MENTION Lau Pa Sat, and many Singaporeans will think of satay, barbecued seafood and steamboat. Is that any way to remember a unique 150-year-old building that looms large in Singapore's history? No, says senior lawyer and former judicial commissioner Joe Grimberg, who wrote to The Straits Times last week to say the majestic building is in a miserable state, cluttered by 'stalls and murky tarpaulins'. A...
General
BUYERS are chasing Housing Board resale prices relentlessly as if they are freehold properties. For instance, five-room flats in Marine Parade, with less than 65 years of lease left, are changing hands at $700,000 each or more. If these prices are averaged out over 99 years to compare with new apartments with 99-year leases, it would put the valuation of such units at more than $1 million. Is the price...
Edmund Tie tells how he built his business and saw Singapore evolve ABOUT 40 years ago, when Edmund Tie was just starting out in his property consultancy career as an apprentice, one of his daily morning duties was to walk around the 'dungeons' or underground vault of the old Chartered Bank Chambers building at Battery Road. 'There was a double wall surrounding the vault and I was given that special...
Indian firms Unitech, DLF revisiting prior shelved offerings The success of Singapore's Cache Logistics Trust offering this month has prompted talk that other similar, previously shelved real estate investment trust (Reit) offerings are now being dusted off. India's top real estate firms, DLF Ltd and Unitech Ltd may revive their Singapore IPO plans, banking sources said, while the Embassy Group is...
Real estate agents say executive condominiums (ECs) have become more popular. They are the next best thing for those who are priced out of the private condominium market, where prices have been hitting new highs recently. Property agents said that in the last two to three years, the price of each square foot has increased by about 70 per cent. In the first quarter of this year, the resale value of each...
DBS CEO Piyush Gupta said property bubbles are forming in some key Asian cities which may lead to a market correction. He also said concerns over asset bubbles may lead to more Asian governments raising interest rates soon. Mr Gupta was speaking at an event organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore on Monday. Property prices have been rising across Asia. In Hong Kong, property prices...
Singapore's Marina Bay Sands integrated resort will add more hotel rooms in the downtown area currently home to at least nine hotel chains. But the existing players see opportunities from the new kid on the block rather than threats. The tower blocks are now prominent landmarks in downtown Marina Bay. Hotels in the vicinity are watching the anticipated opening of Marina Bay Sands more with excitement than...
Millennium & Corpthorne Hotels New Zealand Limited, a subsidiary of Millennium & Corpthorne Hotels, one of the largest hotel owners and operators in the world announced on Monday, an update on the difficulties arising from actions initiated by one of its partners in a Chinese joint venture - First Sponsor Capital Limited (FCSL). Cheung Ping Kwong who controlled FSCL, in March seized the company...
Cache Logistics Trust (CLT), the first pure logistics real estate investment trust (Reit) to be launched in 2.5 years, had a bright debut in the Singapore Exchange (SGX) on Monday. The counter ended its first trading day at 95.5 cents up 8.5 per cent from its offer price of 88 cents. The stock also hit as high as 99.5 cents during intra-day trading before some profit taking activity pared off part of its...
Mainboard-listed CapitaMalls Asia said it has established a S$2 billion Euro-Medium Term Note Programme which will be unconditionally guaranteed by the company. Net proceeds from the issuance will be used to refinance existing borrowings, to fund investments and for general working capital. CMA said under the programme, it may issue notes in series or tranches in Singapore dollars, US dollars, Euro or...