The Housing and Development Board (HDB) has awarded a S$144.6 million contract to Koh Brothers Building and Civil Engineering Contractor to develop Punggol estate into a premier waterfront town. Plans to revamp Punggol were announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the National Day Rally in August 2007. They include the construction of a 4.2-kilometre waterway which will be connected to Sungei...
General
S$1 billion has been earmarked for greening Singapore's infrastructure over the next five years. Experts said the real challenge lies not in new developments, but in retrofitting existing buildings. Lee Siew Eang, head, Energy Sustainability Unit, School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore, said: "That forms approximately about 80 per cent of our existing building stocks and these...
BUYERS of new private homes don't have to worry about not being able to move in on time even as some developers take advantage of incentives announced in Thursday's Budget that allow them to extend the completion period of their projects. To help developers improve their cash flow and give them more flexibility to plan their projects, the Ministry of National Development will allow developers of...
Surprise drop of 24% inQ4 volume, but analysts say HDB demand intact IT WAS a drop that caught most analysts by surprise - raising fears of a demand downtrend amid a souring economy, even in the traditionally resilient public housing market. After a strong showing in the first three quarters, the number of Housing and Development Board (HDB) resale flat transactions plunged 24 per cent in the last...
LIVING in an urban jungle of HDB flats, residents would find green open spaces a natural tonic. So, it may seem counter-intuitive to suggest that Singapore's green planners take a leaf from their housing counterparts. But Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, who said on Friday that the evolution of green spaces here was "not bad", believes the lessons learnt from building HDB flats could in a way be instructive...
CAPITALAND is considering a rights issue to raise about $1.5 billion, by offering one new rights share for every four existing shares at $2.20 each, people familiar with the situation said on Friday. "The consideration is for the capitalincrease to take place around mid-February, but there is no firm decision," one person said. The Singapore-listed developer revealed on Friday that it had received...
The economic downturn is hitting home, with private residential prices recording their steepest drop in a decade. Private home prices fell by 6.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008, worse than an early estimate of a 5.7 per cent drop. The quarter-on-quarter decline in the October to December period follows a 2.4 per cent drop in the third quarter ended September. Strong demand pushed up private home...
Market-watchers have welcomed Budget measures, announced by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Thursday, which are aimed at helping Singapore property developers through the current downturn. While analysts had already expected the government to unveil help for the depressed property market, they noted on Friday that some of the moves are particularly creative. These measures include allowing...
Industrial and commercial properties managed by the Housing and Development Board (HDB), JTC Corporation and the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) will get a 15 per cent rental rebate for one year. This will benefit more than 31,000 tenants, lessees and temporary occupation licensees and amount to S$306 million. The rebate will take effect from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2009. It is part of the...
Nestled in the residential enclave of Bukit Timah (District 10), the glass and aluminium-clad tower of One Robin cuts a dashing figure in its prestigious neighbourhood. With 12 spacious apartments, one duplex and one penthouse, all boasting state-of-the-art imported designer fittings, OneRobin is a sanctuary for those who aspire to modern, luxurious living. Each owner can claim an entire floor of...