Lifestyle hub at one-north could boost housing prices, retail rents

THE upcoming integrated development at one-north is expected to generate more interest in the area and drive up housing prices and retail rents there, market watchers said.

On Sunday, property giant CapitaLand and New Creation Church’s Rock Productions said they will be investing some $660 million to build a lifestyle hub in one-north, JTC Corporation’s science hub. The project will be located right next to Buona Vista MRT station.

The hub, which will be the biggest retail development by far in the area once it comes up by 2011, will push up residential prices and rents as well as rentals for retail space in the vicinity, experts said.

‘You probably will see residential and retail prices going up in the area,’ said Mavis Seow, CB Richard Ellis’ executive director for retail services.

‘The Holland area is already a very much sought after location. Once the project is developed, it will only get better.’

Rents in the Holland Village area are now between $8 and $15 per square foot per month (psf pm), she said.

CapitaLand, which will invest some $380 million, will own the retail and entertainment component of the project, which will have some 180,000-200,000 sq ft of net lettable area.

Rock Productions will invest $280 million. The company, which is the business arm of the 16,000-strong New Creation Church, will manage the hub’s civic and cultural zone, which will include a 5,000-seat state-of- the-art theatre. The civic and cultural zone will have a gross floor area of some 323,000 sq ft in all.

Pua Seck Guan, chief executive of CapitaLand’s retail arm, said that in line with the developer’s asset-light strategy, the retail and entertainment component could eventually be injected into the developer’s listed real estate investment trust (Reit) CapitaMall Trust.

‘The hub will not be a traditional shopping mall,’ he said. ‘As the developer, we will take the risk – until investors are convinced it is sustainable – before selling.’

The mall will have mostly F&B and entertainment units as is the case with Clarke Quay, Mr Pua said. The retail component will be smaller than in CapitaLand’s other malls.

Possible tenants could include a gourmet supermarket, trade services catering to people living and working in one-north, and even a dance club, he said.

The hub is however guaranteed some footfall from New Creation Church’s congregation, said Matthew Kang, director of Rock Productions.

New Creation Church will be the theatre’s ‘anchor tenant’ and will hold both its Sunday and weekday service there.

At present, the church uses the Rock Auditorium at Suntec City, which seats about 1,400 people.

‘We wanted to look for a place to move to; the congregation was getting bigger,’ Mr Kang said.

Source : Business Times – 11 Sept 2007

$660 million lifestyle hub to go up at Buona Vista – 5,000-seat theatre, shops part of Rock Productions, CapitaLand project

COME 2011, a futuristic-looking lifestyle hub with a 5,000-seat theatre, restaurants, shops, chill-out wine bars and even dance clubs will emerge in Buona Vista.

Property giant CapitaLand and a church-linked business company, Rock Productions, announced yesterday that they will jointly develop an integrated complex in Singapore’s one-north science hub at a cost of $660 million.

CapitaLand’s share of the proposed development, including the ownership of about 1,000 carpark lots, will be about $380 million.

Rock Productions – the business arm of the 16,000- strong New Creation Church – will invest $280 million.

The complex, which will be connected directly to the Buona Vista MRT station, will be sited within the 17ha Vista Xchange, the business service centre as well as lifestyle and cultural hub of one-north.

Designed by Mr Andrew Bromberg of Aedas Hong Kong, it will have eight levels of civic and cultural space, and four levels of retail and entertainment space.

The project came about after JTC Corporation last Friday awarded Rock Productions the tender to build, lease and operate an integrated civic, cultural, retail and entertainment hub at Vista Xchange on a 60-year lease at a land price of $189 million.

Rock Productions had spoken to a few partners and decided on CapitaLand, which entered into an agreement through its indirect wholly owned subsidiary One Trustee to acquire the hub’s retail and entertainment zone, which has a gross floor area of more than 24,000 sq m.

CapitaLand Retail will also manage the entire development of the integrated hub.

It is proposing an open concept for the retail and entertainment zone, which will be spread over two floors above the ground and two basement levels. The basement levels will house chic tenants that will include restaurants, cafes, thematic dance clubs, a concept food hall and a gourmet supermarket.

CapitaLand Retail chief executive officer Pua Seck Guan said the zone presents a unique opportunity for CapitaLand to extend its presence to the Buona Vista area.

The zone will cater to the affluent crowd from the nearby Bukit Timah, Holland and Rochester Park areas, as well as the visitor catchments from the one-north communities, surrounding estates and tertiary institutions, he said.

