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Two sites awarded at Tanglin Village; plans for fine dining, recreation

More buzz will soon be added to Tanglin Village (picture), the rustic bohemian hangout a short drive from the busy Orchard Road area.

Yesterday, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) awarded a total of 11 buildings — consisting of 40,135 sq m over two sites — to local construction company Country City Investment Pte Ltd.

Country City Investment is planning to turn the cluster into a “lifestyle destination area”.

For the Dempsey Hill area, the tenant is planning a mixture of food and beverage (F&B) establishments and recreational outlets, such as a children’s entertainment centre.

Over at the former Civil Service Club at 25 Dempsey Road, a mix of fine dining restaurants will form the sub-tenants.

Mr Nicholas Ng, Country City general manager, told Today the company has been “very selective”, considering factors such as concept and business proposal.

“Ultimately, we hope that with the F&B establishments and fine dining restaurants will be a new lifestyle destination that will attract locals, expatriates and travellers alike,” said Mr Ng.

The two new developments are expected to be operational in the later half of this year.

The tenancies at the two sites are for an initial term of three years and renewable up to 2015.

Since Tanglin Village’s launch last year, the SLA has managed to attract keen interest. For example, the former Civil Service Club received an overwhelming nine bids — ranging from $38,000 to $93,889, on a total site area of about 16,300 sq m.

With the award of the two sites, SLA said it is closer to fulfilling about 60 per cent of the site’s occupancy as an enclave of lifestyle, education and art interests.

In August, it will put up another property for public tender at Minden Road for similar lifestyle uses.

Source : Today - 29 Jun 2007

The government yesterday said that nine sites are on offer under its industrial land sales programme for the second half of this year - three more than the sites it put on the market for the first half of 2007.

The nine sites will together give about 3.74 million square feet of industrial space, up from the 2.79 million sq ft offered in the first half of the year.

However, the increase in the space offered under the industrial land sales programme is not as great as that seen for residential space, market observers said. The number of residential sites on offer through the confirmed list increased from two to eight from the first half of 2007 to the second half.

‘This could indicate that the government may see that the industrial property market is fairly stable with sufficient supply in the short and medium term,’ said Nicholas Mak, Knight Frank’s head of consultancy and research.

As with the first half of the year, just two industrial sites - this time, a 5.1 ha site in Sin Ming Lane and a 2.1 ha site in Jalan Tepong - will be offered under the confirmed list. Both sites are expected to see strong interest.

The Sin Ming Lane plot has the potential to yield a large gross floor area of about 1.37 million sq ft. Potential bidders include car companies and/or workshops because of nearby vehicle inspection centres, said Li Hiaw Ho, executive director for research at CB Richard Ellis (CBRE). ‘The unit price for this plot might be lower as a result of the large land area,’ Mr Li said.

The Jalan Tepong site, on the other hand, is interesting because it has a lease of about 23 years, shorter than the usual tenure of 30 or 60 years. The tenure for the site is only until 2030 to dovetail with future developments in that area. The plot might also fetch a lower price because of the unusual tenure, Mr Li said. ‘Some fresh food companies might bid for the site as food manufacturing is permitted and the site is near to Jurong Port.’

The new reserve list has seven sites, three more than the previous reserve list. The seven sites can yield a total maximum gross floor area of 2.05 million sq ft, less than the 2.40 million sq ft that the four sites on the previous reserve list could yield.

Despite the smaller floor area, the reserve list for the second half seems to be offering a variety of locations, Mr Mak said.

The take-up for factory space was 7.64 million sq ft in 2006 and 1.39 million sq ft in the first quarter of 2007. The market should therefore be able to absorb the gross floor area that can potentially come from the sites on the current reserve list, observers said.

CBRE said average rents for all industrial space increased in the second quarter of 2007, with high-tech space rising the fastest.

Average rents for high-tech space rose 11.9 per cent from $2.10 per square foot (psf) in the first quarter to $2.35 psf in Q2 - the highest quarterly increase in the past five years.

‘The limited supply of office space coupled with rising rents encouraged many qualifying companies to look to high-tech properties to meet their needs,’ CBRE said. ‘Further rent increases for high-tech space during the second half of the year is expected as demand for offices is unlikely to let up while supply of office space will still remain tight.’

