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The Americans head for Woodgrove Estate, the Indians to Meyer Road and the well-heeled to Nassim Hill

American housewife Lisa McMullen used to be scared silly of her countrymen who lived in Woodgrove Estate in Woodlands, the new American expatriate enclave.

Mrs McMullen, who used to live in Shelford Road in Bukit Timah, recalls: ‘I was told how gossipy everyone was, like wanting to know what you were having for dinner. But when we finally moved here, we found that everyone here leads such busy lives they have no time to gossip.’

Since 1997, the American expat community has flocked to Woodgrove from the longstanding American enclaves of Bukit Timah, Tanglin and Holland Road. This is chiefly because the Singapore American School uprooted from Ulu Pandan to Woodlands Street 41 at around that time. Mrs McMullen’s three daughters all attend it.

Freelance interior designer and Woodgrove resident Cheryl Newman recalls of rentals back then: ‘You couldn’t get anything under $16,000′ - so hot was demand for the neighbourhood among American expat parents.

Woodgrove, to the uninitiated, is a neighbourhood on a slope and comprises some 34 three-storey country mansions along lanes with names such as Ashwood, Beechwood and Cedarwood.

It was completed in 2001 by developer Far East Organization. The houses are between 2,800 and 3,000 sq ft each and there is a great concentration of American families there.

Might Woodgrove Estate be just another name for Wisteria Lane, though, home to the Desperate Housewives of TV fame? After all, the spacious houses with bay windows, lofts and more than four bedrooms each actually mirror homes in wealthy American suburbs, a la the fictional Wisteria Lane.

Mrs Newman, a former president of women’s expat club the Singapore Oilwives Association, and her posse hoot long and loud at this.

Aside from the fact that they are all housewives and love cosying up for ladies-only chats, they’d have you know they are ‘anything but desperate’.

Says Mrs Newman: ‘In downtown condos, everyone tends to keep to themselves outside of the club. Here, if you walk your dogs, you will run into at least half a dozen folks you know.’

And no worries if any of Woodgrove’s denizens run out of eggs - just holler to your neighbour for some. Or get them to pick your children up after school.

Halloween, that most American of festivals, is huge here, with even pet dogs being dressed up as ghouls for fun.

It’s a lifestyle leg-up in many other ways: With more space to play with than downtown, they have their own swimming pools and sprawling Balinese-inspired backyards.

But there’s a price to be paid for such lavish living. Some basic amenities they took for granted when they called Bukit Timah or Orchard Road home, such as wet markets and grocers, are sorely lacking in Woodlands.

‘There isn’t even a Starbucks to be had,’ laments Mrs Janet Andrew, who says the nearby Woodgrove mall and Causeway Point have poor pickings, catering more to heartlanders than cosmopolitans.

‘Even the Cold Storage does not stock food expats are used to,’ she says. So the women of Woodgrove drive to the Farrer Road wet market for ‘good fresh chicken’. For slices of Americana, though, it’s still Tanglin Mall.

Mrs McMullen says: ‘When I was living in Shelford Road, my husband Mike used to ring me up after his workday and ask me to join him for a drink downtown. Now I think of the long drive down in the rush-hour jam and just have to say no to such quiet times we used to enjoy.’

Lucky for them then that they and their neighbours are a tight-knit bunch. They’ve even set up an online neighbourhood bulletin board which has come in handy now that burglaries are on the increase in Woodgrove. The families are extra vigilant after a break-in on April 11, and two other attempted burglaries. They also put up with petty thefts - of bicycles, mostly.

The other downside is Singaporean skateboarders who cause a ruckus with their antics well into the wee hours. The police had to be called in to disperse them.

Despite the spectre of intruders, the going rental rate for a Woodgrove country mansion has now gone up to as much as $25,000 a month, they say. This is by far the largest threat looming over this lush suburbia.

The women point out that their husbands’ companies are not likely to tolerate such a spike in rentals. So, if push comes to shove rent-wise, they may just move out.

Says Mrs Andrew: ‘Our husbands and their colleagues are telling us that Shanghai is the next Singapore, and rents there are lower than those here, so you may soon see more American companies relocating their overseas staff to China.’

