InCity Lofts offered for sale at $70m

INCITY Lofts, an eight-storey block of small office, home office (Soho) units at Beach Road completed about three years ago, is being offered for sale at a minimum price of $70 million or $1,149 per square foot (psf) of strata area.

The land lease tenure of the site has been extended to a full 99-year term starting April 2004, after the building was completed.

InCity Lofts, at 700 Beach Road, is being sold by its developer, In-Space Pte Ltd, whose shareholders are said to include Wee Chwee Heng of Kumpulan Akitek.

InCity Lofts comprises a ground-floor retail unit as well as 54 Soho units – ranging from studio units to maisonette penthouses – spread across the second to eighth levels of the building, which has a roof-top pool. There are also 24 surface and covered carpark lots on the ground level of the development.

‘The majority of the units in the development are leased; and leases are mostly short-term, hence the new investor can reposition or re-let the building and ride on the strong office rental market,’ said Cushman & Wakefield managing director Donald Han, whose firm is marketing the InCity Lofts en bloc sale through an expression of interest exercise that closes on Sept 28.

Nearby commercial buildings like The Concourse are operating near full occupancy with asking rents for office units in the region of $10 psf a month, Mr Han said.

Assuming InCity Lofts units are rented out conservatively at $6 psf a month and based on a minimum price of $70 million, the net yield for an investor works out to over 5 per cent a year, he added.

‘This is a top-end yield play for investors looking for an aggressive rental with capital appreciation growth,’ Mr Han said.

InCity Lofts has a land area of 18,401 sq ft and a fully built up plot ratio (ratio of maximum potential gross floor area to land area) of 4.15.

Source : Business Times – 05 Sep 2007

BS Capital Launches Lumiere Preview

Following the weekend sale of all but 15 of the 175 freehold condos at The Sixth Avenue Residences developed by Keppel Land and Singapore Land, BS Capital yesterday opened the showflat for its Lumiere development off Shenton Way.

BS Capital chief executive Chin Teck Chuan said yesterday that sales are likely to begin this week, but pricing has not been finalised. Prices at The Sixth Avenue Residences averaged about $1,000 per square foot (psf).

Some agents who brought their clients to the showflat at Mistri Road yesterday were overheard saying that prices in the 99-year leasehold project could be in excess of $1,500 psf.

Lumiere’s pricing is also expected to be pegged to that for City Developments’ One Shenton apartments as both projects are expected to compete for a similar pool of buyers, market watchers say.

Some agents are touting One Shenton for preview this week, but there is no official word so far from CityDev.

BS Capital is developing Lumiere on the HMC Building site it bought last year. The 45-storey development will comprise 168 residential units and four street-level shops or restaurants.

Lumiere’s sole penthouse will be around 5,100 sq ft. The rest of the apartments will be smallish units – studios, one-bedroom (plus study) apartments, and two-bedders.

Market watchers think that given Lumiere’s smallish units, the absolute investment will be relatively small – which suggests that speculators might make a beeline for the project when BS Capital begins sales.

This will be especially the case following spillover demand from those who missed out on buying Marina Bay Residences last week.

Over at Sixth Avenue, Keppel Land and SingLand began selling their five storey project, The Sixth Avenue Residences, on Friday last week.

The project is being marketed by CB Richard Ellis and DTZ Debenham Tie Leung. The condo will be developed on the Avenue Park site that Keppel Land bought in April 1997.

In November 2001, Keppel Land wrote down the site’s value to $366 psf per plot ratio (ppr) as part of a $455 million writedown of its landbank.

In March this year, SingLand took a 48 per cent interest in the property for $53.8 million, or $463 psf ppr. The stake had been formerly held by ComfortDelGro, which said at the time it had sold its stake to Keppel Land for $54.9 million. The March deal valued the 172,820 sq ft freehold site at $112 million, or $463 psf ppr.

Source : Business Times – 19 Dec 2006

Sales of Soho units hit by CPF rule change

A RECENT rule change that stops people using their Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings to buy commercial properties has claimed an unexpected victim.

The fledgling market for small office, home office (Soho) apartments has been hit, with 80 per cent of prospective buyers at one development walking out the minute they realised their CPF savings cannot be used for the purchase.

Soho units, which allow buyers to live and work within the same space, are approved for office use and usually come furnished with kitchens and bathrooms.

They were designed to encourage city living and the few projects with Soho units are mostly downtown, such as Far East Organization’s Central above Clarke Quay MRT station.

But a Soho development being built in Joo Chiat Road by Shining Holdings has seen an initially strong demand almost completely vanish, after the change in CPF rulings took effect on July 1.

When it first sold The Modules in May, 25 of its 48 units were snapped up within a few weeks. But in the more than two months since July 1, only three have been sold, said marketing agent OrangeTee.

It added that this is mainly due to the CPF Board phasing out the Non-Residential Property Scheme in July.

The board said the scheme – introduced in 1986 to allow members to enhance their CPF returns by investing in property other than homes – is no longer relevant as members can now invest their savings in property funds rather than directly in shops and offices.

But this means potential buyers who could have used CPF savings for the down payment and monthly instalments on a Soho unit must now fork out funds for both in cash.

‘On average, about 80 per cent of people who walk in to ask about the project turn around and walk out after they find they can’t use CPF to buy the units,’ an OrangeTee agent told The Straits Times.

Soho apartments in prime districts are still selling well, as they attract buyers who do not have to rely on CPF funds.