Rock Productions will own and manage the hub’s civic and cultural zone, which has a gross floor area of 30,000 sq m. This zone will have a 5,000-seat state-of-the-art theatre designed by world renowed performing arts facility design consultants Artec Consultants and Bromberg.

Among Artec’s best-known projects are the Lucerne Culture Centre in Switzerland and the concert hall and opera theatre at the Esplanade here.

Rock Productions has engaged IMG Artists, a global performing arts management company, to work on the marketing and programming efforts for the zone.

A major tenant has already been secured.

New Creation Church, which now holds its services at The Rock Auditorium at Suntec City, will be the anchor tenant of the theatre, using the space on a large part of Sundays and one mid-week night, said Rock Productions director Matthew Kang.

Rock Productions also owns and manages The Rock Auditorium and Marine Cove, the recreational and dining establishment at East Coast Park.

Source : Straits Times – 10 Sept 2007

The Rochester averages $1,300 psf

All 366 units sold at $900 to $1,600 psf in benchmark price for District 5

UNITED Engineers has achieved an average price of $1,300 per square foot (psf) after discounts for The Rochester, a 99-year leasehold condo in the one-north precinct.

The price – a new benchmark for District 5 – easily exceeds the $900 psf average achieved earlier this year for One North Residences just a stone’s throw away.

Sales of The Rochester began on July 16 and all 366 units have been snapped up at prices ranging from $900 to $1,600 psf.

UE staff bought about 13 per cent of the units and foreigners, excluding permanent residents, about 10 per cent.

Foreigners – including Koreans, Japanese and Britons – bought seven of the nine penthouses. The average price per penthouse was about $6 million.

The units were sold through an expression-of-interest exercise.

‘We are extremely pleased to have set a new benchmark of $1,300 psf in average price for private property in District 5,’ said UE Group’s managing director and chief executive, Jackson Yap.

The Rochester, designed by Paul Noritaka Tange of Tange Associates, is being developed by a wholly owned subsidiary of UE.

The last time the group sold a private residential development in Singapore was more than a decade ago – UE Square at River Valley Road.

In two or three months, UE hopes to launch a boutique condo at Balmoral Crescent, in a joint venture with Kajima Overseas Asia.

This freehold development, designed by award-winning SCDA Architects, will comprise about 40 large apartments.

The current target price is $2,500 psf on average but this will be finalised closer to the launch, a UE spokesman said.

The condo will be developed on the former Balmoral View site that Kajima and UE bought in August last year for $52 million or $733 psf of potential gross floor area including an estimated $7.9 million development charge.

The 51,080 sq ft freehold site is zoned for residential use with a 1.6 plot ratio and a 12-storey height limit.

Source : Business Times – 7 Aug 2007

Over 80% of One North Residences sold in 3 days

All but 70 units of the 405-unit One North Residences have been snapped up in just three days at private previews.

It is the first condominium to be marketed at the $15 billion 200ha research hub one-north at Buona Vista.

Units were sold at prices ranging from about $550,000 to $2.4 million. The highest transaction was done yesterday at over $1,000 per sq ft (psf), market watchers said.

On average, prices are now hovering around $885 psf, up from $850 psf on Tuesday.

Most of the buyers – possibly around 80 to 90 per cent – are Singaporeans, market watchers said.

As of last night, around 70 units were unsold, most of them one-bedroom units, now priced at about $950 psf.

The soft launch of One North Residences was planned for tomorrow. Sales started on Tuesday with a staff preview, when directors, staff and other buyers picked up 60 units and prices were raised by 2 to 5 per cent, said market sources.

These buyers included those on an elite list, such as senior civil servants and prominent businessmen.

Wednesday was reserved for the bulk purchasers, including funds interested in buying several units at one ago.

Invited home buyers packed the show-flat yesterday, picking up many more units of the 99-year leasehold condo.

All the nine penthouses ranging from 1,970 sq ft to 3,251 sq ft, as well as all the two-bedroom units have been sold.

The condo will be developed by a joint venture between UOL Group, Low Keng Huat and privately-held Kheng Leong.

While its apartments come in a wide range of sizes, most of them are the one- and two-bedroom apartments, ranging from 592 sq ft to 1,259 sq ft.

There are also 85 single-level and duplex small-office, home-office units, which range from 517 sq ft to 1,281 sq ft, and 20 shops.

Market watchers say some home buyers bought to speculate, while others bought into the area’s prospect as a thriving research hub.