Still, the estate’s sorority sister vibe should have most American families staying put in the neighbourhood for quite a while to come.

As Mrs Newman puts it: ‘We’ve eaten together at hawker centres here at 3am in our ballgowns and high heels. It’s the stuff that long friendships are built on.’

‘Sometimes people will act like I’m not there, or they think I don’t speak English. But these are only some Singaporeans, so I don’t let that affect me’ Lena Garcia, 30, a maid from the Philippines who has been here on a work permit for the past three years

Source : Sunday Times - 6 May 2007

They add designer fittings, spas and extras - but some analysts say this creates a cycle of price rises

As prices of luxury property continue their seemingly unstoppable climb, the heat is on developers to give buyers more bang for their buck. And they are rising to the challenge by offering more “”exclusive” projects with fewer, bigger units full of fancy trimmings.

Some 39 luxury projects with a total of more than 3,600 units could be launched this year, says Colliers International. And about two-thirds of these developments will have 100 units or less.

The number of units per project is shrinking as apartments get bigger, market watchers say. For example, penthouse sizes have grown by 20-100 per cent since the 1990s, according to Colliers’ director of research and consultancy Tay Huey Ying.

“”In the 1990s, penthouses were usually about 3,500-5,000 square feet,” she says. “”Today we are looking at more and more penthouses in the range of 7,000 sq ft and above.”

Developers are also throwing in goodies such as European designer fittings, spas in all apartments and a separate pool for each unit to sweeten the pot.

“”As prices go up, people expect more,” Koh Brothers chief executive Francis Koh told BT.

“”If you buy a new unit instead of a resale unit, it has to be value-added. So we need to innovate.”

Luxury home prices in Singapore are indeed on the way up.

In just the first quarter of 2007, prices of uncompleted projects in the Core Central Region - which includes Districts 9, 10, 11, Marina Bay and Sentosa - rose 7.3 per cent.

And for the whole of 2006, prices of uncompleted projects in these prime areas rose 25.4 per cent. With prices expected to keep climbing for the rest of the year, developers are getting creative, making sure their offerings have the works.

The Marq

SC Global Developments has a few firsts in mind. Its Marq On Paterson Hill will feature one tower with a 15-metre private lap pool in every apartment on every floor. The Marq is expected to be launched this year at upwards of $2,800 per square foot.

And another SC Global project, Hilltops, promises a resort-style steam spa in every apartment. Hilltops is expected to be launched this year at $2,500 to $3,000 psf.

Similarly, Koh Brother’s 53-unit The Lumos, in the Leonie Hill area, will have a sky garden on every floor. Every unit will open on to a landscaped plot of green living space, which Koh Brothers says will provide residents with “”a refreshing sanctuary and an access to nature that is unrivalled among high-rise developments”.

Besides exclusives like these, developers are splashing out to install the latest designer fittings in their apartments.

At The Lumos, each unit will come with an Italian-made Visentin Rainbow Shower, so you can change the backlight colours to suit your mood while showering. The master bathroom in each unit will be walled with Strass Swarovski Crystal tiles.

And in what the company says is another first, the exterior-facing bathroom windows are made of Liquid Crystal Glass, so you can turn from frosted to clear at the flick of a switch.

With features such as these, says Colliers’ Ms Tay, developers are trying to create a lifestyle that sells their apartments.

But some analysts say all the extras are adding to the cost - which again leads to increased prices.

“”It’s a cycle,” said an analyst with a foreign brokerage here. “”People pay more, so the developers spend more money to justify the price. And this again drives prices up.”

But with luxury home prices still continuing to climb, the trend can be expected to continue this year, the analyst said.

Source : Business Times - 5 May 2007

Professional body urges reviews to aid conservation

EN bloc sales of old residential developments may take a new twist if the Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA) has its way.

Related article: Click here for the full text of SM Goh’s speech

Highlighting developments like Futura and Beverly Mai, which were sold through collective sales last year, SIA president Tai Lee Siang said: ‘We need to urgently debate whether these buildings form the architectural heritage of our city.’

