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Two new industrial sites have been put on the confirmed list of the Government Industrial Land Sales programme and buying interest is seen to be high.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry said yesterday that it would put two sites on the confirmed list and four sites on the reserve list of the programme for the first half of 2007.

The two on the confirmed list are at Tampines Street 92/Simei Avenue and Kaki Bukit Road 3. The reserve list sites are at Pioneer Road/Tuas Avenue 11, Sin Ming Lane, Yishun Avenue 6 (Parcel 1), and Commonwealth Drive/Commonwealth Lane.

Meanwhile, the most recent site to be awarded is at Woodlands Industrial Park E5, in December 2006. The 30-year leasehold site was sold for $5.12 million or $304.33 psm per plot ratio.

Savills Singapore director of Industrial Services, Dominic Peters, believes that the two new sites on the confirmed list will attract even higher bids.

He said that the sites were well-located and could fetch 10-15 per cent more than what was paid for the recent Woodlands site. ‘There is not much supply for new space in the East, and this site (Tampines) would suit supporting industries to the Changi Business Park.’

On the Kaki Bukit site, he said that the low plot ratio of 0.6 would be attractive to developers who wanted to build a single storey workshop space for servicing cars. Rents for such space could increase by 10 per cent, he added.

Source : Business Times - 31 Jan 2007

CITY Developments (CityDev) and Suntec Reit have settled their dispute over an aborted $788 million property deal.

In 2005, CityDev rejected Suntec Reit’s move to terminate the deal under which Suntec Reit was to have bought 11 properties from CityDev for $788 million.

Suntec Reit called off the deal on grounds that it could not obtain regulatory approvals in time to convene an extraordinary general meeting of unit-holders.

Yesterday, Suntec Reit trustee HSBC Institutional Trust Services (HSBCIT), Suntec Reit manager ARA Trust Management and CityDev and its subsidiaries entered into a settlement agreement under which HSBCIT will get a refund of $5 million, being the total of various deposits it made. CityDev will be paid all the interest earned on each deposit.

The payments are expected to be made to HSBCIT and CityDev by tomorrow.

The parties said that the terms of the settlement agreement constitute full and final settlement of the matter without admission of any liability by the parties.

Source : Business Times - 31 Jan 2007

The Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of a couple who had argued that a bank should compensate them for losses they suffered in a forced property sale. They had said its actions prevented them from obtaining funds to stave off the sale.

The High Court, in earlier dismissing the couple’s case, applied a legal principle that if someone suffered losses due to his own lack of funds, the wrongdoer, in this case the bank, cannot be held responsible.

But on appeal by the couple, Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, delivering the decision of the three-judge appellate court yesterday, said that this legal principle, which has been abandoned in courts elsewhere, ‘has no place in modern jurisprudence’ and should no longer be used here.

The saga began in 2001, when the couple - businessman Ho Soo Fong and his wife Lim Siew Kim - and Mr Ho’s brother, went to Standard Chartered Bank to refinance two bungalows and a shophouse.

Stanchart granted them loan facilities and lodged caveats against the properties to prevent their sale. However, the trio later cancelled the facilities and asked for the caveats to be withdrawn but the bank refused, as cancellation fees were outstanding.

By then, a fourth property, a shophouse, had been force-sold by another bank, the Bank of East Asia.

The trio went to the High Court, which found that Stanchart was wrong in refusing to withdraw the caveats and ruled that the trio were entitled to damages.

But one of the claims - for losses suffered from the forced sale - was rejected by the assistant registrar who assessed the damages. The couple then appealed to the High Court, which dismissed their case.

With their now-successful appeal to Singapore’s highest court, the couple are seeking more than $1.3 million for the forced sale, said their lawyer Christopher Chong of Legal Solutions.

Source : Straits Times - 31 Jan 2007

The sale of all 273 units at Sky@eleven has netted an estimated revenue of more than $650 million for Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), the company said yesterday.

Sky@eleven, a freehold condominium off Thomson Road, was sold out within 30 hours of its Sunday evening staff preview.

The development offers only large four-bedroom units starting from 1,851 sq ft.

‘Based on the average transacted price of $975 per sq ft for the units, total revenue is estimated to exceed $650 million,’ SPH said in a statement yesterday.

Some SPH directors and their associates have been issued options for the purchase of units in Sky@elevenand announcements will be made when these options are exercised, the company said.

It said the construction costs of the project cannot be accurately stated until the tender process is finalised, probably by the end of next month.

The value of the site is entered in SPH’s balance sheet as $11 million but the land was valued at $280 million by Knight Frank on Nov 17.

SPH said the financial impact on the firm cannot be ascertained yet as several factors have to be taken into account, including construction costs and the project’s actual completion date.

But its directors expect the development of the land to yield higher profits than an outright sale of the plot, given the upbeat sentiment in the property market.

A Kim Eng Research report yesterday said SPH is expected to yield a development profit of $372 million, or 23 cents a share, based on the average selling price of Sky@eleven.

Yesterday, SPH shares closed unchanged at $4.70, on 5.39 million shares traded.

Source : Straits Times - 31 Jan 2007

Singapore state-owned industrial landlord JTC Corp said on Wednesday it appointed UBS, Goldman Sachs and DBS as advisers for the launch of an industrial property trust and the sale of other property.

‘As the portfolio is significant, it is envisaged that the exercise will take at least 18 months to complete,’ a JTC spokesman told Reuters on Wednesday.

She declined comment on local newspaper reports that said JTC would divest up to $2 billion (US$1.3 billion) worth of assets, including factories and buildings, by pooling them into a Singapore-listed real estate investment trust or Reit.

A property industry source said assets earmarked for divestment by the government industrial landlord could be worth up to $3 billion.

JTC said in October that it would sell an estimated 1.7 million square metres of its industrial property assets.

The industrial landlord is expected to launch its property trust this year, putting it in competition with a planned Singapore-listed industrial Reit by Australian real estate manager MacathurCook Ltd.

Singapore’s Reit market, Asia’s third largest after Australia and Japan, contains 15 listed property trusts with a combined market value of around US$10.6 billion. JTC, which is also considering divestment options for subsidiaries Jurong International Holdings and Ascendas, said the divestment was part of its planned exit from the development of ready-built industrial facilities, an area that already sees active private sector participation. — REUTERS

Source : Business Times - 31 Jan 2007