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

The green route to en bloc redevelopment – Demolition is wasteful and not environmentally friendly, says Hillcrest MD

THE property boom here prompted Hong Kong- based Hillcrest Capital to buy the 34-unit Anderson Green in February for $112 million in February. But instead of tearing it down to build a new condo, it will gut it, then reuse the existing structure.

Hillcrest managing director Lyon Lau says: ‘It is not environmentally friendly to demolish a perfectly fine building only to rebuild something similar.

‘Although the concept of alteration and addition might be new to Singapore, in Hong Kong it has been practised widely.’

More than 160 residential buildings have been sold en bloc for redevelopment here in the past two years, but many are still structurally sound.

Architect Tai Lee Siang, president of the Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA), says: ‘Buildings are designed to stand for as long as the materials they are built of allow them to stand. This can be hundreds of years or less than a week – think of cardboard houses.’

Most of the buildings that have been sold are about 20 years’ old, but the sites they sit on can house bigger and taller projects, so it makes business sense to demolish them.

Anderson Green, which will be relaunched for sale as 21 Anderson, is already built up to its maximum potential, so strictly speaking the decision to not demolish was not completely for the love of the environment.

But perhaps what is really not sustainable are periodic increases in plot ratios.

The National University of Singapore’s Assistant Professor Hee Limin (Department of Architecture, School of Design and Environment) says: ‘In a way our planning system encourages this redevelopment.’

According to her, it’s a shame that economic forces ‘control’ the landscape. And these economic forces do not take all factors into consideration.

There is also a cost implication in the ‘embodied energy’ in buildings, she says. This refers not only to the energy it uses once it is up and running, but the resources exhausted to build and possibly recycling it.

The study of a ‘life cycle’ of a building is still relatively new. But considering US National Institute of Standards and Technology figures, which reveal that building construction consumes 40 per cent of the raw stone, gravel and sand used and 25 per cent of the virgin timber used worldwide each year, the price of a new building is actually considerably higher.

City Developments Ltd (CDL) recently won the Building and Construction Authority’s Green Mark Platinum award and is probably the greenest developer in Singapore. Its general manager Eddie Wong concedes: ‘While there are negative environmental and social impacts from en bloc redevelopment, we must also be mindful of the tremendous positive effects of such redevelopment’.

He highlights a reduction in long-term energy consumption through more energy-efficient buildings.

CDL does recycle some building debris, but recycling or reusing a whole building is a different matter.

The most environmentally friendly solution would be to not demolish buildings at all, but ‘economic forces’ are not likely to support this.

Pioneer architect Tay Kheng Soon of Akitek Tenggara says the simplest solution would be to allow the transfer of development rights.

‘Owners of a site that has been given increased plot ratio should be able to sell to a developer who wants higher plot ratio on another site. This would also require a masterplan that allows for plot ratio increases above those pegged at a certain level. All in all, it requires a more sophisticated planning process than the present one.’

Other ways suggested by Mr Tay include rating existing buildings based on heritage. ‘The lower the rating, the more demolition is permitted. Correspondingly, a higher-rated property will enjoy a property tax rebate to balance out the benefits.’

SIA’s Mr Tai adds: ‘The attitude of keeping and maximising the value of old buildings for urban renewal requires a complete change of mindset. This is not always possible as it is human nature to yearn for growth, change and improvement.’

The Building and Construction Authority is encouraging the use of recycled materials in construction.

It promotes the use of Eco-concrete made from recycled material used in pilot projects for non-structural works such as pavement slabs in housing estates, linkways and park connectors.

Source : Business Times – 11 Sept 2007

Size of winning bid colours green project – CityDev consortium clinches deal while a bigger bid fails to make the cut

As a new symbol of environmentally-friendly architecture was unveiled yesterday, green became the topic of discussion in more ways than one. The award of the former NCO Club/Beach Road camp grounds to a City Developments consortium was accompanied by a tinge of envy as observers pointed out that the winning land bid of nearly $1.69 billion is believed to be around $500 million lower than the top bid, which was not even short-listed under the two-envelope tender.

The Urban Redevelopment Authority chose to first evaluate the various concepts before looking at the money on the table.

