Plans are underway to turn Punggol into Singapore’s first eco-town as part of the sustainable development blueprint.

The aim is that over the next five years, energy consumption in public areas will go down by up to 30 percent while energy use in households is targeted to decrease by 10 percent.

HDB said that as a new town, Punggol is perfect as a test bed for green technologies. These include facilities in carparks for people to power up their electric cars, and solar panels to generate electricity.

HDB CEO, Tay Kim Poh, said: “We will provide a lot more greenery in the town in terms of park, green connectors, roof gardens. Buildings will be designed so there is good cross-ventilation, and they don’t really have to use their air-con.”

A pilot scheme in Serangoon and Sembawang estates to use solar power has also seen energy consumption drop by 40 percent.

It will soon be extended to Tampines, Marine Parade, Tanjong Pagar and Bukit Panjang estates.

The aim is to install solar panels at 30 housing estates over five years.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 28 Jan 2010

Catalist-listed lifestyle and wellness service provider Mary Chia is expanding into the hotel business.

It said it has entered into a joint venture agreement with businessman Lee Boon Leng to set up a firm called Hotel Culture.

Hotel Culture’s primary business is to operate a hotel, a lifestyle and wellness centre, food and beverage and other hotel-related activities.

For a start, Hotel Culture has exercised an option to buy three properties located at Mosque Street for S$20 million. The properties will be re-developed into a 92-room heritage hotel by the joint venture firm.

Mary Chia said the new hotel will embrace a new lifestyle concept comprising a wellness spa that is integrated with hotel facilities. It added that the acquisition is part of its effort to innovate and introduce new brands into the market.

To pay for the properties, Mary Chia said about S$16 million will be borrowed externally, with the rest of the money coming from shareholders’ loans or equity.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 28 Jan 2010

An office site at Mohamed Sultan Road has been put up for sale by public tender. The Urban Redevelopment Authority said it has accepted an application from a developer to put up the site for sale.

Since October 2008, the land parcel was made available for sale through the Reserve List System.

Under the system, a site would be released for sale only if a bid with an acceptable minimum price is received.

URA said a developer has committed to put in a bid of not less than S$9.33 million for the site.

As such, the sale process has been triggered.

URA will launch the public tender for the site in about two weeks.

The site has an area of 0.62 hectares and can generate a maximum permissible gross floor area of 9,265 square metres.

The land parcel is offered for sale on a 15-year lease.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 28 Jan 2010

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) is reviewing its rules to curb speculation and illegal subletting in the public housing market.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan said the move is to ensure prices are not being artificially inflated.

The review comes amid fresh concerns over the affordability of public housing sparked off by HDB’s latest data that showed resale flat prices continued to climb in the fourth quarter of last year.

In addition, the median cash premium that home owners have to pay upfront doubled to S$24,000, prompting calls for the government to step in.

But Mr Mah noted that the resale market should be allowed to operate as a free market, with prices set on a “willing buyer, willing seller” basis.

He said: “Now, if you are a buyer, you feel anxious because you want prices to be low. But if you are a seller, you want prices to be high. So it’s not possible for the government to set the resale prices.

“If you were to interfere in the COV (Cash-Over-Valuation), or the resale flat market, essentially, you are saying the government should set the resale flat prices which I think both parties will be unhappy. Why? Because the buyer may be happy today, but today if he’s a buyer, tomorrow he would be a seller. Then when we set the prices and he wants to sell, he will be unhappy.”

While promoting a free market, Mr Mah drew the line at speculation and stressed that HDB flats are for “owner-occupation, not speculation or rental investment.”

As such, Mr Mah said the housing board is relooking rules to ensure that prices are not being artificially inflated.

“If somebody is coming in and buying because they hope to make money, through flipping or selling the flats later on, or to buy to rent without staying in there, I think that’s not possible. That’s not the idea of HDB flats,” he said.

Mr Mah declined to say which rules are being studied. But he noted that the review will be completed in a few months’ time.

