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It will start with two projects in Bangkok and is also eyeing opportunities in S’pore.

A new fund has been set up to invest in prime development projects in Asia, including Singapore, targeting US$400 million ($580 million) of prime real estate acquisitions.

The Asia Real Estate Prime Development Fund (AREPDF) has already attracted US$250 million from institutional investors and is expected to reach the target of US$400 million by the first quarter of next year.

It’s the fourth fund launched by the real estate investment house Pacific Star Group, and earlier funds have bought into Temasek Tower, One George Street and The Adelphi.

“We are looking at all possible opportunities, including in Singapore. If the opportunity makes sense and allows us to achieve our targeted returns, then, we will consider it seriously as we have done with Bangkok as our seed investment,” said Mr Glen Chan, president of Pacific Star Investment and Development, who heads the team of fund managers of AREPDF.

The first investment, he said, would be a 49-per-cent equity stake in two residential development projects in Bangkok.

These condominium projects will be developed by Asian Property Development (APD), which is listed on the stock exchange in Thailand and is one of the largest residential property developers in downtown Bangkok.

“This investment is compelling because of the scarcity of prime freehold residential land parcels in the heart of Bangkok and the robust demand for city centre condominiums near train stations,” Mr Chan said.

This fund will invest about US$20 million via joint venture companies, which will develop two condominiums in Bangkok, targeted at upper-middle income local buyers. The two projects, which will develop 1,507 units, will be completed in three years.

“The investment returns from such condominium developments are attractive, considering that the prime location sites are within Bangkok’s central business district,” said Mr Chan, who added that the project has attracted strong interest from potential buyers.

Source : Today - 30 Nov 2007

Six residential sites fetch $31m at first SLA auction.

THE Singapore Land Authority’s (SLA) first auction of six 99-year leasehold residential sites yesterday fetched $30.64 million — another sign that the local property market is still bubbling.

More than 120 individuals — comprising professionals, businessmen and niche developers — as well as several private companies turned up at M Hotel to bid for six infill sites, or pockets of State land located in the midst of prime residential housing estates.

Previous bids for sites were through open tender, but the SLA said yesterday’s auction would “help meet the current market demand for high quality residential properties and allow wider participation by individuals to build their own dream homes”.

Included in the sale were two large parcels — 1,550.5 and 2,712.9 sq m respectively — at Eng Neo Avenue, a 585.7-sq-m plot at Moonbeam Walk off Holland Road, another at Jalan Insaf in Bishan measuring 647.6 sq m, a 392.8-sq-m plot at Bedok Close as well as a 329.5-sq-m tract at Somme Road, off Jalan Besar.

For more than two hours, the hotel meeting room was filled with eager punters eyeing the best deals. The Somme Road site received the most bids — 64 in all — and was eventually went to Sarda Pte Ltd for $3.76 million.

The Eng Neo Avenue sites fetched the highest bids at $6 million and $12.1 million respectively, with both lots earmarked for good class bungalows, going to private investors.

The Bedok Close plot went for $1.3 million to Avadh, while the Jalan Insaf parcel in Bishan fetched $3.54 million from Lye Holdings. The plot at Moonbeam Walk went to Liverland Investments for $3.94 million.

Encouraged by the strong bids, SLA chief executive Mr Lam Joon Khoi said the authority would consider releasing more infill sites to help meet the current market demand for high quality residential properties.

The auction proved that there are still eager buyers looking for opportunities in the landed property market, said Mr Donald Han, managing director of property consultants Cushman and Wakefield.

“There are a lot of new entrants and smaller developers coming into the market and taking the 99-year lease route, which is quite encouraging considering the market has been fairly quiet over the last three months,” he said.

But things have been picking up: Last week, the 30-year-old Westwood Apartments at Orchard Boulevard was sold to Malaysia’s YTL Corporation for $435 million, or $2,525 psf, making it the most expensive site to be sold by collective sale to date.

For one of yesterday’s buyers, securing the 1,550.5-sq-m plot at Eng Neo Avenue for $6 million was anything but extravagant.

“Land prices will be firm because it is limited in supply here,” said a 40-something financer who declined to be named.

“I had no problems buying a 99-year lease because it’s an opportunity. A freehold piece of bungalow would have cost me more than double.