CityDev and its partners Istithmar (part of the Dubai World Group) and El-Ad Group are expected by market watchers to invest a total sum of $2.5 billion or more in the project. They plan to develop two towers (45- and 42-storeys high) – that are expected to house two luxury hotels, offices and apartments – and restore four conservation buildings (for retail and hotel-related uses like function rooms).

The cutting-edge green features in the Foster & Partners-designed scheme include slanting facades for the towers to catch winds and direct air flow to ground-level spaces, a canopy covering open areas, linking conservation buildings with two high-rise towers and providing shelter from the elements and drawing air currents to cool the area beneath it. And water will be collected off the towers and the canopy to flow into a holding tank underground, instead of being wasted.

The development, to be called South Beach, is set to become a ‘revolutionary New Eco-Quarter in Singapore’ when it is completed by 2012, CityDev said.

Still, the price of the winning bid came under some scrutiny.

Of the seven bids on the table, only two – that of the CityDev consortium and a joint venture between Keppel Land and Cheung Kong Holdings – made it past the concept evaluation stage. That is when URA moved onto the second stage of the two-envelope process to award the tender to the higher bidder.

The Keppel Land-Cheung Kong bid was worth $1.39 billion while the CityDev consortium’s bid of $1.69 billion was comfortably higher and clinched the deal for it. The winning bid for the 3.5 hectare plot with a 99-year leasehold tenure worked out to $1,069 per square foot of potential gross floor area.

The top bid, believed to be more than $2 billion, had come from one of the other five who tendered but did not make it past the concept stage. They included: a JV between Pontiac Land Group and Morgan Stanley; CapitaLand; another JV between Keppel Land and Cheung Kong; and two bids by Overseas Union Enterprise.

URA said that overall, the CityDev consortium’s concept proposal offers a ‘compelling and attractive scheme’ that would create a ‘truly distinctive development and an exemplary showcase of ‘green’ architecture in Singapore’.

CityDev executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng said: ‘We are confident that South Beach will elevate Singapore’s unique branding as a global city and help attract more prominent investors from all over the world.’

CityDev, Istithmar and El-Ad will each hold a one-third stake in the project. CityDev is no stranger to its partners. El-Ad is a US property investment group controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva, to whom CityDev’s hotel arm Millennium & Copthorne Hotels sold its stake in The Plaza hotel in New York in August 2004. City e-Solutions, a hospitality business unit of CityDev’s parent Hong Leong Group, and Istithmar are partners in a venture that plans to open no-frills hotels in Southeast Asia under Tony Fernandes’s Tune Hotels.Com brand.

The development on the 3.5 hectare Beach Road site will be directly next to the Circle Line Esplanade MRT Station and will also be linked by an underground pedestrian network to the existing City Hall MRT Interchange Station. The site can be developed into a maximum gross floor area of 1.58 million sq ft. CB Richard Ellis executive director Li Hiaw Ho reckoned that the developers will sell the apartments to help part-finance the project.

URA said the attractive first-storey layout in the winning scheme includes a series of internal streets, sunken courtyards and tiered gardens lined with shops, and food and beverage outlets. It said the development will be potentially able to achieve a Green Mark Platinum rating, the highest here for buildings that feature energy-efficient, water-efficient and environmentally-friendly design.

‘The undulating geometry of the environmental filter canopy is designed to help induce cooling air currents through the spaces below’ and the canopy as well as building facades will incorporate photovoltaic cells (solar cells), it added.

Source : Business Times – 11 Sept 2007

Say goodbye to the goblin … Sub-prime spook was exaggerated, could vanish by Halloween: Analyst

IT was the “goblin” that wreaked havoc on markets the world over but come Oct 31, investors may be celebrating Halloween for more reasons than one.

The goblin that is the impact of the United States sub-prime mortgage problems could go away as early as then, and growth would return by year-end in time for Christmas, said Mr Ken Fisher, CEO of Fisher Investment.

Saying the sub-prime spook had been exaggerated, Mr Fisher likened it to the scare caused by the Y2K millennium bug and the avian flu warnings, where the perceived risks were greater than the actual threat to the global economy.

“The fact is, if every sub-prime mortgage that could possibly default defaulted, the most it could do is slow down US gross domestic product some,” he told the media on the sidelines of the Forbes Global CEO Conference here yesterday.