How much impact will the review have? Housing analysts said speculators are not the main problem, because prices are not rising fast enough to lure them in.

ERA’s Asia-Pacific associate director Eugene Lim noted that for speculators to be lured into the market, prices have to be moving up very fast. But that’s not happening in the public housing market. For example, prices of HDB flats only increased by 8.2 percent in the past year.

He added that the mandatory holding period before you can sell your flat – one year if you’ve taken a bank loan; 2.5 years for those who borrowed from HDB – also acts as a deterrent against flipping.

Mr Lim said: “It’s basically a case of demand more than supply, because there are probably more people with immediate housing needs now, who cannot wait for the three years for new flats to be built. There is also an increasing population of PRs. They’re not allowed to buy from HDB direct, so they have to go to the resale market.”

But Mr Lim noted that while business from PRs now accounts for 25 percent of his firm’s business, up from 20 percent previously, that is still considered small. He added the review of rules is a sign that HDB is “leaving no stone unturned”.

But demand is being pushed up partly by those who buy flats to earn rent.

Mr Lim said: “If an investment gives you 7 to 8 percent (returns), it is certainly very attractive to look at. Because it’s quite easy to rent out HDB flat. It doesn’t cost much – with $300,000 or $400,000 you can get a HDB flat, you can get good returns, it does attract a fair number of people to look at this option.”

Latest HDB figures showed that between January 2008 and December last year, 56 homeowners were caught renting out their flats illegally.

And recent reports suggested that some flat owners at the newly completed Pinnacle@Duxton had rented out their entire units without a minimum occupation period. This is illegal under HDB’s housing rules.

Home buyers who received a grant from HDB must stay in their flat for a minimum of five years before they can sublet their entire unit. For those who do not use a grant, there’s a minimum occupation period of three years.

Offenders face a fine of between S$1,000 and S$21,000 and may even have their flats repossessed.

Mr Mah said: “I’ve asked HDB to also step up on any possible breaking of the rules. I don’t know if it’s extensive but anecdotally you do hear one or two cases. So we want to make sure that this is not happening.”

But observers said many of these transactions are done under the table. So even if rules are tightened, enforcement will be difficult.

However industry players like Chris Koh of Dennis Wee Realty noted that new rules requiring homeowners to report the details of their tenants are an incentive for them to be honest.

But he felt that there is scope to increase the penalties further, and to penalise agents who facilitate illegal transactions.

And to help curb demand, analysts suggested tweaking rules on how flats are financed.

Currently, a buyer can take out a loan to pay for up to 90 percent of the purchase price of a new or resale flat.

Analysts suggested HDB lower that quantum and make buyers fork out a larger down-payment. This could force them to reassess just how much they can afford, thereby serving as a check on escalating prices.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 28 Jan 2010

The opening of the second phase of the Circle Line MRT in April is definitely something to look forward to for residents living nearby. But those looking to sell or rent their homes are set to benefit as well.

Property agents said the opening of the 11 new stations along the Circle Line is likely to push property prices up.

Agents MediaCorp spoke to estimate home prices will increase by 10 per cent while office rents will go up by 20 per cent.

They said estates like Serangoon, Bishan and Paya Lebar have a lot of market potential while units in industrial estates are also expected to be in high demand.

Eddy Ng, division director, ERA Real Estate, said: “Most of the workers are taking public transport, it can be very accessible for them, if there’s an MRT line that leads them back home after work.”

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 28 Jan 2010

THE Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) will be launching a transitional office site at Mohamed Sultan Road for sale in around two weeks’ time, after a developer committed to pay at least $9.33 million for it.

The bid, which works out to $94 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), is double that which URA received in 2008 when it last tried to sell the site. This has raised a few eyebrows, considering the soft state of affairs in the office market.

The 15-year-leasehold office site has a site area of 66,482 sq ft and a maximum permissible gross floor area (GFA) of 99,728 sq ft. It can accommodate a four-storey building.