Source : Business Times - 28 Jun 2007

Bids of more than $1 billion are expected for a large site on top of Outram Park MRT Station, which was released by the Government yesterday.

The 2.56ha plot, at the junction of Outram Road and Eu Tong Sen Street, is set to attract keen interest from property developers due to its good location and large size, property consultants said.

The site is also notable for being the first one to be offered for development in Pearl’s Hill, thus kick-starting the area’s redevelopment, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said yesterday.

The area is planned for a mix of homes and commercial buildings set within a garden. It will centre on Pearl’s Hill City Park, which will be transformed into two parks.

The new site will offer direct frontage to one of these parks, the URA said.

Half of the site’s total gross floor area of 1.54 million sq ft must be used for offices. Another 20 per cent of the area, or about 308,000 sq ft, must cater to hotel rooms.

But the rest of the area is ‘white’ - which means it can be used for homes, shops, or more hotel or office space.

It is the only ‘white’ site to be released on the Government’s reserve list for the first half of this year.

Under the reserve list system, an interested buyer must submit a bid for the plot at an acceptable price to the Government, which will then put the site up for public tender.

Consultants such as Mr Li Hiaw Ho, executive director of CB Richard Ellis Research, said the plot is a ‘prime site with lots of commercial potential’.

‘We expect the site to fetch about $650 to $700 per sq ft per plot ratio,’ he said. This puts the total price at between $1 billion and $1.08 billion.

‘In view of the large size of the development, interested developers are likely to form a consortium to jointly bid for the site,’ he said.

Mr Li added that the ‘white’ area of the site is likely to be turned into a retail mall to cater to the high pedestrian volume streaming out from Outram Park MRT Station as well as the ‘dense residential population’ in the area.

It ‘offers developers an opportunity to develop a good-quality mall to rejuvenate the retail scene around Chinatown’, he said.

The Pearl’s Hill area - known for its old landmark buildings, myriad hotels and its proximity to Chinatown - has been in the spotlight recently.

Pearl Bank Apartments, a 30-year-old development just outside the Pearl’s Hill City Park, is said to be gunning for a collective sale that could fetch more than $500 million.

Source : Straits Times - 28 Jun 2007

Six new industrial sites were put on the Government’s land sales list yesterday.

The sites, with a total area of 11.7ha, will be released in the second half of this year.

Two of the plots are on the confirmed list, which means that they will be put up for sale on a pre-determined date.

The first, a 5.1ha site in Sin Ming Lane, will be released in August. Another 2.1ha site in Jalan Tepong will follow in September.

The remaining four sites will be made available on the reserve list. To trigger a public tender for them, a developer will have to submit an acceptable minimum bid to the Government.

The sites comprise a 0.8ha site in Toa Payoh at the former Playfair Primary School, a 1.5ha plot at Yishun Avenue 6, a 1.2ha parcel at Ubi Avenue 4, and a 1ha site at the junction of Pioneer Road and Tuas Avenue 11.

In general, these four plots ‘appear more attractive than the two confirmed sites’, said Ms Tay Huey Ying, director of research and consultancy at Colliers International.

This is because they are mostly smaller, more centrally located and more suitable for general business uses. All four sites on the reserve list can be partly used as substitutes for office space.

She added that the Toa Payoh and Ubi parcels are particularly appealing.

But she also said it is unlikely that these plots will help alleviate the current office shortage.

‘By the time they are sold and completed, they are likely to coincide with the completion of the Business and Financial Centre as well as all the other office redevelopments,’ she said.

‘By then, the office supply crunch would have ceased somewhat.’

Source : Straits Times - 28 Jun 2007

HG Properties has been awarded the Fairy Point Hill site after its bid of $25.5 million was accepted by the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Friday.

Just two bids were received — the second was from Precious Treasure, which had tendered $10.68 million. Both bidders had placed bids for a lease of 45 years.

A recreation club, hotel or holiday chalet can be developed on the 41,796.6 sq m parcel of land at Changi Point, which was launched for public tender on March 28 for a 30- or 45-year lease.

The site has a permissible gross floor area of 16,661 sq m and has a maximum building height of three-storeys. It must not exceed the height of the existing former commando headquarters.

The tender for the site closed on Wednesday.

Source : Weekend Today - 23 Jun 2007