Singapore-listed property developers Yanlord and Ho Bee have jointly acquired a 13.69 hectare prime residential development site in Shanghai’s Qingpu District for around S$784 million.

The site is situated a mere 5.5 km from the heart of the Hongqiao Commercial District which has been earmarked by the Shanghai municipal government to be the city’s fully integrated financial, commercial and logistical hub servicing the Yangtze River Delta region.

The Hongqiao Commercial District is slated to be a key driver for Shanghai’s economic development.

It will also house the world’s largest integrated logistical nexus which consists of the Shanghai Hongqiao airport, the Shanghai Express railway network and the Shanghai metro network.

The site can generate more than 246,000 square metres of residential Gross Floor Area.

Yanlord will own 60 percent of the project, while Ho Bee will have the remaining 40 percent.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 17 Feb 2010

Mainboard-listed Ascendas Real Estate Investment Trust or A-Reit said it will buy three new properties totalling S$228.5 million.

It has signed two sale and purchase agreements as well as a memorandum of understanding for the purchase of a property under development.

Under one sale and purchase agreement, A-Reit will acquire DBS Asia Hub located at Changi Business Park Crescent for S$116 million.

This is an interested party transaction, as A-Reit is buying the property from Ascendas Tuas, a wholly-owned unit of A-Reit’s controlling unitholder, Ascendas Land Singapore.

Ascendas Land Singapore holds about 19.2 per cent of A-Reit.

The property will be leased to local bank DBS.

In the other sale and purchase agreement, A-Reit will buy a multi-storey light industrial building located at 31 Joo Koon Circle for S$15 million.

The building will then be leased to Flextronics Manufacturing Singapore.

A-Reit has also signed a memorandum of understanding to purchase a property under development in Jurong for S$97.5 million.

A-Reit said it will use part of its net proceeds from its August private placement of new units, or about S$131 million, to finance the acquisitions.

A-Reit is Singapore’s first listed business space and industrial real estate investment trust.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 17 Feb 2010

Over the Lunar New Year holidays, Singapore’s first casino and Universal Studios theme park at Resorts World Sentosa garnered all the attention.

But some are wondering if the focus on roulette tables and roller coaster rides will cause the mainland’s central shopping belt along Orchard Road to lose its glitter.

Singapore’s first casino and Universal Studios theme park opened over the weekend creating a buzz, not just here, but in the region as well.

With Singaporeans and tourists expected to throng the attractions – the question is – what will happen to the country’s premier shopping belt, Orchard Road?

For one, hotels there said they are not perturbed by the competition.

Katherine Wong, GM, Mandarin Orchard Singapore, said: “It is an anticipated competition where it’s the IR or new hotels coming into the market. We monitored our occupancy very closely. It could be a friendly threat for all, but I do not see any significant ups and downs.”

Hotels said it’s unlikely Orchard Road will be overshadowed by developments in Sentosa, a point echoed by retailers.

Jimmy Fong, CEO, AFOR – EpiCentre, said: “Resorts World Sentosa will bring in more crowds because more tourists will be in Singapore. Not everyone will head to the casino, where it’s more entertainment. Our place here is more for shopping.”

And Orchard Road, after the recent revamp at its many shopping malls, is still pulling in the crowds.

In fact, 313@Somerset saw some 80,000 shoppers during the Lunar New Year holidays with retailers saying business doubled.

The mall is also linking up with Orchard Central in two to three years’ time, all part of plans to enhance the shopping experience.

While the situation for now seems okay for Orchard Road hotels and businesses, it remains to be seen how it’ll be like when the second integrated resort opens in Singapore.

Ruprecht Schmitz, general manager, Orchard Hotel Singapore, said: “If you go to the resort in Sentosa, you may not want to stay only in Sentosa and if you go to Marina Bay, may not only want to stay in Marina Bay. There are many other things to do in Singapore and you may also have clients who want to go to these resorts but don’t want to stay there.”

Orchard Hotel said the influx of tourists to Singapore as a result of the integrated resorts should boost their weekend occupancy as well.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 17 Feb 2010

Data released Wednesday by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) showed that 1,476 units were sold in the first month of the year, about triple the 481 units sold in the previous month.

