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CAPITALAND and Lippo begin previewing their 45-storey The Metropolitan Condominium next to Redhill MRT Station this weekend. Sources say the price has yet to be finalised but is expected to average between $750 per square foot and $800 psf.

The developers are building the 99-year leasehold project on a site that they clinched at a state tender which closed in November last year. Their nearly $180 million top bid worked out to $350 psf of potential gross floor area. Analysts estimate The Metropolitan Condo’s break-even cost at about $550-580 psf.

The development will comprise two blocks which will be linked at at the sky gardens level. Units on upper levels are expected to boast scenic views of the Tanglin/Jervois Good Class Bungalow area.

The project will comprise 382 units in total. The bulk of the units are two- or three-bedroom apartments.

Property industry observers are keenly watching the final price CapitaLand and Lippo decide on for the latest indication on the health of the 99-year leasehold suburban condominium market.

UOL and United Industrial Corporation are currently said to be achieving an average price of $850 psf for their 35-storey The Regency at Tiong Bahru freehold condominium at the former Bo Bo Tan Gardens site near Tiong Bahru MRT Station (one station away from Redhill MRT).

Source : Business Times - 3 Nov 2006

SC GLOBAL Developments has started reaping profits on 13 apartments it acquired in April this year at The Tomlinson from Wing Tai and AIG.

SC Global recently sold an 11th floor unit for about $5.4 million or $2,267 per sq ft - the highest price achieved so far in the 29-unit, completed freehold development in Cuscaden Road. The company’s average acquisition cost for the 13 units was about $1,500 psf or a total of about $55 million.

Tomlinson

Mainboard-listed SC Global has also sold a second-floor unit in the 20-storey freehold development for $1,710 psf (or $4.05 million) and rented out a five-bedroom, mid-floor unit for $28,000 a month.

SC Global chairman and CEO Simon Cheong is looking at an an average price of about $2,100 psf for the remaining units.

‘We expect a good take-up rate as there are no new completed developments in the immediate area,’ he said. ‘And with properties in the vicinity which have been sold through en bloc sales being demolished by next year, we’ll see an acute shortage of high-end apartments in the Orchard Road location.’

Mr Cheong declined to say how much he has spent sprucing up The Tomlinson apartments it bought.

The project was developed by Wing Tai and AIG and designed by Pei Cobb Freed, the renowned architectural firm founded by I M Pei. The interiors were done by Hirsch Bedner Associates.

Source :  Business Times - 2 Nov 2006

CB Richard Ellis, Jones Lang LaSalle appointed joint marketing agents

LIPPO Centre at 78 Shenton Way is back on the market, with CB Richard Ellis and Jones Lang LaSalle having been appointed joint marketing agents for the leasehold office building.

Market watchers say the asking price is probably around $350 million or about $1,166 psf of existing net lettable area (NLA).

Jones Lang LaSalle and CB Richard Ellis confirmed their appointment when contacted by BT yesterday, and said expressions of interest for the property close later this month. They declined to comment further.

The latest development follows the lapse of a preliminary arrangement by Lippo Group to sell the 34-storey property to a Macquarie-linked fund several weeks ago. At the time, Macquarie was reportedly to buy the property for about $290 million, subject to terms being agreed on within a stipulated timeframe. However, the deal could not be sewn up in time and the arrangement lapsed.

Lippo is said to have received offers as high as $330 million from other parties. But analysts reckon Lippo could now be targeting $350 million or $1,166 psf of NLA - after the $1,165 psf SIA Building in Robinson Road fetched in June.

SIA Building is on a site with a remaining lease of 87 years, while the lease on the Lippo Centre site has about 76 years to run.

‘While SIA Building is in a superior location and is on a site with a longer remaining lease, Lippo Centre does offer more upside as it has unutilised plot ratio which would allow an additional 50,000 sq ft gross floor area to be built,’ a market watcher said.

This could translate to roughly 40,000 sq ft of NLA of offices - or a 10 per cent-plus addition to the building’s existing NLA of about 300,000 sq ft.

A $350 million price tag reflects a low-3 per cent net yield, but investors could be looking at significant upside given tightening office supply.

The building’s current occupancy rate is in the low-90s, so there is room for increase in rental income as the remaining space is let, leases are renewed and new leases are signed at higher rental rates. Also, the additional space that can be developed will boost future income, analysts say.

Lippo stands to book a handsome profit from selling the building, which it bought for $151 million or about $505 psf of NLA from MCL Land in August 2004.

Lippo Centre is owned by Ferrell Realty, which in turn is fully owned by a property fund in which Lippo is a major investor.

The building comprises a three-storey podium with a basement level, housing a spa, retail facilities and 323 carpark lots, and a 31 storey office tower. Typical floors have about 9,500 sq ft of office space.

Source : Business Times - 2 Nov 2006

After months of talk about tenders, financing and architectural plans, the builders yesterday got down to work on the huge residential and retail project atop Orchard MRT station.

A ground-breaking ceremony at the site with joint developers CapitaLand and Hong Kong’s Sun Hung Kai Properties started the $2 billion project.

The 218m-tall project will have 56 storeys, making it the tallest on the shopping stretch. There will be more than 450 shops spread over eight levels of space, including four underground.

The mall will open in about two years while the 177 ’super luxury apartments’ will be launched for sale in the first quarter of next year and completed by late 2009.

Source : Straits Times - 1 Nov 2006

Developers eye record residential prices, rentals

WORK started yesterday on Orchard Road’s newest and tallest building - the $2 billion Orchard Turn development above Orchard MRT station.

The 56-storey residential and retail project - the first in about a decade on Singapore’s prime shopping street - will tower over its neighbours at 218 m.

Orchard Turn

It will have one million sq ft of retail space to be completed by end-2008, and 177 luxury homes scheduled for completion at end-2009, the development partners said yesterday.

Orchard Turn is a joint venture (JV) between CapitaLand, Singapore’s biggest developer, and Hong Kong’s Sun Hung Kai Properties.

The chief executive of JV company Orchard Turn Developments, Soon Su Lin, said the ’super-luxury’ apartments will be launched in the first quarter of next year.

And she hopes they will smash records. ‘We hope to set benchmark prices, just like we’re setting benchmarks with both our architecture and our design,’ she said.

The current record price for a luxury apartment in Singapore is $3,000 per sq ft for a unit in City Developments’ St Regis Residences.

Ms Soon did not say at what price the Orchard Turn apartments will be launched. ‘I think . . . we’ll take the cue from the market,’ she said. ‘At the moment, the residential market is doing very well, especially at the luxury end. Prices are still rising and demand is still very strong, both from locals and foreigners. And at our location, I think we’ll be able to command a good price.’ There will be a range of apartment sizes, including penthouses and ‘garden’ units.

As for the retail component, Ms Soon hopes Orchard Turn’s eight storey mall will attract 100,000 visitors a day. Just as with the residential units, she expects the retail space to command the best prices in the market. ‘Based on our location, we will already be able to get rents that are being paid on the market for prime retail space,’ she said. The average rent in Orchard Road is now $39 per sq ft per month, up 13.2 per cent from last year, according to a recent report from Cushman & Wakefield.

Orchard Turn will have more than 450 shops and restaurants, including top brands not now in Singapore, Ms Soon said.

Also, retailers looking for a chance to do something different will have that opportunity as the building facade itself will be used to display brands, she added.

The JV partners paid $1.38 billion for their plot earlier this year. Building costs will take their all-in spending to about $2 billion, Ms Soon said.

Source : Business Times - 1 Nov 2006