“The US economy may slow down, but so what? Because the US is the biggest economy, they tend to think that when the US gets a cold, the world is going to get pneumonia. This, today, is wrong,” said Mr Fisher, a long-running Forbes Magazine columnist with a reputation for accurately forecasting market trends such as the bursting of the dotcom bubble in March 2000.

He could well be proven right again. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is reportedly raising its world economic growth forecast upwards to 5.3 per cent from the 5.2 per cent it indicated in July.

This is even as it expects the US economy to grow at a slower 1.9 per cent, versus July’s forecast of 2 per cent, according to Financial Times Deutschland, citing unnamed sources.

The IMF expects global growth next year to be 5.2 per cent, and US growth to pick up speed to 2.8 per cent. As for China, the forecast this year has been raised from 11.2 per cent to 11.5 per cent.

With the US’ GDP of US$13 trillion ($19.8 trillion) contributing to only about a third of the US$42 trillion global GDP, the shrinking US economy should actually be led by the performance of the larger non-US economies combined, Mr Fisher said.

Even so, the two economic powerhouses — China and India — would still be affected by a big slowdown in the US economy, said Nobel Laureate Michael Spence, speaking separately on the sidelines of the conference.

But things could be different in 10 years, he added.

“In 1981, when China grew at 9 to 10 per cent, it didn’t make a bit of a difference to the global economy — it was a tiny little economy. Now it is rather large,” said Prof Spence, who won the Nobel Prize in 2001 for economics and is Professor Emeritus of management with the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

The 10 per cent growth enjoyed by China last year is equal to about 2 per cent of the US GDP, and the professor believes that at current exchange rates, the Chinese economy could be worth up to US$4 trillion in the next three to four years.

While the longer term outlook may still be healthy, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education and Second Minister for Finance, warned at a separate event yesterday: “The re-pricing of risk in financial markets is probably not over. There is also increased uncertainty in the near term for the US economy, which could impact the outlook in Asia.”

Speaking at the opening ceremony of a new office for SG Private Banking, he added: “It is too early to say what the economic impact in Asia will be. Should the US economy slow down sharply, Asia will certainly feel the drag.” 
 
Source : Today – 11 Sept 2007

BH Global to buy Penjuru land for $2.5m

BH Global Marine, a supply chain management company, has entered into an option agreement to purchase a property at 10 Penjuru Lane for $2.5 million. The land, which has area of about 11,700 square metres, is adjacent to BH Global’s headquarters at 8 Penjuru Lane and will add on to the existing land area of 8,533 sq m. The lease period is extendable up to 2049 subject to lessor JTC’s terms and conditions. A warehouse as well as office blocks will be built on the premises.

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

More market panic ahead as banks ‘fess up’ on sub-prime – Confidence in banks exceptionally low, says JP Morgan Asia

Be prepared for more market panic as major banks continue to ‘fess up’ to their holdings of US sub-prime mortgage securities over the next several months, said Ivan Leung, JP Morgan Asia chief investment strategist.

The world’s financial markets are in turmoil as worries over exposure to the US sub-prime mortgage debt has led to a freeze in the credit market with global central banks having to step in to provide liquidity.

Around the world, banks are under intense pressure as investors and analysts cast a spotlight on their exposure to sub-prime, or high-risk, property loans in the US through their investments in collateralised debt obligations, known as CDOs.

There is little information on the amount of CDOs held by banks, which has led to ‘exceptional low’ confidence in the banks, said Mr Leung in an interview last week. In the past month, European and Asian banks including DBS Group Holdings and United Overseas Bank have revealed their CDO holdings.

‘(US banks) originate it, they package it, they sell it – but it doesn’t necessarily mean they hold on to it,’ Mr Leung said.

He said that, often, US banks do hold on to some of these CDOs in structured investment vehicles – off their balance sheets – so there is no transparency on their holdings. He described this as scary.

‘European banks, and to a lesser extent – so far as we have seen – Asian banks, were purchasers of these products,’ Mr Leung said.

‘So the crisis in confidence is not so much that there could be a 80 billion or even a 200 billion dollar loss of sub-prime; the confidence issue is that we don’t know exactly who is holding all this debt,’ he said.

And we don’t really know the prices of all this debt, and how much of it will be subject to default, he said.