The rise in the number of private homes sold also breaks a five-month streak of declines.

As was the trend in previous months, higher-end projects were more popular.

Cube 8, a City Developments project located at Thomson Road, was the most popular, with 167 units sold last month at a media price of S$1,286 per square foot.

Coming in second place was The Shore Residences at Amber Road by Dover Rise and Whitewater Properties, which sold 144 units at a median price of S$1,200 per square foot.

The most expensive unit sold last month was Orchard View at Angullia Park, which went for S$3,243 per square foot.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 17 Feb 2010

The Lion City has been ranked the world’s 53rd most liveable city, in the latest survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

The Republic scored highly in stability and infrastructure, and its emphasis on healthcare and education also earned it top marks.

However, it did not fare as well in areas such as culture and living environment.

While it is ranked behind Hong Kong and Tokyo in Asia, for example, Singapore edged out London and New York, which were both pulled down by their crumbling infrastructure.

The EIU’s liveability rating, part of the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey, aims to quantify the challenges that might be presented to an individual’s lifestyle in 140 cities worldwide.

Each city is assigned a score for over 30 qualitative and quantitative factors across the five broad categories of stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

The annual survey uses research involving resident experts and EIU’s analysts.

Earning top spot in this year’s poll is Vancouver, which scored well across all categories.

“The forthcoming Winter Games (also) contribute to a strong score in the cultural and sporting events category” for the city, said Mr Jon Copestake, editor of the report.

In contrast, Zimbabwe’s ongoing social and economic crisis has made its capital Harare the worst city to live in.

Source : Today – 13 Feb 2010

I remember my Chinese New Year visits to my grandma, who lived for some years in a one-room rental flat in Chinatown.

She chose to live on her own till she was nearly 90, holding back the day when she could not care for herself any longer.

It was her pristine little flat that I’m sure gave her that extra independence she so prized. We cherish self-determination and so do the elderly.

This diminutive woman from our pioneer days had survived tuberculosis, a world war and widowhood with such a sweet spirit.

I thought of the way she lived her later years with dignity, when some Pasir Ris and Tampines residents expressed great shock that rental flats will soon rise in their midst.

The Housing Board will begin to build blocks of one- and two-room rental flats on the green field between two Pasir Ris blocks.

In Tampines, a new 14-storey block of rental flats will go up.

There was a strong current of fear and anger in the comments of 20 residents reported by The Straits Times:

The new neighbours will look into our living rooms and bedrooms.

Foreign workers will sublet the flats. Smokers and drinkers will loiter in the void decks and lead the young astray.

Our view will be blocked and we will miss the breeze.

Property prices will dive.

The fears should not be laughed off. But we can start to confront them as more rental flats will be spread across the island.

Singapore has 42,000 rental flats now. Another 8,000 will be ready for the needy by 2012.

There has been a cry for affordable flats for the needy. There are also the divorcees and ever-rising silver population. To its credit, the HDB is delivering new rental flats in a hurry. It is housing the nation, not just young couples.

It simply has to use all its ingenuity and technology to create liveable places.

Build beautifully within budget, put in lush greenery or sky gardens, let community bonds spring up, even create an illusion of space. Also communicate with savvy and sincerity so there’s less surprise.

But when does some of that cross from smart strategy to endless pandering?

Because we’re a hyper-dense city, we’re running into what may be the world’s biggest Nimby syndrome – Not In My Backyard.

In principle, we care for the needy, but please let them live somewhere else.

What about me? What’s in my backyard? I’ve lived in HDB flats and now live in cluster housing on the East Coast.

There are no needy dwellers close by. But while a condo was being built across the road, foreign workers were housed on site. We could hear them showering – yes, they work in hot, dusty conditions – when we walked out. They congregated in our pocket park and on pavements at night.

We lived with explosive populations of mosquitoes for a couple of years as well.

I can tell you our place is very dense, and neighbours can look into each other’s homes. I have some view of sky and gorgeous greenery, but not a whole lot. In fact, private developers squeeze much into little, and I feel a greater sense of open space when I pop into HDB estates.

Where I live, there is also a temple along the boundary of our little estate. I hear chants sometimes, and navigate around the cars of temple visitors.