The condo is marketed by Knight Frank and Savills Singapore.

Next up at one-north is the 368-unit One Rochester, which developer United Engineers expects to release for sale in mid-April.

The condo is part of a mixed development that includes a block of about 300 hotel rooms and service apartments, and a retail podium with about 100,000 sq ft of space.

The hotel rooms, service apartments and shops are only for lease.

Source : Straits Times – 9 Mar 2007

About 10% of One North Residences sold: sources

ABOUT 10 per cent of apartments at the 405-unit One North Residences have been sold so far this week at prices of $800 to $900 per square foot, BT understands.

Sources say that units in the project, which is a joint venture between UOL Group and privately held Kheng Leong, started previewing to invited guests earlier this week, and since then, about 10 per cent have been snapped up.

Prices can be expected to climb slightly during the official launch, market watchers said.

The good response means that United Engineers (UE), which was originally planning to launch its nearby 368-unit One Rochester later this month, can now be expected to push out the project quite soon.

Right now, the showflats for One Rochester are being built, and UE will launch the project once everything is ready, BT understands.

One Rochester is part of a mixed development that includes a hotel, serviced apartment block and a retail complex. It has units ranging from 770 square feet to 2,900 sq ft, though most are 1,500 sq ft three-bedders.

Industry players had earlier speculated that both UE and the UOL-Kheng Leong partnership were waiting for the other to launch its project, with the second project taking its pricing cue from the first.

This was especially important for the developers when it comes to the $15 billion 200-ha research hub one-north, which is relatively untested when it comes to its residential potential. One-north can accommodate about 20,000 residential units in all.

With One North Residences setting the tone, One Rochester will likely be launched at prices higher than the $800-$900 range, said one observer.

Also this weekend, Bukit Sembawang Estates will launch the final phase of Mimosa Terrace on Mimosa Road in the Yio Chu Kang/Seletar area.

Some 44 units are available in this phase, with ‘intermediate’ units going for $1.3 million each, and corner terraces offered at $1.5 million apiece.

Source : Business Times – 8 Mar 2007

Cultural-retail landmark to up cool quotient for one-north

The buzz for one-north is set to reach new heights – thanks to an impressive new complex that will showcase civic, cultural and shopping activities.

JTC Corp is seeking proposals for a prime 1.93 hectare site next to Buona Vista MRT station. The plot – the largest land parcel yet to be offered by JTC for private sector development at one-north – is to house a civic, cultural and retail complex (CCRC). More than half the gross floor area of 54,000 sq m has to be used for civic, cultural and/or institutional purposes. JTC says these could include a performing arts centre, concert hall or auditorium.

The remaining 24,000 sq m can be used for commercial purposes or for retailing. This could include uses for food and beverage, childcare and retail banks.

Jones Lang LaSalle regional director and head of investments Lui Seng Fatt believes that it will be the commercial/retail component that will interest developers. He estimates that this component could be priced at $500-600 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr), with a break-even price of about $1,100 psf.

It is much more difficult to price the civic, cultural and institutional component. As Mr Lui notes, conventional theatres do not make money.

He estimates that it could still cost about $300 psf to construct this part of the complex. Eventual bids for the whole parcel of land could come in at between $120 million and $150 million, he reckons.

JTC says that the request for proposals is to be submitted using a two envelope system, with the design and concept of the proposed development separate from the proposed land premium. Design and concept will be assessed before the proposed land premiums are known.

JTC has provided parameters for the design and concept but it is still up to the developer to decide. As Mr Lui points out, the developer could propose office space for the commercial/retail component, especially as this might provide better rental yields.

Chesterton International head of research and consultancy Colin Tan does highlight that one-north is ’special’. ‘It was designed to support the talent that is living there,’ he said. As such, the planning parameters and expectations for the site could be different from the norm. And JTC will want to ‘make it work’.

Knight Frank director (research and consultancy) Nicholas Mak also believes land premium may not be the key consideration in this search for proposals as JTC wants one-north to be a ‘live, work, play and learn’ environment. ‘The CCRC will have to be ‘destination’,’ he added.

JTC does say it wants the complex to be the ‘landmark cultural focal point of the area’. In this way, it will serve as the civic and cultural nucleus of residents in one-north.

Upcoming residential launches include the 368-unit One Rochester Park by United Engineers and the 405-unit One North Residences by UOL and Kheng Leong.

