The macroeconomic headwinds blowing from the United States and Europe have raised concerns that Singapore's office rental market could head for the kind of tough times it experienced during the last global financial crisis. Back then, Grade A office rentals fell from a high of S$18.80 per sq ft (psf) per month in the second quarter of 2008 to S$8.00 psf in the first quarter of last year, translating to a...
Office / Retail Space
Marks & Spencer will take over the Wheelock Place retail space once occupied by Borders bookstore. The British retailer will move from its current location at basements one and two, and set up a flagship store at level one. Since Borders moved out, at least 10 retailers have expressed interest in the prime shop space. They included new players who do not have a presence in the Singapore scene just...
The Republic has moved up two notches to rank seventh in a list of the world's most expensive office locations as of June, its highest ranking in two years. It is also the world's sixth most expensive warehouse location as of June, up from seventh position in December, according to two surveys by Colliers International released yesterday. Data shows that rental growth for Grade A offices in the Central...
K-REIT Asia has acquired Ocean Financial Centre (OFC) from Keppel Land for more than S$2 billion. The deal sees K-REIT's aggregate leverage level rise about two percentage points to 41.6 per cent. OFC is currently 80 per cent occupied with some existing leases at lower-than-existing market rental rates due to the global financial crisis. To sweeten the deal, Keppel Land has promised rental support of up...
Growth in the capital values of Grade A office buildings in Singapore fell 2.1 per cent to US$19,990 (S$25,700) per sq m in the third quarter of the year from the previous three months as investors became more cautious. According to a report by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), corporate hiring sentiment and leasing demand weakened here amid market volatility and news of some companies shelving relocation and...
Prime rents in Orchard Road have rebounded for the first time in nearly three years. That is according to a study by real estate consultancy CB Richard Ellis. Rents rose 5 per cent from the second quarter of 2011, to average S$31.60 per square foot per month. Rents were S$30.11 per square foot per month in the last quarter. The upturn follows a series of dips since 2008, when rents peaked at more than...
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has launched the office site at Mountbatten Road for sale by public tender today. The land parcel was made available for sale through the Reserve List system on 31 October 2008. On 19 September 2011, URA announced that it had received an application from a developer to put up the land parcel for tender. The developer has committed to bid at a price of not less than...
The upcoming Marina Bay Financial Centre (MBFC) Tower 3 has been 60 per cent leased with talks ongoing that could see the rest of the space taken before next year's opening. The confirmed tenants of MBFC's Tower 3 are DBS Group Holdings, McGraw-Hill, and law firms Ashurst, Clifford Chance and WongPartnership. Raffles Quay Asset Management, which manages and markets the property, has a few prospective...
Rents for prime commercial properties are continuing to moderate. The deteriorating economic outlook has also seen Grade A office rental growth slow to its weakest pace in a year. Singapore's office property market cooled further in the third quarter. Colliers International said Grade A office rents in the CBD grew by a marginal two per cent in the quarter to S$9.08 per square foot per month. Rents in...
The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) announced today that it has accepted an application from a developer to put up the office site at Mountbatten Road for public tender. The land parcel was made available for sale through the Reserve List system on 31 October 2008. URA has received an application from a developer for the site to be put up for public tender. The developer has committed to bid at a...