But on my walks, I may also pass a friendly free-range rabbit in a neighbour’s garden. I spy wild flowers, a forgotten toy in the sandpit and colourful songbirds. The best breeze and unblocked view is actually from a hillock next to a HDB estate.

Sometimes it’s a question of perception, what I choose to see. I know I have to do this a lot, because Singapore is such a high-density speck and getting more so.

Maybe we can turn the Nimby syndrome: What if it was me – or grandma?

One day, if we ever need a smaller apartment, will our new neighbours despise our presence?

Surely I don’t want to live in the future Underground Singapore?

I do not like the thought at all of the elderly retreating prematurely into nursing homes when they can age in a place with dignity and inner strength intact, possibly in a rental flat.

My dad remembers that my grandma had neighbours of steady character. They were not the voyeurs and desperados and child corrupters that we imagine will be housed in new rental flats.

I did not really see much of my grandma. But she was still the epitome of an affectionate grandparent who looked on me with love, and travelled independently on buses to see us, often bearing tiny toys that I wish I’d kept.

She died in her mid-90s after living a full life, some of it in her no-frills flat, before she had dementia and entered a nursing home.

As we celebrate family life this Chinese New Year, I hope Singapore will always have room in our hearts and estates for people like her.

Source : Sunday Times – 14 Feb 2010

WHO CAN GET A RENTAL FLAT

On another plot of land. Eight storeys instead of 14. Build a condominium instead.

Some Singaporeans are dishing out such orders to the HDB about how and where rental flats ought to be built and their common refrain is, as far from my flat as possible.

While they may be customers of the Housing and Development Board (HDB), do these HDB home owners have the right to make such demands? And at whose expense should their demands be met?

Political observers say residents do not have such rights.

‘Their rights are limited to their own units and do not extend to common property,’ said former Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong, a corporate counsel.

MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC Indranee Rajah echoes that view. ‘It is HDB’s call,’ she said.

But the recent clamour in Tampines and Pasir Ris is the result of the Government getting what it is asking for, said Mr Siew. That is, to make Singaporeans ’stakeholders’ in society.

‘Naturally, they would want to have a say in matters that could potentially impact them and their immediate environment – this is not a bad development,’ he added.

Mr Hawazi Daipi, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Manpower, said ‘it is not an issue of rights, but consultation’.

‘There is a need to inform and consult, and assure residents that potential problems can be managed,’ he said.

Even then, said some, allowing the majority of Singaporeans to feel a sense of ownership cannot come at the expense of the low-income group.

‘They need a roof over their heads,’ said Jurong GRC MP Halimah Yacob.

Ms Indranee concurs. ‘It is wrong to say ‘not in my backyard’. Where are we going to house the poor who cannot afford to buy an HDB flat?’

She also questioned the safety issues raised by home owners, and said this suggests that those living in rental homes are ‘lesser-value human beings’.

‘What is the correlation between rental flat stayers and safety?’ Ms Indranee asked.

Sociologists say there is no evidence that disproportionately more crimes are committed by those living in rental flats.

The prejudices that people may have against the poor are ‘almost always exaggerated’, said Professor Chua Beng Huat of the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) department of sociology.

‘Saying that crime will increase because there are rental flats in the neighbourhood is a prejudice of those who have a vested interest in property values rather than social security,’ he added.

Most fears spring from prejudices towards and stereotypes of the poor rather than actual negative encounters, said Associate Professor Tan Ern Ser of NUS’ department of sociology.

As for whether rental flats lower the prices of property in the surrounding area, most of the housing agents The Sunday Times spoke to said this was not the case.

‘Most people buy a property for access to amenities and parents. Closeness to rental flats has not been a deterrent,’ said Mr Alex Foo, an ERA housing agent.

Popular property districts include Ang Mo Kio, Toa Payoh, Bedok and Bukit Merah, and these areas have a large number of rental flats, agents said.

Some one-room-one-hall rental flats have such good locations that even they are being snapped up in the resale market, he said.

There are units going for $200,000, even higher than prices of some three-room flats.

Launched in 2000, the HDB’s Special Housing Assistance Programme allows existing tenants to buy over their rental flats that have been upgraded at a $15,000 discount.

Source : Sunday Times – 14 Feb 2010