“I’ve seen the plot and it has potential and it’s in District 10. This auction has saved me a lot of money.”

Source : Today - 30 Nov 2007

Board may offer another 6,000 units through build to order scheme.

The Housing and Development Board will continue to monitor demand and could offer another 6,000 units through its build-to-order (BTO) system. However, prices are also likely to go up.

Related link: Click here for the full text of Mr Mah’s speech

Saying that he did not want to ‘fudge the issue’, National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said: ‘Prices will go up as a result of resale prices going up.’ Mr Mah was speaking at the launch of two new housing projects under the BTO system.

The projects, Segar Meadows in Bukit Panjang town and Compassvale Beacon in Sengkang town comprise a total of 1,162 flats.

Three- and four-room flats (68 sq m-93 sq m) at Segar Meadows will cost between $116,000 and $231,000, while two- to four-room (48 sq m to 97 sq m) flats at Compassvale Beacon will cost between $69,000 and $233,000.

Although the precise formula for fixing prices was not revealed, Mr Mah explained that it would be based on average resale prices rather than the ’spectacular prices’ reported for some flats recently.

Mr Mah also let on that he had received a few letters and e-mails from constituents saying that they had not been successful in getting flats through the BTO system.

But he reiterated that the government was committed to providing a variety of affordable public housing to meet the ‘aspirations’ of first-time buyers and young couples.

To this end, he revealed that 4,800 units have been launched through BTO this year, twice the number compared to 2006.

On affordability, Mr Mah said that the majority of households spent a manageable 20-25 per cent of their monthly household income servicing loans for their flats. He also added that since the implementation of the Additional Housing Grant scheme in March 2006, 4,100 eligible households have benefited from grants amounting to about $50 million.

And demand from first time buyers has been strong. According to HDB, about 92 per cent of those who applied for the 4-room flats for the two BTO launches in August and September and were successfully short-listed within the first 100 per cent flat supply were first timers.

Mr Mah also had this advice for those looking to buy a flat now: ‘If you cannot afford a big flat, then buy a smaller flat. If you can’t get a new flat, then get a resale flat. In life, we make trade-offs all the time.’

To meet the needs of the ’sandwiched class’, Mr Mah revealed that HDB will be making more sites for executive condominiums (ECs) and the Design, Build and Sell scheme (DBSS) available in the first half of 2008.

Up to three EC sites with a total of 1,300 units, and four DBSS sites with a total of 1,900 units are set to go on the reserve list of Government Land Sales Programme for H1 2008.

Knight Frank director (research and consultancy) Nicholas Mak said that the supply of more public housing flats could cool resale flat prices but the impact will be felt next year. ‘It could be a signal that the government will release more sites to control runaway prices in the resale market,’ he added.

Managing new supply and demand will be a tricky job for HDB because it does not want to be stuck with a surplus of flats.

A tight hold on supply could, however, push up prices.

But demand seems stable. Mr Mak points out that so far, demand as measured by the number of applications received for new flats between 2000 and 2007 has ranged from 7,900 to 13,800. This pales in comparison to the 60,000 to 70,000 applications received in the mid-1990’s, he said.

Mr Mak also added that he expects the impact on the private property market to be minimal.

Source : Business Times - 29 Nov 2007

The new downtown will boast a casino, a financial hub, condos and retail areas, writes CLARISSA TAN.

TIRED of Orchard Road? Jaded by Clarke Quay? Finding Robertson Walk just a trifle same-old, same-old? For the Singapore consumer - probably among the most avid in the world - Marina Bay may be the next big thing.

The new downtown will be home to a casino, a financial centre and several sparkling condominiums, so not surprisingly, shops and restaurants are eager for a presence there.

‘The Marina Bay area presents many exciting opportunities for both the business and leisure market,’ said Sulian Tan-Wijaya, general manager of The Fullerton Heritage, which is developing a string of commercial properties along the waterfront.

‘Our development is at the heart of the Central Business District, the Marina Bay Sands casino, the Esplanade theatres, new high-end residences like The Sail and The Clift, and the nearby Civic District,’ she said.

Edgar Huang, manager of marketing services for Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay, said the arts-performance centre expects to see ‘even more buzz in the area, with more people coming to work and live and play here’. The theatres, open since 2002 and famous for their domes that have been likened to durians, are also adjacent to a shopping mall.