‘The confessions, you see them once in a while; that’s why we think this is an issue, because over the next three to six months, some banks will begin to confess that they have some on their balance sheet, and some off-balance sheet, but clearly right now, nobody really has a true picture of what’s going on. ‘It’s the worst of all situations – nobody knows.’

Mr Leung expects the markets to veer between confidence and ‘blind panic’ each time there is another disclosure.

Bank shares skidded on Aug 24 after DBS and three of Asia’s biggest banks revealed bigger-than-expected exposure to the US sub-prime mortgage crisis.

DBS said that it had US$1.6 billion (S$2.43 billion) in holdings of CDOs – more than the S$1.3 billion disclosed on Aug 7.

An additional 1.5 million sub-prime borrowers may fall behind on their mortgage payments as introductory interest rates on those loans rise this year and next, US Federal Deposit Insurance Corp chairman Sheila Bair said last week.

Among the 2.5 million sub-prime mortgages with interest rates that are expected to be reset this year and next, ‘1.5 million will be in financial distress’, Ms Bair said.

Getting any kind of centralised data collection will be very challenging, she said.

JP Morgan estimates that US$600 billion worth of adjustable rate mortgages will be reset over the next 12 months.

But, following the adage that there are always opportunities when risks are high, Mr Leung said that one way for investors to take advantage of the current extreme volatility in the markets is to buy ‘plain vanilla’ short-term structured notes with capital protection.

The notes are designed to give a high payout even if the stock markets move only slightly higher, he said. ‘When volatility is as high as it is right now, we can go for simple structures,’ Mr Leung said.

The notes that JP Morgan is offering are meant for investors who share the view that the US mortgage crisis will not lead to a recession. Lower growth, yes, and therefore moderately bullish stock markets still.

Mr Leung said that JP Morgan was positive on undervalued markets such as Thailand and South Korea and favours Singapore and China companies which have superior corporate and economic fundamentals.

Source : Business Times – 10 Sept 2007

Some Katong commercial properties going for en-bloc sale – Buildings include Katong Shopping Centre; sales could help rejuvenate area and boost image

FACED with flagging businesses and dwindling human traffic, the shop owners of several commercial buildings in Katong are coming together to sell their properties en bloc.

This has led to renewed interest in the old East Coast hot spot recently, sparking hopes among residents and shopkeepers nearby that the area – famed for its good food and old-world charm – will get the rejuvenation that it needs to boost its image.

At least five commercial buildings along Mountbatten Road and East Coast Road have, or are in the process of engaging marketing agents to launch their collective sales. These include Katong Mall, Paramount Hotel and Shopping Centre, Roxy Square, Katong Plaza and the iconic Katong Shopping Centre, said Mr Lui Seng Fatt, the regional director and head of investments at Jones Lang LaSalle.

In its heyday, Katong Shopping Centre was the heart and soul of the East. But as the years wore on, the lack of entertainment facilities and an attractive retail mix made it a poor rival to malls like Parkway Parade.

Many of these buildings in Katong are more than 20 years old and, in the case of Katong Shopping Centre, which opened in 1973, more than 30.

Dr Lim Un Huat, an owner of several shops at Katong Mall, told The Straits Times most shop owners were in favour of a collective sale, and were waiting for the right price to sell.

Mr Lui said the ‘tired-looking’ buildings were overdue for a revamp, especially since residential projects in the area have gone upmarket.

Prices of homes in the Katong, Meyer and Amber Road residential enclave have soared recently with the property boom. The area’s proximity to the upcoming Integrated Resort in Marina Bay is an added lure.

United Industrial Corporation’s One Amber and Grand Duchess sold out around $700 to $800 per sq feet (psf) recently. CapitaLand’s The Seafront on Meyer and GuocoLand’s The View @ Meyer fetched new highs of between $1,500 psf and $1,800 psf.

While the shop owners do not expect to make a ‘huge windfall’, Mr Lui said selling en bloc would help them unlock the value of their shops.

He estimates that the prices transacted would be between $500 psf and $1,000 psf, depending on the building.

Colliers International’s executive director for investment sales, Mr Ho Eng Joo, said Katong’s rejuvenation would be a ‘natural progression’ following the influx of residents living in the area’s new condominiums.

‘Katong’s residential area is getting quite vibrant, so the commercial side has to catch up now,’ he said.

