Archive for category: Real Estate

Read more: There were fewer commercial shophouse sales in the first quarter of 2023, while the shophouse rental market remained active

In 2010, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) released a manual titled Retrofitting an Existing Building. It emphasized the importance of retrofitting as an method to assist Singapore in achieving its ambition of greening at minimum eighty% the buildings it constructs in 2030. In the city-states, the pattern is to destroy and build. “This model is not long-term sustainable as it consumes huge amounts of energy that is increasingly scarce, which means that we are creating a huge waste of energy that is embodied,” BCA commented in the book.

Joelle Chen, the head for sustainability Asia Joelle Chen, head of sustainability Asia at Lendlease Joelle Chen, head of sustainability Asia at Lendlease, agrees. “Singapore has made progress. However, to make progress between the present to 2030, we must to get started retrofitting more homes,” she says.

The fourth version of the Singapore Green Building Masterplan (SGBMP) that was announced at the end of 2021 established targets of “80-80-80 by 2030” The goal is to green up the greening of 80% of the Singapore’s structures in terms of gross floor area, establishing an average of 80% of new developments classified as Super Low Energy buildings, and achieving an 80% increase in efficiency of buildings for the most efficient buildings in 2030.

To speed up the process in retrofitting BCA announced $63 million of funding to support the second version of its Green Mark Incentive Scheme for Existing Buildings (GMIS-EB) scheme in June. The goal is to inspire builders to seek the highest possible sustainability rating that is the Green Mark Platinum, Super Low Energy, or zero energy rating. The BCA created the $100 million GMIS-EB incentive program in 2009 to assist with the cost of retrofits that improve an existing buildings energy performance.

Enhancing sustainability
As per Minister of National Development Desmond Lee, 49% of Singapore buildings are green. But, a lot older buildings will need to be renovated to increase their sustainability levels as he stated in a speech in July 2022.

Retrofitting refers to the renovation of an existing structure to improve its efficiency. “At at a minimum the building should be retrofitted at least every 15 to 20 years to replace items such as chiller units and air conditioning systems when they get to at the conclusion of their life,” says Lendlease’s Chen.

Additionally, the owners of buildings are enticed to replace these systems since they can yield substantial energy savings. Chen says that a structure could achieve between 10% to 20% energy savings after retrofitting chiller plant systems as well as switching over to LED lights. “There’s an obvious return on investment when retrofitting existing systems.”

Retrofitting encompasses all sorts of improvements, regardless of whether they’re aimed at reducing carbon footprint, creating more value, increasing the quality of tenant experience and keeping up with building regulations and so on She adds. The types of upgrades vary from basic ones like the addition of a solar film to windows in a building to cut down on the heat and glare that can enter the building, to major retrofits that may involve changes to the facade and structural structure.

From a green point of view but retrofitting isn’t always the best option for sustainability according to Chen. The reason for this is that carbon emissions have to be taken into account throughout the construction’s lifespan. The majority of the time, 25% of the cost of carbon emissions for a building comes from the construction process (also called”embodied carbon”). The majority fifty percent% of the cost comes in the form of operational carbon. This is carbon that is released during the regular running of the building. In addition, the remaining% is derived from regular changes such as the replacement of the furniture or fittings.

“Doing the math’

If you are considering the possibility of retrofitting or building, Chen notes there are many factors to consider. “There is the commercial perspective however there are aspects of sustainability, such as energy efficiency and reduction in carbon emissions embodied in addition to making sure that the building is appropriate to its intended function.”

If the building’s age and design make it difficult to make improvements in its operation demolition of a building and rebuilding it could make sense in the end Chen says Chen. This is particularly the case when reconstruction is more sustainable by employing a significant percentage from recycled material, utilizing green construction techniques, or making use of biodiesel as a fuel for construction equipment.

For instance, SingTel announced last year that it had partnered with Lendlease to revamp their Comcentre office within the Somerset area of Orchard Road. The new building is expected to be a $3 billion “world-class sustainable workplace” that will feature the latest innovative technology for building. New York-based Kohn Fox is the architect of the design.

According Chen Chen Chen, the new Comcentre is scheduled to be Singapore’s first complete carbon-neutral project in terms of construction, design and operations. In the course of its life the net-zero development will be expected to bring an energy cost reduction of 9.9 million Kilowatt-hours.

Building owners must understand what they want from their structure and then figure out the way that numbers are stacked she says. “It’s about calculating the numbers and determining the logic behind it.”