David Martin, general manager of Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC), which will consist of high-rise office towers as well as retail space, estimates there will be 50,000 people living and working in the ‘immediate vicinity’ of the financial hub from 2011.

Along with the visitors who are sure to flock to the adjacent Sands, ‘we believe this creates a compelling offer to potential retail tenants, and this is also the feedback we are getting from the market’, he said.

Events being held in and around the public areas of Marina Bay will also help draw in the crowds, said the Esplanade’s MrHuang.

‘Marina Bay is also currently host to many celebrations like National Day, the Fireworks Festival and the New Year’s Day celebrations,’ he said.

Upcoming events like the Chingay street parade and the Grand Prix Formula One race, which Singapore will host in September next year, will also attract visitors, he added.

To entice what promises to be a diverse range of consumers, each developer is adopting a slightly different marketing tack.

The Fullerton development, for example, is aiming to be high-end and historical.

‘In addition to the Fullerton Hotel and a new waterfront 100-room luxury hotel, the Fullerton Heritage Precinct will offer a range of chic, trendy and elegant retail and dining experiences,’ said Ms Tan-Wijaya.

‘These include conservation buildings such as The Fullerton Waterboat House, Clifford Pier and Customs House, as well as One Fullerton,’ she said.

One Fullerton will revamp its second floor and offer even more food and beverage outlets, which should attract tourists who visit the nearby Merlion Park, she said.

The Esplanade is pitching itself as a kind of natural retail extension for the arts lover. ‘It’s a lifestyle experience pegged to the arts,’ said Mr Huang.

‘Besides coming here for a show, you can start or end your evening with drinks and food,’ he added. ‘There are many shops closely related to the arts for art lovers, and those unfamiliar with the arts won’t feel out of place either.’

Mr Huang said that business at the Esplanade has been bustling since its inception.

‘It’s been positive here at Esplanade Mall,’ he said. ‘The Esplanade also presents over 70 per cent of our artistic programmes free, which means visitors will always have something to look forward to after a meal or a visit to the shops.’

He said that some of the main attractions of the mall are the food centre Makansutra Gluttons Bay, award-winning restaurant My Humble House and library@esplanade, Singapore’s first performing-arts library.

Not forgetting the small but unusual Tatami Shop - ‘the world’s first tatami furnishings retailer outside Japan’, said Mr Huang.

Suntec City Mall, which welcomed its first customers in 1997, says its retail concept is ‘a little something for everyone’. The shopping centre’s larger tenants include hypermarket Carrefour and fashion retailers Mango, La Senza and Lacoste. It also boasts the gigantic Fountain of Wealth, which attracts visitors from all over the world.

‘Also, Suntec City Mall houses the embarkation point for the many tourists going for the Duck Tours and Hippo tours,’ said Marilyn Tan, investor relations manager at ARA Trust Management (Suntec).

As for the MBFC, Mr Martin said the financial hub aims to be ‘a vibrant and prestigious, yet convenient, shopping and dining precinct for the internationally-minded’.

Retail in the MBFC would address a ‘market gap’ in the central business district for serving the needs of higher-income earners and residents, he said. ‘This group of customers wants much more than what a conventional mixed-use centre offers. MBFC is designed as a place where residents, the office population and visitors can satisfy their everyday needs without leaving the business and financial district.’

Of the development’s 160,000 sq ft of underground retail space, about half will be for shops and the other half for food and beverage, he said. In addition, there will be a restaurant on the 33rd floor of the Tower One office block.

‘MBFC is in talks with a number of leading retail interests to be located within the centre,’ he said. The development will offer dining and entertainment options for ‘a spectrum of tastes’.

Then, of course, there is Marina Bay Sands, which will open in 2009. Its developers, Las Vegas Sands, declined to comment at this stage on the specifics of upcoming shops and restaurants.

Besides the casino, the entire integrated resort, as it is called, will feature three 50-storey hotel towers, linked by a two-acre Sky Garden. Not to mention an Arts and Sciences Museum shaped like a welcoming gesture, and one-million square feet of ‘integrated waterside promenade and shopping arcade’, according to its website.