Southbank near Lavender MRT station sold all 60 of its Soho units after July 1, said marketing agent Knight Frank.

As for Far East’s Central, few units have been sold this year as marketing has been temporarily halted. Thus it could not gauge the impact of the CPF changes.

But property experts said that, looking ahead, the new rule may dampen the Soho market, which is relatively new.

‘The ruling would probably affect singles and young couples with no kids who plan to use Soho units as their primary home,’ said a consultant.

The impact on the Soho market is likely to be greatest in developments away from the city but not many developers plan to build Soho units away from the city.

Mr Nicholas Mak, director of research and consultancy at Knight Frank, said the ruling ‘appears to go against the grain of trying to encourage entrepreneurship’, as Soho units allow buyers to use their office space as homes.

‘To the extent that it curbs demand for Soho apartments, it will also give developers less incentive to build such units, which may lead to less supply in the already small Soho market,’ he said.

The market is not likely to grow soon. Two developers that had been planning projects with a Soho component now say they will not sell such units.

CapitaLand’s Selegie Complex will have Soho units, but they will be leased rather than sold, the firm said yesterday.

United Engineers also said last year that it would include 160 Soho units at its upcoming Vista Xchange at one-north.

But it has clarified that the units – now reduced to 60 – will be ‘Soho-style’ homes and not actually zoned for commercial use.

fiochan@sph.com.sg

Fledgling market SOHO units, which allow buyers to live and work within the same space, are approved for office use and usually come furnished with kitchens and bathrooms.

They were designed to encourage city living and the few projects with Soho units are mostly downtown, such as Far East’s Central above Clarke Quay MRT station. The impact on the Soho market is likely to be greatest in developments away from the city but not many developers plan to build Soho units away from the city.

Source : Straits Times – 8 Sept 2006

Soho units, condos near MRT stations set to go on sale

HOME buyers who want public transport close at hand should think about making tracks to new developments going up near the Lavender and Newton MRT stations.

Developer UOL Group is replacing Eng Cheong Tower at the junction of Crawford Street and North Bridge Road with a project that includes residential units and small office home office (Soho) spaces.

Called Southbank, the 99-year leasehold project near Lavender MRT station comprises a 40-storey tower with 197 residential units and a 20-storey block of 60 Soho units. There are also three penthouses of up to 4,155 sq ft.

It is being launched for sale on Saturday at an average price of $600 per sq ft (psf) for residential units and $750 psf for Soho units.

UOL sold 20 residential units during a preview for staff and business associates on Monday.

The target market is single, young professionals and working couples, as well as retirees as the units – one or three bedrooms – are relatively small at between 592 sq ft and 1,313 sq ft.

The target market is quite different for the high-end Orchard Scotts project near Newton MRT station, which Far East Organization will start selling next month.

But unlike a typical condo, buyers at the 99-year leasehold project will be able to enjoy the sort of luxurious hotel-style services Far East provides at its service apartments in the same project.

And like the service apartment residents, buyers will have access to a butler, a concierge and housekeeping services, for example.

They can also use the two dining rooms with kitchens for private parties.

Orchard Scotts, designed by the architectural firm Arguitectonica, has 180 residential units for sale from $1,400 psf.

They range in size from 1,500 sq ft to 4,000 sq ft and are in two blocks – one of 76 units and one of 104. The first 50 units go on sale on July 8. A third block offers 205 service apartments for lease.

About 75 per cent of the project’s 263,000 sq ft grounds is devoted to landscape and recreational facilities, including four swimming pools and a basketball court, said Far East’s chief operating officer of property sales, Mr Chia Boon Kuah.

Orchard Scotts was reportedly to have been launched as early as 1998 and then in late 2002 or early 2003.

Some units have been sold to foreign buyers, including those from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, India and Russia.

Orchard Scotts was marketed in Hong Kong and Jakarta several months ago and is likely to be promoted overseas again, including in China, India and Malaysia.

Source : Business Times – 22 Jun 2006

SoHo units will be main draw of Selegie Rd project

OFFICES and small office, home office (SoHo) units will be the main components in the new project CapitaLand is building on the former Selegie Complex site.

There will also be some serviced residences and retail space. The project, being built on a 7,000 square metre site at the foot of Mount Sophia, is slated for completion in 2008.

A CapitaLand spokeswoman said: ‘The Selegie site will be redeveloped into a vibrant integrated lifestyle hub within the new Singapore Arts, Culture, Learning and Entertainment precinct.’

Selegie Complex was part of the portfolio of the former Pidemco Land, which in 2000 merged with DBS Land to form CapitaLand. Pidemco is said to have acquired Selegie Complex when it bought Urban Development Management Company, which had owned the property, in 1995 as part of a reshuffling of assets within its parent Temasek Holdings.

It was reported in 2004 that the Selegie Complex site had about 65 years left of its original 99-year lease. Market watchers reckon CapitaLand would have had the lease topped up to the original 99 years by now, or at least that it would be in negotiations on the matter.

The CapitaLand spokeswoman said that the office units in the new development will be intended for business schools, professional consulting firms, trading companies and creative services operations, while the SoHo units will be pitched at professionals and those in the creative industry, in addition to students from overseas.

The project’s retail concept will target young, trend-setting individuals studying, working and living nearby. ‘Trendy pubs and alfresco cafes will offer cool hangouts, while the shop units will showcase eye-catching designs and a unique retail offering with differentiating identities,’ the spokeswoman said.

Source : Business Times - 23 Feb 2006