The only setback, he added, would be the new rules for collective sales – expected to kick in next month – which will prolong the sale process.

But in three or four years’ time, Katong could be transformed, he added.

However, while some property consultants remain optimistic about Katong’s future, others remain cautious.

Director of marketing and business development Ku Swee Yong at Savills Singapore said the area was a ‘bit of a mixed bag’ – comprising offices, residential apartments, hotels and retail space – which makes it ‘neither here nor there’ for redevelopment.

‘The area’s physical limitations mean a very creative approach is needed to redevelop it,’ he added.

From a conservation perspective, the revitalisation of Katong is desirable if done properly, said Singapore Heritage Society president Kevin Tan.

Over the years, the retail business in the area has withered, and given way to maid agencies, pubs and video arcades. But this can be changed by injecting some new life and a new trade mix into the area, he added.

He hopes, however, that the architecture of Katong Shopping Centre will be conserved as it was ‘very important in East Coast’s history’.

Shop owner Dr Lim concurred: ‘We all hope to bring back the hustle and bustle of the old Katong.’

MOVING FORWARD

‘Katong’s residential area is getting quite vibrant, so the commercial side has to catch up now.’ MR HO, Colliers International executive director for investment sales

OBSTACLES TO BEAT

‘The area’s limitations mean a very creative approach is needed to redevelop it.’ MR KU, Savills Singapore director of marketing and business development, on the area’s mixed developments

Source : Straits Times – 10 Sept 2007

Strata landed homes look set to be big trend

AUGUST and September are typically slow months for new property launches, due to the superstition surrounding the Hungry Ghost month.

But developers are not sitting idly by this year. Several launches are in the works for the last months of the year, and one of the big emerging trends appears to be strata-titled landed homes, or cluster housing projects.

Property firm CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), for one, identifies at least 21 such projects in the pipeline.

For the uninitiated, cluster homes look exactly like conventional landed homes. They are usually at least two storeys high and come in a variety of sizes, ranging from terrace houses to bungalows.

The main difference is that cluster homes come with strata titles, as do condominiums, rather than land titles.

In a cluster project, the land is shared by all the owners, explained Mr Li Hiaw Ho, an executive director of CBRE Research.

This has two main implications. First, cluster projects can be sold en bloc as long as the minimum required owner consensus is met. This means an 80 per cent agreement for projects more than 10 years old and 90 per cent for younger estates.

Second, owners of strata houses do not have the flexibility of tearing down and rebuilding their properties. Owners of conventional landed homes, on the other hand, can make additions and alterations that affect the external appearance of the homes.

Generally, cluster housing projects tend to be more standardised in appearance than the usual landed houses.

Each unit is typically two to three storeys high, and most come with four to six bedrooms, attics or roof terraces, and basements, said Mr Li.

Parking spaces are also a plus in cluster projects, which usually include one or two basement carpark lots for each house.

The built-up area for each house ranges from about 2,500 sq ft for a terrace house to 3,500 to 4,000 sq ft for a detached house, added Mr Li.

The larger bungalows can go up to almost 6,000 sq ft, with roof terraces usually accounting for another 500 sq ft.

Cluster housing is not a new concept in Singapore, having first made an appearance in 1993. But these projects became more mainstream only from 2000 onwards, and have taken off in a big way just recently.

‘More customers are accepting the product now, so developers are also encouraged to build more of these houses,’ said Mr Ku Swee Yong, the director of marketing and business development at Savills Singapore.

He noted that Far East Organization’s Greenwood series of landed homes, one of the more popular landed housing projects in recent years, is planning to release its next phase in a cluster housing style.

Anecdotal evidence from property agents also seems to indicate that foreigners find it easier to get approval to buy strata landed homes than to buy conventional landed homes.

‘Cluster homes are strata-titled, so in such a development, there would be a good balance of voting share rights between foreigners and Singaporeans,’ said one agent. ‘Also, generally, the smaller the property, the easier it is to get approval if you are a foreigner.’

For the individual home buyer, there are several advantages to strata homes that conventional landed housing do not offer.

Among the greatest draws of cluster houses are the communal facilities and security features. Facilities often include at least one swimming pool, jacuzzis, a gym, a clubhouse and barbecue areas.

But these perks come at a cost: Strata home owners have to pay a monthly maintenance fee, much like condominium owners, to maintain these facilities.