Clearly, there will be loads of shopping and dining opportunities there. So hang on to your hats, Singapore consumer - if not your purses.

Source : Business Times - 29 Nov 2007

ONE used to hate business, and had to spend all his summer holidays in the family concern as a teenager, when he’d rather be out on the cricket pitch.

A second also helped out in dad’s company as a child - and despite it being the furthest thing on his mind - eventually stayed on to run it.

Another dreamt of being a doctor or engineer, but ended up a property tycoon whose many projects around Singapore carry signboards proclaiming “thanks be to God”.

A fourth, a former Navy regular, built on his engine-room experience to move on to much bigger things.

They are among a diverse half-dozen business leaders here who have just been named the most entrepreneurial by an independent judging panel for Ernst & Young’s annual Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Singapore 2007.

And one of these six winners will be the Entrepreneur of the Year Singapore 2007, representing the republic at the annual World Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in Monte Carlo next year.

The six top local entrepreneurs are: Stephen Riady, executive director of Auric Pacific Group, who won in the Strategic Investment category; Robert Chandran, executive chairman and CEO of Chemoil Energy, for Oil & Gas; and Nash Benjamin, CEO of FJ Benjamin Holdings for Lifestyle.

David Loke, group managing director of Tru-Marine, clinched the Marine Engineering category; Robert Yap, chairman and CEO of YCH group, won in Logistics; and Richard Tay, group managing director of YHI International, won in the Manufacturing category.

They were picked from a total of over 30 nominations received from the public this year.

The results, says Ernst & Young, reflect an alignment of the industries in which the six winners operate and those that are currently propelling the growth of the Singapore economy.

‘Singapore has traditionally been very strong in the manufacturing, retail and logistics sectors, and highly competitive in marine and offshore engineering.

‘The property and investment sectors are also thriving. So it is not surprising that these are the same sectors where our winners are making waves in,’ said Ong Yew Huat, country managing partner for professional services firm Ernst & Young.

‘While nothing is left to chance, a strong economic and infrastructural foundation increases the probability of success. However, the reverse is true as well,’ he added.

‘Entrepreneurship has a positive spiral effect. Successful entrepreneurs, through their cutting-edge innovations, business resourcefulness and global connectedness, not only generate new employment and wealth, but also create multiple spin-off value for the sector, paving the way for other entrepreneurial activities to flourish.’

The doubling in the number of winners to six this year, from three in 2006, ‘also demonstrated the diversity of entrepreneurs in Singapore, given their varying paths to success and business portfolios, while displaying common traits of a risk-taker, innovator, strategist and global business player,’ Ernst & Young said.

Three of this year’s winners - Mr Riady, Dr Yap and Mr Tay - are role models for ’second-generation’ entrepreneurs, responsible for driving their respective businesses to new heights after taking over the helm.

In the same spirit, Mr Benjamin and Mr Loke, who are among the founders of their respective companies, had helped to maximise their company’s potential; while self-made entrepreneur Mr Chandran’s foresight, coupled with a series of strategic investments and acquisitions, fuelled the steady expansion of his business.

Ernst & Young’s Mr Ong said: ‘Having an entrepreneurial leader is key to a business’s success, regardless of its stage of enterprise development.’

‘Our winners lead companies with 10 to 60 years of history, and clearly, even when the companies were doing well, these leaders never stopped innovating, adapting and taking risks to make that quantum leap to achieve leadership in their respective markets.

‘Such is the strong desire to excel that epitomises a true entrepreneur.’

Congratulating the winners, Francois Monnet, head of private banking for South-east Asia and Australasia at Credit Suisse - which together with J Robert Scott Executive Search are major award sponsors - said: ‘These accolades are a valuable recognition of the recipients’ significant achievements in their respective fields and the contributions they have made in building up the diversity of Singapore’s economy.’

The chairman of the judging panel, Cham Tao Soon, who is chancellor and chairman of SIM University, said: ‘The short-listed nominees impressed the panel of judges with their entrepreneurial spirit and often took risks in the face of uncertainty. Many turned their strategic business visions into business realities and had expanded to overseas markets with a high degree of success.

‘The six winners differentiated from the rest by their financial track records and business impact both locally and in the region,’ he added.

Source : Business Times - 29 Nov 2007