Source : Business Times – 17 Jan 2007

Homes In One-North To Be Launched Early Next Year

The first-ever residential development in science hub one-north, tentatively named One Rochester Park, will be launched around Chinese New Year – and the project is expected to benefit from the new-found buzz of the Rochester Park area.

The 368-unit development is right next door to the up-and-coming Rochester Park, a dining and retail enclave set against a rustic backdrop of undulating grounds and green canopies.

The project is developed by United Engineers (UE), which last year secured the public-private partnership (PPP) project to build a business hotel and mixed development in one-north from JTC Corporation.

Most of the apartments in the project will be 1,200 square feet two-bedroom and 1,500 sq ft three-bedroom units.

Separately, UE will also be building 250 hotel rooms and 120 serviced residence units.

The whole mixed development is designed by Tange & Associates, headed by the son of the late Kenzo Tange, who designed UE’s flagship development UE Square about a decade ago.

Said UE: ‘The design of one-north, of which the mixed development forms a part, is a self-contained concept – eat, live and play.

‘It promotes the exchange of ideas and interflow of traffic, and as such does not promote boundaries between land use – and hence little or no use of fences.’

Market watchers said that it is hard to predict the launch price for the development as the concept is new.

UE has previously said that prices could start at about $550 per sq ft, but with the upward trend in property prices over the past few months, the launch price should be well above that when the time comes.

Prices will also be boosted by the area’s new-found fame – it is fast becoming known for its F&B outlets housed in atmospheric colonial bungalows. UE gained two such bungalows when acquiring the site, which will soon be leased out to F&B tenants.

One Rochester Park is UE’s first wholly owned residential project since the company successfully launched its apartments at UE Square a decade ago. Then, at the height of the property boom, units were sold out within a day, said the company.

Since then, while UE has taken stakes in other residential projects, it has focused on its core business of engineering and construction.

In a recent interview with BT, UE’s chief executive Jackson Yap said that he was especially interested in working on more PPP projects with JTC.

UE’s managing director David Liew said the company might also look into participating in the request for proposals (RFPs) to build Phase 2B of the cutting-edge science and engineering R&D hub Fusionopolis in one-north, after JTC said it will launch an RFP next year for private developers to build the project.

Source : Business Times – 19 Dec 2006

Fusionpolis to be a physical sciences ‘icon’

FUSIONPOLIS is set to become the icon for physical science research in Singapore, just like the Biopolis is for biomedical research.

When completed by end-2008, the $500-700 million complex, next to the Insead Asia campus at Ayer Rajah, will be the only science facility in the world integrated with a train station.

‘The purpose of building the Fusionpolis and the infrastructure, relocating all the institutes there, is really to provide the icon for physical sciences,’ said Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) chairman Philip Yeo. ‘With that facility, phase one and two, we should be able to attract bright young people, both locally and abroad, to come into physical sciences and engineering.’

Comprising two towers and a podium, phase one of the Fusionpolis project is expected to be completed by the middle of next year. It will have 1.2 million sq ft of space on 1.2 ha of land. According to developer JTC Corp, about 60 per cent of the space has been taken up, mainly by four public research institutes under A*Star’s Science and Engineering Research Council.

The complex, designed by renowned Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa, is positioned to be the epicentre of the infocommunications technology and media industries. Like Biopolis, it boasts shared facilities including seminar rooms and production studios, and features satellite access, a roof-top swimming pool, service apartments and other amenities. With a capacity for 3,000-5,000 people, it will be linked to Biopolis by road and a shuttle service, facilitating interaction among researchers from both hubs.

‘So if you look at Biopolis and Fusionpolis, eventually, when they are fully developed, we are talking about 10,000 people here,’ said Mr Yeo. ‘Of which, more than half – probably two-thirds – are doctors, PhDs and specialists. It’s a very major investment.’

The project will be key to developing research expertise in physical sciences, which will be A*Star’s focus over the next five years. While Singapore has drawn a reasonable talent pool in biomedical research in the past five years, Mr Yeo reckons that there is plenty of room for improvement in the physical science area, which encompasses IT and engineering fields.

‘We need good engineering students to take up graduate studies and come into research, so that we can use that to upgrade our manufacturing sector,’ he said. ‘Our manufacturing sector cannot depend on just low-cost labour, low-cost inputs to sustain ourselves. The trick for Singapore is to push up the ladder . . . develop new products, create new products – intellectual property especially – as physical sciences become imperative.’

Source : Business Times - 28 Jan 2006