DTZ executive director Ong Choon Fah believes that the parcel stood out because of its location, which is not too far from the central business district and is near entertainment spots at Clarke Quay. Companies in the creative industry may find the site attractive, she said.

Cushman & Wakefield Singapore managing director Donald Han agrees that the site’s location is appealing. Given the relatively high offer, he suggests that the bidder could be a firm looking to own and occupy the site, or a developer which ‘knows the game, and is confident of developing transitional office sites’.

He added that the bidder could be expecting a recovery in the office market and as a result, higher rents in future, after the development on the office site is ready around the second half of 2011.

Leasing activity in the office market has picked up in the last few months as the economy stabilised. ‘Although we expect office rents to continue to slide perhaps to the end of this year or early next year, the worst is probably over,’ says Mrs Ong. ‘There’s a lot more confidence.’

But both consultants do not expect to see many other bidders for the site when the tender is launched. With this bid being so much higher than the previous one, ‘there could be some segments saying ‘it’s not cheap’,’ Mr Han quipped.

URA had launched the site for sale in August 2008 when it was on the confirmed list. It received one bid of $4.65 million or $47 psf ppr from RSP Architects Planners & Engineers, but rejected it as it was too low. URA transferred the site to the reserve list in October that year.

The agency last sold a transitional office site at Scotts Road/Anthony Road in May 2008, for $32.99 million or $226 psf ppr.

Separately, owners of the freehold residential development Holland Hill Lodge have put their estate up for collective sale. The asking price ranges from $15 million to $16 million, and this translates to a land price of $1,038-$1,107 psf ppr, based on a gross plot ratio of 1.6.

The site measures some 9,033 sq ft and the existing GFA of the development is 18,086 sq ft. The owners are checking with the authorities on whether this GFA can be fully utilised upon redevelopment.

Credo Real Estate is marketing the site and the tender closes on Feb 25.

Source : Business Times – 29 Jan 2010

STARHILL Global Real Estate Investment Trust posted a 5.5 per cent increase in income available for distribution to $19.1 million for its fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2009, from $18.1 million a year ago.

Income to be distributed rose 5.6 per cent to $18.8 million. An amount of $0.3 million of income available for distribution for the quarter had been retained to satisfy legal reserve requirements in China.

Distribution per unit (DPU) rose 5.4 per cent to 0.97 cents from Q4 2008’s restated 0.92 cents. Q4 2008’s DPU was restated to take account of rights units.

In August last year, Starhill, which owns stakes in Wisma Atria and Ngee Ann City, had completed a rights issue which had raised net proceeds of $326.1 million.

For the year, net income available for distribution rose 8.7 per cent to $75.5 million.

After retaining about $2 million to satisfy the legal reserve requirements in China and for working capital and capital expenditure purposes, net income to be distributed stood at $73.5 million, up 7.2 per cent from $68.6 million in 2008.

DPU for 2009 stood at 3.8 cents, up 6.1 per cent from 2008’s 3.58 cents, which again took into account the rights issue.

Net property income for the quarter rose 3.2 per cent year-on-year to $26.8 million, driven by increased revenue from new leases and lower property tax expenses.

For the year, the group posted net property income of $106.9 million, an 11.5 per cent increase from $95.9 million.

As at Dec 31, 2009, the trust’s gearing ratio was 26.9 per cent. The manager of the trust is in ‘active discussions’ with its banks to finalise terms for the refinancing of $570 million of debt that falls due in September.

The group’s outlook for the year is a cheery one.

‘Business sentiment has improved significantly over the last quarter. The completion of our acquisition of the David Jones Building in Perth earlier this month is timely, as the property will start contributing immediately to Starhill Global Reit’s FY2010 revenue and net property income,’ said Francis Yeoh, executive chairman of YTL Pacific Star.

‘Visitorship to our Singapore malls have continued to improve with the added buzz arising from new malls and the rejuvenation of Orchard Road and we expect this to increase in tandem with tourist arrivals when the integrated resorts open.’

