Mapletree Investments has secured Merrill Lynch as the anchor tenant for its new office development, Mapletree Lighthouse, in HarbourFront.The entire building will house Merrill Lynch's third global IT and operations hub, after Dublin and Jacksonville, USA.Mapletree is also considering listing a mixed REIT towards the end of next year. Mapletree's latest addition to its HarbourFront complex is a 6-storey,...
Sentosa looks set to have a new resort hotel with a beach front.According to Sentosa Leisure Group, this is one of the few projects available for the southern island. The group oversees the property investments, management and the strategic development of Sentosa Island. And it says that development on Sentosa is reaching an optimal stage. There will be another hotel along Sentosa's Tanjong...
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) plans to develop the six islands off the southern tip of Sentosa into a tourist attraction.This, as its $12b Sentosa masterplan -- which includes Harbourfront and the Southern Islands -- is expected to be completed ahead of schedule in 2010. The comment came on the sidelines of an industry conference where STB also revealed that Singapore is set to welcome another record...
CapitaLand is seeing overwhelming response for the IPO of its CapitaRetail China Trust.The institutional tranche is 196 times subscribed.This is one of the highest subscription rates ever for a Singapore share sale. The units are being offered at S$1.13 each, at the top end of its indicative range. Some 29 million units have been set aside for retail investors. The public offer opens on...
CapitaLand China says it has bought the first prime commercial site in Chengdu City in China's Sichuan Province for S$174 million.The developer plans to build an integrated development on the site and name it Raffles City Chengdu. The complex will have an office tower with 78,000 square metres of Grade A office space. There will also be a retail mall spanning 83,000 square metres, and either a five-star...
Just buy homes, sell them and get rich. That was the mantra of the 1990s before the music died. As property launches again see brisk sales and overnight queues make a comeback, some wonder if those days are back. So far, these voices of caution are merely a murmur. Analysts can point to the strong economic growth underpinning the recent interest in property as well as numbers that show that 2006 is not...
Falling energy prices and a potential slowdown in the United States economy could bode well for Singapore homebuyers. Bankers and economists have agreed that interest rates may have peaked and are beginning to show signs of a decline. The key barometer to take note of is the Singapore Interbank Offered Rates (Sibor), which often influences other rates. Currently, the Sibor stands at around...
Rents in the prime office area of City Hall, Marina Centre and Bugis have climbed by 6.6 per cent since last month, say property consultants Cushman & Wakefield. The second-highest rise recorded in the same period was in the Orchard Road and Scotts Road area, with rents climbing by 4.7 per cent. But the highest rentals in dollar terms are to be found in Raffles Place, where they have climbed...
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) will soon reveal plans for a vibrant Singapore Riverfront that never sleeps. A tender for qualified surveyors to study the site - stretching from the Esplanade Drive in the east to Kim Seng Road in the south - was recently called. Upon appointment, the site survey must be completed within six weeks. The STB said it intends to appoint a design consultant to "develop...
Bougainville Maisonette Apartments in the Joo Chiat area has been sold to an associated company of Teambuild for S$8.8 million in an en-bloc sale. The transacted price represents S$308 per square foot per plot ratio, including an estimated development charge of S$86,000. According to United Premas, which brokered the deal, the sale will set a benchmark for land sales in the Joo Chiat...