This same method is behind the transformation of the old Certis Cisco Centre to Paya Lebar Green, which is being executed as a joint venture between Certis along with Lendlease. In this case, two of the structures will be renovated while the other one has been taken down. The area’s use will increase as the old seven-storey building being converted into a an additional 12-storey Grade A office building.

Redevelopment or retrofitting or redeveloping, both have the same goal, which is to ensure that a building fulfills its intended purpose. “Buildings are intended to be used by the people who live there,” Chen says. “They must offer a positive experience for people who spend time there.”

Check this article: Good Class Bungalows in Nassim exceed $4,500 psf, while a terraced house in Chancery exceeds $4,456 psf

The boutique project Jervois Prive set a new psf-price highest for the project with a 1,109 square foot 3-bedroom unit located on the fifth floor was purchased at $3.57 millions ($3,220psf) on the 17th of April. The sale was the most expensive condo psf price during the period of April 14-21. The psf cost of the three-bedroom apartment is higher than the previous record for Jervois Prive. It was seven10 square feet of two-bedroom apartment, located situated on the 5th floor which was offered at $2.13 million ($3,000 per square foot) on February 12.

Jervois Prive It is an elegant boutique development with 43 units. It is the debut project of property developer Midas Land. The freehold condominium is located on Jervois Road in prime District 10. The area is characterized by Chatsworth Park Good Class Bungalow Area and luxury condominiums that line Jervois Road. Schools nearby are Alexandra Primary School, Crescent Girls’ School and Queenstown Secondary School. Jervois Prive offers a variety of one-to three-bedroom homes that range from 549 to 1,389 sq feet. The development was officially launched to the market in May 2019. Based on data from the developer’s sales from URA The construction has sold six units so far.

Other freehold condos in the vicinity are Jervois Meadows and Dormer Park Both are located on Jervois Road. Both were constructed in the 1990s and units that were sold in recent times have averaged $1,776 and $1,873 per square foot, respectively.

According to URA restrictions the unit that is the most expensive in absolute value at Jervois Prive currently is a 1,389 sq feet three-bedder. It was purchased through Jervois Prive’s developer at $3.91 million ($2,817 per square foot) on June 6, 2019.

The second-highest price for psf this week was the resale for a 1,259 sq ft apartment located on the sixth floor of Botanic Gardens View. The unit was sold to the buyer for $3.68 million ($2,922 per square foot) on the 20th of April. The previous record for the psf-price for the unit was an area of 1,615 square feet on the 1st floor, which sold for $4.07 million ($2,521 per square foot) on August 5, 2019. The unit is also among the most expensive condo on the market in terms of the total selling price.

Botanic Gardens View is a 144-unit freehold community just off Cluny Road in prime District 10. It was completed in the year 1970. The condominium is located on Taman Serasi. It is located near Napier MRT Station on the Thomson East Coast Line. It is located near facilities like Ion Orchard, Far East Plaza and Lucky Plaza. It is also close to Rafthe fles Girls’ Secondary School as well as Botanic Gardens.

The condos range between 1,259 and 1,755 sq feet. The prime central location of the condo in an exclusive residential neighborhood in addition to its freehold status has contributed to its booming rate of growth over the last few years.

The median cost was $1,468 in April 2013, but is now $2,588 in April of this year. For comparison the nearby freehold properties like Botanic Gardens Mansion and Nassim Mansion have had an average price of $2,048 and $3.035 per sq ft, respectively.

On the other hand the sale that brought in the lowest price per square foot in the condo during the week was an 872 square foot two-bedroom apartment at the top of seventh floor The Atelier. It was purchased at $2.16 million ($2,479 per square foot) on the 21st of April. The Studio is located in Makeway Avenue in prime District 9. The Atelier was officially launched in March 2021. the freehold development of 120 units is 54% sold for an average of $2,683 per square foot in accordance with caveats that were lodged. It is situated near Newton MRT Station on the Downtown and North-South Lines. The nearby school and facilities include Anglo-Chinese Schools (Junior), LaSalle College of the Arts (Winstedt Campus) and Newton Food Centre.

The property has a variety of one-to four-bedroom homes that range from 549 to 1,496 sq feet.

Check this post: The Continuum: Two freehold parcels and one condo in District 15

A building for industrial use on 60 Bendemeer Road is being purchased by Singapore-listed company Sevens Atelier. In a statement filed with Singapore Exchange on May 2, Singapore Exchange on May 2 the Catalist-listed company has announced that its 100%-owned subsidiary Sevens Creation (SC) has been given the option to buy the property. The company will have until May 23 to take advantage of the option.