Its retail assets in Singapore are expected to mitigate the effects of retail rents and occupancy rates in Japan that might still be reeling from economic weakness. Starhill rose 1.5 cents to close at $0.545 yesterday.

Source : Business Times – 29 Jan 2010

THE Housing Board will launch new flats every month over the next six months in response to growing fears that demand is outstripping supply.

National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan, speaking on the sidelines of a housing event on Wednesday, said that ‘HDB will build flats to meet demand as long as there’s genuine demand’. It is looking to offer 7,000 new flats in the first half of this year and is planning 12,000 for the whole of 2010.

For higher income earners who aspire to own private property, Mr Mah said the HDB was catering to this group by selling land for development into executive condominiums – a hybrid flat with condo facilities but HDB rules.

He assured first-time buyers that there was no need to rush into buying, given that there are ‘more than sufficient flats’. ‘If there is even stronger demand, of course HDB will build even more flats,’ he said.

Mr Mah claimed the high subscription rates at recent launches – at popular projects such as Dawson, where 11 applications were received for every flat – was not a measure of genuine demand.

‘We know that many of them are multiple applicants…they apply every month to make sure they have a better chance…that means the number of subscribers may appear large, but it doesn’t mean that that is the total demand,’ he said.

‘The final test is when we finally offer the flats to these buyers, (we’ll) see what the take-up rate will be.’

The minister emphasised that if there was real demand, the HDB would respond with its build-to-order (BTO) scheme.

‘As the name suggests…you order, we build. That’s the situation.’

Mr Mah pointed out that waiting for a flat to be built was not new. In the past, home buyers have had to wait for as long as seven years for a flat, he said.

Under the BTO scheme, HDB is ‘promising, in a way…that you will get your flat in three to four years, once you have booked it.’

Source : Straits Times – 29 Jan 2010

LIFESTYLE and wellness provider Mary Chia Holdings Ltd has entered into a joint venture to develop a heritage hotel in Singapore.

The group, together with businessman Lee Boon Leng, will operate Hotel Culture, a local company incorporated last September. Hotel Culture has purchased properties worth $20 million on Chinatown’s Mosque Street for the development of the hotel.

Hotel Culture has an issued and paid-up share capital of $500,000, of which 51 per cent is held by Mary Chia and 49 per cent by Mr Lee. Mary Chia paid for its shares in cash, from proceeds of its initial public offering. To fund the $20 million purchase price for the properties, $16 million will be borrowed externally, $500,000 will be from equity, and the remaining $3.5 million will be derived from shareholders’ loans.

In addition, the development cost for the hotel is estimated to be about $6 million, of which $3 million will be financed by borrowings and $3 million by shareholders’ loans. Mary Chia’s share of the shareholders’ loans of $1.53 million will be funded through internal resources and/or borrowings.

The group said that the move will complement Mary Chia’s lifestyle and wellness business. Mary Chia intends to both expand its range of offerings and broaden its asset and earning bases. Hotel Culture is also expected to provide the company, best known for its beauty and slimming services, with an alternative long-term source of revenue.

Mr Lee is the spouse of Wendy Ho, the chief executive and controlling shareholder of Mary Chia. He is also the son-in-law of the group’s executive chairman and controlling shareholder Mary Chia.

Due to his experience in the food and beverage business, he will take charge of this aspect of Hotel Culture’s business. Mary Chia will handle the hotel’s lifestyle and wellness services.

The hotel, to be developed from restored Chinatown shophouses, will have 92 rooms, ‘with retail and a lifestyle and wellness centre on its first storey’.

Source : Business Times – 29 Jan 2010

New Condo Launching @ Kim Seng

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Location: 100 Kim Seng Road (District 9)
Tenure: Freehold
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Total Units: 97
Unit Types:
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3 bedroom ~ 1755 – 1819 sqft
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Centennia Suites / name / contact # / unit type interested