Previous estimates by consultancy Colliers International have put these fees at $250 to more than $400 a month, depending on the size of the estate and the facilities available.

Apart from the maintenance cost, cluster homes and landed homes in the same location are usually similarly priced, said CBRE’s Mr Li. ‘The facilities provided in a cluster project will be a trade-off against the loss of the private enjoyment of land.’

For a home buyer who is trying to decide between strata and conventional landed homes, ‘it will ultimately boil down to a question of lifestyle’, said Mr Li.

While some home owners might prefer a landed home with large common areas and some facilities within the compound, others might want to have the land title to their landed property, he added.

Source : Sunday Times – 9 Sept 2007

Current and upcoming cluster housing projects

Bungalows in Hua Guan Avenue

What: Six freehold bungalows, of which one has been sold.

Size: Units range from 4,200 sq ft to 4,500 sq ft.

Price: About $1,280 per sq ft (psf) of built-up area, or $5.4 million onwards.

Features: Each bungalow comes with individual swimming pools and two basement carpark lots.

Developer: A boutique developer/contractor

Dunsfold 18 in Dunsfold Drive

What:18 freehold bungalows, of which seven are unsold.

Size: Units range from 4,155 sq ft to 4,499 sq ft.

Price: $780 psf of built-up area, or $3 million onwards.

Features: Each bungalow is two storeys high and comes with five bedrooms, an attic, a basement, two basement carpark lots and a private pool.

Developer: Fortune Land

Siglap 33 at Siglap Hill

What: Six freehold cluster bungalows.

Size: Units range from 3,498 sq ft to 4,284 sq ft.

Launch/price: Launch date and pricing still unknown.

Westmont in West Coast Road

What: Nine terrace houses and two semi-detached houses, all freehold.

Size: The terraces range in size from 2,820 sq ft to 3,498 sq ft, while the semi-detached houses range from 2,949 sq ft to 3,079 sq ft.

Features: Facilities include a pool, private jacuzzi and barbecue areas. The units are three storeys high and come with four bedrooms, an attic and a basement.

Developer: Macly

Dalla Vale in Springleaf Avenue

What: 60 units of semi-detached houses. Thirty-six units were released in the first two phases, half of which have been sold. Phase 3 will be released when 70 per cent to 80 per cent of the first two phases have been sold.

Size: Units range from 3,218 to 3,261 sq ft.

Price: Phase 1 houses are priced at $2.1 million, while houses released in phase 2 are priced between $2.2 million and $2.3 million, depending on the direction the unit faces.

Features: Each unit has five bedrooms and comes with two basement carparks. Other facilities include a jacuzzi, a clubhouse, swimming pools and a gym.

Developer: Far East Organization

Lornie 18 at 14 Lornie Road

What: 18 freehold bungalows

Size: Units range from 4,392 sq ft to 4,930 sq ft.

Price: Priced between $5 million and $5.5 million. As at July 31, three had been sold of which two were sold in July for $1,150 psf.

Features: Facilities include 36 private basement carparks, a children’s pool and swimming pool and barbecue areas.

Expected temporary occupation permit (TOP) date: Dec 31, 2009

Developer: Clydesbuilt Group

Hillcrest Villas in Hillcrest Road/ Dunearn Road

What:168 strata terrace houses, 99-year leasehold.

Size: Each unit is about 3,100 sq ft.

Price: Has not been determined, but the houses are expected to be released for sale in a few weeks’ time.

Features: The two-storey houses come with five bedrooms, an attic, a basement and private carpark lots.

Communal facilities: Swimming pools, a clubhouse, a gym, and a lounge.

Expected TOP date: June 30, 2011

Developer: MCL Land

Illoura in Old Holland Road, behind Tessarina

What: 28 freehold semi-detached houses.

Size: Units are about 4,000 sq ft.

Price: Prices believed to be upwards of $4.5 million each. Six were sold in July for $970 to $1,175 psf of built-up area.

Developer: Brisbane Properties

Kings’ 8 in Kings Road

What: Eight freehold detached houses.

Size: Units range from 4,898 sq ft to 5,414 sq ft.

Price: Starts at $5.25 million.

Features: Each two-storey house comes with an attic, two private basement carparks and its own private pool.

Source : Sunday Times – 9 Sept 2007