The property is an 99-year leasehold one-storey property. It covers an overall area of around 4,402 sq ft and an remaining lease of around 40 years, 10 months. It is classified as “light industrial use” according to URA. URA as of the moment. It is being used by the seller Olympia Engineering. The vendor is expected to leave the property at the time of sale.

Olympia Engineering is a Singapore-incorporated entity that deals with the trading and exporting of ISUZU automotive spare parts in Singapore.

The consideration of $4.15 million for the property was derived through a willing-buyer-willing-seller basis after taking into account the indicative valuation from a Singapore-based bank for similar properties within the vicinity.

Sevens Atelier says the acquisition is a deliberate move to consolidate all of its business operations into one place to make savings on the rent in its current showroom and office. Sevens Atelier plans to remodel the property to accommodate its showroom and the administrative team.

The deal is expected to be completed within three months of receiving the required approvals from the relevant authorities.

Commercial transactions of Asia Pacific (Apac) to North America rose over 400% year-on-year in the period to US$13.9 billion ($18.6 billion) in the 1Q2023, which is the highest level ever recorded according to a study report from Knight Frank. The US was the country with the highest percentage of Apac outbound investment last quarter, with 58% and was followed by Canada with 27%.

Altura brochure to own an affordable property in a prime location in district 23 of Singapore.

The rise in Apac capital flows into North America follows investor interest due to the faster price discovery in liquid and mature markets such as the US According to Christine Li, director of research for Asia-Pacific at Knight Frank. “In times of crises, US assets are often thought of as safe assets due to the stability of their currency,” she says.

In the group of Apac Investors, Singapore topped the list with regards to investments across North America, representing 89% of 1Q’s investment volume. GIC was the most significant investor, with a variety of deals that were made in the market, including the US$8.5 billion purchase of US REIT Store Capital and its US$3.3 billion acquisition of the Canadian Summit Income Industrial Reit. The latter transaction boosted Apac investing in Canada up to US$3.9 billion in the first quarter of 2023 which was a record in the history of Singapore capital outflows to Canada.

Other important Singapore investment opportunities throughout North America in 1Q2023 include City Developments, which made the US$468.2 million acquisition for the St Katherine’s Dock estate in London.

All in all, Knight Frank highlights that Asian sovereign wealth funds were the most dominant Apac outbound investments in the 1Q2023 period which accounted for 79% percent of total investment. Industrial and retail were the most heavily invested sectors in 1Q2023, generating the majority of 45% as well as forty% of the total investment volume, respectively. “We have observed an increase in demand for industrial and retail assets as a result of repricing opportunities in an environment of rising rates with a limited amount of competitors,” says the Knight Frank’s director Li.

Contrary to investments made in outbound markets the investment activity of Apac fell in Apac by 53.6% y-o-y in 1Q2023 The volume of quarterly transactions was the lowest level since 4Q2011. The decrease was caused by a broad decline across international and domestic investment sectors, according to Knight Frank.

Inside Apac, Singapore remained the sole market to see more investment volume y-o-y with an investment volume of US$4.3 billion in the 1Q2023 as compared to US$3.3 billion in the previous year. The increase was aided by the conclusion of the sale of a portfolio retail assets owned by Mercatus Co-Operative, a unit of NTUC Enterprise Co-operative.

In December of last year, Mercatus announced the sale of Jurong Point and Swing By @ Thomson Plaza for $2.16 billion to Hong Hong Kong-listed Link REIT. On January 1, Mercatus disclosed the transfer of 50% direct share in Nex the to Frasers Centrepoint Trust and Frasers Property for $652.5 million. The selling of its Mercatus group of investments was responsible for 50% of Singapore’s total investment volume, according to Knight Frank.

In Apac, Knight Frank highlights that investment in Seoul have fallen to their lowest levels since 1Q2015. The total transaction in the range of US$2.8 billion, which is an 80%. Additionally, in Japan the foreign investment were up, overall transactions dropped 17% over a period of time in 1Q2023. US$9.4 billion in the 1Q2023, in the wake of growing concerns about banks tightening their lending.

Yet, despite the fact that the volatility of the banking industry hinders capital investment in Apac, small adjustments to buyer expectations, as well as increased activity and liquidity in the latter half the year are encouraging according to Neil Brookes, global head of capital markets at Knight Frank. He says that asset repricing and the confidence in stabilizing the cost of debt will lead to increased demand from investors.

