council about the issue; the HDB said then that it was looking into enhancement works.

Block 94B resident Florence Yong said she hopes the HDB will now tell them when the work will be done.

The 55-year-old, who is now between jobs, said: ‘Of course, we hope they will give us a timeline when they are going to start, when they are going to finish…otherwise they can take their time to do it.’

Fujitec estimated that it would take a week for a lift to be retrofitted in a 25-storey block if no hacking or other building work is needed.

It added that sourcing the new panels and manpower to carry out the upgrades was the more time-consuming task.

Source : Straits Times - 05 February 2010

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Sengkang condo land parcel sees top bid of S$200.5m

Sengkang condo land parcel sees top bid of S$200.5m

By Millet Enriquez

SINGAPORE: Developers still appear hungry for land that can be used for condominium development.

A tender for a land parcel in Sengkang saw robust bidding, with the top offer coming in at over S$200 million.

Industry experts said it is a sign that appetite among developers to snap good sites is currently on a high.

The site at Sengkang West Avenue and Fernvale Link received bids from 10 developers.

Sunmaster Holdings submitted an offer of S$200.5 million, more than 2.5 times the minimum bid of S$70 million, for the 16,998.8 square metre site.

The price translates to S$365 per square foot (psf) for the land parcel launched by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) on a 99-year lease.

The next highest bid came from Tuas Hi-Tech Park, with a bid of S$177 million. The lowest bid of S$115.6 million was by Lippo Estates.

The HDB said it will evaluate the provisional results and the tender will be awarded in the next two weeks.

Industry observers said the top bid was very bullish. Ngee Ann Polytechnic real estate lecturer Nicholas Mak said the breakeven cost would be about S$730 to S$760 psf.

Colliers said the top bid reflected the optimistic sentiment of developers. In 2009, three other residential sites received bids that were higher than S$200 million. - CNA/vm

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 05 February 2010

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