Acknowledging that there were ‘inherent difficulties’, tied to the commercial value of the land, Mr Tai nevertheless said that there could be buildings that were less than 30 years old that had the same value as national monuments or conserved shop houses.

Highlighting another development that could potentially be put on the block - the Golden Mile Complex - Mr Tai explained that its design, ‘pioneered mixed development thinking’ and ‘pointed to the future of urban renewal that was relevant at that time’.

He said: ‘Given that buildings that fit such criteria of review are few and far between, it is worthy to consider national level solutions to prevent such buildings from being demolished.’

The SIA president did point out, however, that it is not currently in discussions with the relevant authorities on this matter.

Mr Tai was speaking at the press conference held for the SIA 46th annual dinner celebration last night, which saw the professional association confer its highest honour on a non-architect - the Honorary Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Architects - on Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Goh said: ‘Given increasing demand on land use, we must find new and innovative ways to maximise our limited space.’

He also said: ‘The government will be bold and creative in working with partners in the private sector like architects, building owners and developers.’

He said: ‘Overall, I would say that we are on the right track to become a truly global city, yet one which is distinct from others because it is a tropical city where the East truly blends with the West in harmony.’

The occasion of the SIA annual dinner was also an opportunity for Mr Tai, who is serving his first term as president, to present the institute’s manifesto for 2007.

Mr Tai said that the manifesto was not about making policy changes but ‘changing mindsets’.

Mr Tai said that architects need to take a more active role in designing the city. He said: ‘For too long, economics and rules have been blamed for stifling creativity . . . Our designs must now seek new solutions, new materials and new ways of design to ensure that our city is not one of boredom but one bustling with energy of creativity.’

Source : Business Times - 5 May 2007

… deserves a better name? CapitaLand’s latest retail project may not be called Orchard Turn after all. SHAAN SETH asks industry players how vital a mall’s name is

Parents are not the only ones who take pains to come up with names for their kids. Retail developers are also bent on giving their babies catchy, meaningful monikers.

All eyes are now on CapitaLand’s upcoming retail project atop the Orchard MRT station.

Commonly dubbed Orchard Turn because of its address, 2 Orchard Turn, the landmark mall is part of a $2-billion retail and residential joint venture between Singapore’s biggest developer and Hong Kong’s Sun Hung Kai Properties.

But responding to queries from Life!, a CapitaLand spokesman says: ‘The brand name of our retail mall, Orchard Turn Retail Mall, has yet to be confirmed.’

Ms Soon Su Lin, chief executive of the joint venture company Orchard Turn Developments, says the name is likely to be announced in July.

‘We are exploring possible names… The name that we select will be unique and will give our mall a personality and branding that our target shoppers can identify and engage with,’ she says.

Orchard Turn Developments is currently working with a brand consultant, she adds.

The first new building to emerge in Orchard Road in a decade, the 218m-tall, 56-storey luxury project will also be the tallest along the shopping stretch.

The mall will take up eight floors - four basement levels and the four floors above ground - while 175 luxurious apartments will occupy the other 48 floors.

Called Orchard Residences, the first phase of 98 apartments were snapped up at a record average price of $3,213 per sq ft in March.

The retail mall will have more than 450 stores spread over 1 million sq ft of retail space. VivoCity, Singapore’s largest mall, has about 1.1 million sq ft of retail space.

The mall is set to be completed by the end of next year while the apartments will be ready at the end of 2009.

Property insiders Life! spoke to are not surprised that Orchard Turn’s name is still up in the air.

‘The name was too generic to begin with. I expect a name which will better reflect the mall’s unique positioning,’ says Ms Claire Cher, senior marketing and communications manager of UOL Group, which owns malls such as Velocity @ Novena Square and United Square.

Mr John Ting, former president of the Singapore Institute of Architects, agrees.

‘Orchard Turn could be anything. It could be a hotel, a mall. It doesn’t conjure up an image in people’s minds.’

He declines to suggest a name, but says: ‘It should have something to do with Orchard because this name is well-known and has value.

‘Everyone wants to be associated with Orchard. Even buildings a mile away state that they are within 10 minutes of Orchard Road.’