“Looking in the future, ultra-high net-worth investors, with their own objectives in investing and their ability to withstand financial stressors, are expected to play a key part in the deployment of capital as opposed to the institutional buyers, who are more affected by the high cost of capital” the author states.

A three-story shophouse located situated on Stanley Street recently traded hands for $29 million, as per the caveat filed on the 13th of April. The property is built up to a total area of 6,485 square feet and is situated on a 1,729 sq feet freehold site. The cost of $29 million is the most expensive price ever achieved for a shophouse. If you take a psf price basis this comes to $4,472. The purchaser will be 8M Real Estate, a property investment company with its CEO and founder Ashish Manchharam. 8M has invested in shophouses since the year 2014. JLL brokered the deal.

Altura land price on a 12,4449.3 sq m site with a maximum Gross Floor Area (GFA) of 37,348 sq m.

Many other shophouses located situated in CBD along with Chinatown have been sold to buyers for more than $7,000 per square foot According the Richard Tan, senior associate district director of the group at PropNex. Due to confidentiality agreements, he is not able to reveal the transaction’s details. There are no caveats filed for these transactions.

Loyalle Chin who is director of PropNex ShophouseHuat and associate group division director for PropNex Realty, sees “a new wave of foreign investors that include investors from China. “They will be the ones who set records in commercial shophouses in the CBD as well.”

Certain properties have recently been sold. In the early spring the leasehold of 999 years, two-storey shophouse for intermediate conservation along Amoy Street changed hands for $21.8 million. It’s located on a 1,856 sq feet site with an area of 3,115 square feet. The cost is $6,998 per square foot. According to a caveat that was lodged in the matter, it’s 3.112 millions (16.65%) higher than the $18.688 million that the shophouse was sold for in November. The psf-price was around $5,999 based upon the build-up area and Chin made the deal.

Based on an property record search NC Properties is the company that bought the conservation shophouse located on Amoy Street. NC Properties is linked to Hong Kong’s New Century Group, which invested in Telok Ayer and Circular Road conservation shophouses.

CBD as well as Chinatown transactions
On the intersection at the corner of Club Street, the five-storey commercial structure Liberty House changed ownership to a buyer for $92.2 million, as per an early caveat filed in April. The building is located on a leasehold for 999 years site with 7,180 square feet and a gross floor area of 28,876 square feet. The cost is based on a figure of $3,193 per square foot. CBRE was the broker for the deal.

The purchaser will be Union Property Holding, according to an property record search. Zhang Nie, former Singapore director for Chinese Oil trader Unipec has the majority ownership of the company.

The shophouses that are conserved in the Haji Lane-Beach Road region are also highly sought-after and recent sales have surpassed $6,900, as per Chin, a PropNex analyst.

A few Chinese citizens who had been renting the Good-Class Bungalows in the prime area in Singapore or bungalows in Sentosa Cove over the past two years were planning to transform their houses into party venues. “They quickly realized that these were commercial enterprises and could not be permitted in private residential neighborhoods,” Chin says.

Entertainment licence draw
Commercial shops that have a license for nightclubs operated by URA and a public entertainment licenses issued by the Singapore Police Force, allowing the establishment to remain operate until 3am, are sought-after by rich Chinese, Chin adds. “It permits them to host live shows, entertain guests and even open up the space open to visitors.”

For example, Havana KTV Nightclub is currently the tenant of the shophouse that is located along Amoy Street. The lease is due to expire in June the new owner may decide to open an additional nightclub there.

An 999 year leasehold, commercial property, Bugis Point on North Bridge Road, was listed for sale via expression of interest. The sale ended on April 18.

The commercial shophouse, which is six stories high, has an area of 19,902 square feet and is located on a 2784 sq ft site. Bugis Point is listed at an indicative cost of $92 million which is roughly $4,623 per square foot for the floor space. The property is fully leased with tenants who hold licences to entertain the public that allow the operation of their establishment until 3am, according to Chin.

The building is situated with an 18m frontage on North Bridge Road, between Tan Quee Lan Street and Liang Seah Street. It is located opposite Bugis Junction and next to the planned Guoco Midtown integrated development.

Based on Chin, Bugis Point has had “multiple interested parties” and has received multiple offers”. The majority of interested parties are believed to be Chinese.