Singapore now the 7th most expensive for office space

Singapore has moved into the global top 10 most expensive office markets for the first time, with occupancy costs hitting an average of about US$130 per square foot, according to global real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield. Office rents, the largest component of occupancy costs, rose 40 per cent on average in the world’s top 10 office locations, it said in a report that compares office occupancy costs in 203 locations in 58 countries across the globe.

Worldwide, rents climbed by 14 per cent on average, with London retaining its position as the world’s most expensive office location. Hong Kong is second, followed by Tokyo.

Singapore was one of the star performers in the office market last year. It rose ten spots to the 7th position as prime office rents chalked up a 78 per cent rise last year.

Said Mr Arsh Chaudhry, executive managing director of Cushman & Wakefield in South-East Asia: ‘Rental growth in Singapore was led by strong demand from the banking and services sectors coupled with very limited supply of quality office space.’

London’s rents are now triple the average paid by occupiers in New York’s Midtown business district, said Cushman & Wakefield. (story)

HDB will act if needed

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) cannot accurately predict demand for HDB flats years down the road. However, it will be flexible and boost the supply of flats when needed, Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu said on Tuesday.

Ms Fu gave this assurance in response to a question from Mdm Cynthia Phua , MP for Aljunied GRC, who wanted to know how long newly married couples can expect to wait for a new flat.

With rising property prices and surging demand for HDB flats, some young couples have reportedly had to postpone their customary wedding ceremonies because they could not get a flat in time. (story)

Singapore to invest 10 billion into UBS

Singapore government’s investment arm announced on Monday that it will inject almost US$10 billion (S$14.4 billion) into Swiss bank UBS, making it the firm’s single largest shareholder.

The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) said it would inject 11 billion Swiss francs (US$9.74 billion) into UBS, which on Monday announced further writedowns of around US$10 billion (6.8 billion euros) due to the US subprime mortgage crisis.

GIC said an undisclosed strategic investor in the Middle East is injecting an additional two billion francs into the bank.

‘We made this significant investment in UBS because we have confidence in the long-term growth potential of the bank’s businesses, particularly its global wealth management business,’ its deputy chairman and executive director, Tony Tan Keng Yam, told a news conference.

GIC has committed to subscribe to 11 billion Swiss francs worth of mandatory convertible notes that will pay a coupon of nine percent until conversion into ordinary shares about two years after issuance, UBS said. (story)

CapitaLand to double investment in Vietnam

Southeast Asia’s biggest property developer CapitaLand Ltd said Tuesday there is potential to double its residential pipeline in Vietnam from 2,800 homes currently to about 6,000 in the next three years. Apart from growing its residential business there, the company is also looking for opportunities in the office, retail, and integrated leisure, entertainment and conventions (ILEC) segments.

‘For offices, CapitaLand is looking to build Capital Tower equivalents as well as Raffles City developments in Vietnam, provided there are available sites of significant size,’ the company said in a statement. (story)

Rooftop fire, workers evacuated

A fire broke out on Wednesday morning on the rooftop of the former Specialist Centre/Phoenix Hotel in Orchard Road, which is being demolished. A construction project manager spotted the fire coming from a cooling tower on the rooftop of the six-storey building, next to the Orchard Central building which is under construction.

Thick smoke billowed from the fire site, forcing the evacuation of over 50 workers on the rooftop and in other parts of the building. Over at the adjacent Orchard Central building site, another 100 workers were also evacuated to across the road. No one was hurt. (story)

Hawker Centre to be cleared

9 blocks of rental flats, shops and workshops and a hawker centre in the opposition ward of Hougang are being cleared by the Housing Board. The board said on Thursday that the move was ‘part of ongoing plans to rejuvenate older estates and to facilitate better land use’.

The clearance will give tenants a chance to move to newer or upgraded homes and ‘inject new life to the estate and offer new housing options and modern commercial facilities’, said the HDB.

Similar clearing exercises have been conducted in Clementi and Tanjong Pagar.

The selected blocks - 3, 4, 8 to 11, 11A to 14 in Hougang Avenues 3 and 7 - are about 33 years old. The site occupied by blocks 12 to 14 - which have 60 workshops - will be put up for sale for private homes in 2009.

(story)

Singapore to build first zero energy building

It might not look too inspiring at the moment but a three-storey building in Braddell Road is about to blaze a new trail in the campaign for greener energy. The Building and Construction Authority’s (BCA) Academy opposite ComfortDelgro will harness the sun in an ambitious bid to be Singapore’s first zero-energy building, or ZEB.

A massive array of solar panels covering about 1,300 sq metres - almost half a football field and the biggest such installation in Southeast Asia - will be erected on the roof.

The $10 million retro-fitting project, unveiled by the BCA on Wednesday, will create a highly efficient building that produces as much energy as it consumes from renewable sources.

Over a typical year, its net energy consumption is expected to be zero. The building, which will also be a testbed for eco-technology, will be linked to a normal power grid and draw electricity if needed.

(story)

Family of 12 about to be evicted

A family of 12 has been sent packing, literally, from their flat next month for not keeping up with bank loan payments. Mr Mohd Ali, 40, his wife Latipah, 35, and their 10 children will soon be evicted from their home, in which they have lived for more than four years.

According to Mr Ali, they owe the bank about $10,000 in arrears and have been unable to pay up.

‘We want our family all together. We have some financial problems also. I have a lot to pay,’ said Mr Ali.

(story)

Katong Hostel to lease flats

A company that has just won an HDB tender in a pilot scheme plans to rent out 120 flats at Tiong Bahru for up to $4,500 a month to foreign students and possibly expats. The flats - said to be the first built in Singapore after independence - will get a $3 million face-lift and be ready for tenants by year-end.

Katong Hostels won the tender in a pilot scheme to lease out flats vacated under a redevelopment scheme.

The original tenants are getting new flats elsewhere. The firm, part of the privately-held Vita Group of hostels, provides international student housing.

It will be managing agent for the 60 three-room and 60 four-room walk-up flats.

(story)

Northpoint to get bigger

Yishun residents, who for years managed with only Northpoint to meet their shopping needs, will get a retail shot in the arm next year.

Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT), a real estate investment trust (Reit) that owns retail malls including Northpoint, plans to integrate the mall with upcoming Northpoint 2.

Northpoint 2 is set to be completed next year. Once it is fully integrated with Northpoint, it will create a single shopping mall with a total net lettable area of 232,000 sq ft.

FCT says the enlarged mall will be the ‘heartbeat of the north, infusing new life and vibrancy into the community that the mall has been serving over the past 14 years’.

The trust yesterday turned in a bumper maiden set of full-year financial results. Its distributable income for the year ended Sept 30 was $40.4 million, a hefty 11.1 per cent above forecast.

(continued)