A mall’s name ‘makes a statement about what the mall stands for’, says Dr Seshan Ramaswami, practice associate professor of marketing at Singapore Management University.

‘It should add to the brand cachet of the mall rather than just describe its owners or location,’ he adds.

‘For instance, a plaza seems to denote a low-end atmosphere while the ‘city’ in Ngee Ann City or VivoCity brings to mind vastness.’

CapitaLand’s mixed project also makes it unique because there is a need for separate names for two projects under one roof.

Mr Danny Yeo, executive director of property consultancy Knight Frank, says: ‘In retail, the easier a name is to pronounce and remember, the better. But with residential projects, names tend to be fancy so they sound high class.’

Developers often rope in brand consultants, advertising agencies and focus groups to help christen their projects.

The process can cost anything from $3,000 to more than $30,000 and can take up to several months.

Take UOL Group, which paid home-grown branding consultants Bonsey Group and an advertising agency more than $50,000 when developing the name of Velocity @ Novena Square.

‘Advertising agencies are in the creative industry and bring a fresh perspective to the table,’ says Ms Cher.

Industry players tell Life! good names share three traits: They stand out, are easy to pronounce and stick in the mind.

Mr Ting cites The Centrepoint as a good example: ‘The Centrepoint is easy to remember and makes you think that it’s the centre of activity.’

Mrs Jannie Tay, managing director of luxury watch retailer The Hour Glass and president of the Singapore Retailers Association, agrees: ‘It made the mall sound more important simply by adding one word.’

Formerly known as Centrepoint, the mall owned by Frasers Centrepoint Malls was renamed last December.

Ms Cher says a good name should also convey a mall’s selling points, such as brand positioning or a unique experience - what the mall can offer.

One mall that passed this test is Paragon.

Dr Ramaswami says: ‘It is a nice name that captures the high-end nature of the mall.’

Others have problems with Ngee Ann City.

‘The fact that most people refer to the building as Taka, short for department store Takashimaya in the mall, suggests that the name was never effective,’ says Mr Spencer Ball, design director of British branding consultancy Fitch.

Then there are those that draw mixed reviews.

Mr Ting says of Palais Renaissance, home to designer labels like DKNY and Valentino: ‘Unless you know French, the name won’t make sense. You wouldn’t associate it with Singapore.’

But Mrs Tay feels the name suits its high-end image. ‘Palais Renaissance caters to a small niche market so its name is well-suited,’ she says.

At the end of the day, however, the success of a mall boils down to its location, design and mix of stores, says Dr Ramaswami.

But he notes that the name is ‘part of the package and can make a mall more attractive at practically no additional cost’.

Mr Yeo of Knight Frank believes an Orchard Turn by any other name would smell just as sweet.

‘I think people will head to the mall no matter what it’s called because it’s in a prime location,’ he says.

Source : Straits Times - 4 May 2007

Listed construction and property group group Chip Eng Seng said yesterday that its freehold Ventuno Balmoral is fully sold and it plans to launch three more condominium projects in the next few months.

The 35-unit Ventuno Balmoral, in Balmoral Road, was launched in March this year and sold at an average of $1,300 per sq ft. Chip Eng Seng now plans to launch one project each in Peck Hay and Grange roads and the West Coast. All three sites, secured through collective sales, are being jointly developed with other parties. The Peck Hay and Grange road projects will be luxury condominiums.

At Peck Hay Road, Chip Eng Seng and partner Lehman Brothers Real Estate II plan to build 70 units on what is now Venus Mansion. At Grange Road, Chip Eng Seng’s partner is the Citadel Equity Fund, part of the Chicago-based Citadel Investment group. The partners paid $180 million or $1,207 per square foot of potential gross floor area for Grange Tower, which is being redeveloped into a 68-unit luxury development.

The third proposed development is a 668-unit freehold condominium at West Coast Walk/Road, on the site of the present Westpeak Condominium. Chip Eng Seng is teaming up with a Lehman Brothers unit for this project.

Chip Eng Seng said yesterday that Ventuno Balmoral and the three future projects should contribute positively for the current financial year ending Dec 31, 2007.

Source : Business Times - 03 May 2007