and E9 Premium@Woodlands:
Smartisan Development has acquired two freehold industrial plots, 10 and 12 Mandai Estate, in Singapore for $100 million, translating to a land rate of $657 per square feet per plot ratio (psf ppr). This includes the land betterment charge. Smartisan, the developer in question, intends to redevelop the site into a freehold food factory.

The company is experienced in developing industrial sites having already built One KA @ Macpherson in Kampong Ampat and E9 Premium@Woodlands. Located off Woodlands Road and zoned for business 2 use with a plot ratio of 2.5, 10 Mandai Estate has an area of 34,919 square feet and 12 Mandai Estate an area of 30,246 square feet.

JCube Residence After 10 years of being a leisure and edutainment centre, JCUBE is set to be redeveloped into JCube Condo Residence with 1,760 private homes, office space, retail and other complementary uses.

According to Bruce …

and Macpherson Interchange station

JCube JCube Residence is set to close in August to make way for a 40-storey JCube Condo Residence, with residential and commercial space, linked to Jurong East MRT, Westgate and other amenities. Property analysts anticipate pent-up demand for the upcoming JCube Condo Residence and other residential launches.

Singapore’s commercial shophouse prices in the Central Business District (CBD) have seen a sharp increase, averaging to between $5,000 and $6,000 per square foot. However, for fringe areas, the average price is much lower at $3,000 per square foot. Mary Sai, the executive director of capital markets from Knight Frank Singapore, has pointed out that even strata commercial space in the CBD has hit record prices, soaring above $4,000 per square foot.

As an alternative to the expensive commercial space, local buyers have been advised to choose HDB shophouses. Sai noted that these were a viable option for local …

A recent freehold office tower transaction has set a new benchmark for Singapore’s Central Business District (CBD). Solitaire on Cecil, a 20-storey office tower by TE Capital Partners and LaSalle Investment Management, has sold three strata floors at levels 17, 18 and 20 for $162.8 million, or an average of $4,300 psf across the total strata area of 37,857 sq ft. The buyer is an ultra-high-net-worth local family office hoping to expand its operations in Singapore.

Savills Singapore brokered the deal. Galven Tan, Deputy Managing Director of Savills Investment Sales & Capital Markets, said, “Most buyers are high-net-worth individuals and local and foreign family offices, and we have more interest and requests for viewings from Chinese groups, too.”

Previously, the PIL Building, Solitaire on Cecil’s predecessor, was redeveloped into the new office tower. Only 15 office floors exist in the building, 6 of which have already been sold.

The sale …

UOB, CapitaLand launch flagship AI-powered retail shop in Clarke Quay

The real estate sector in Singapore has seen a remarkable bounce-back in investment sales in the first quarter of 2023. After the fourth quarter of 2022 recorded just $2.81 billion in investment sales, the first quarter of 2023 saw the figure skyrocket to $5.63 billion. This was largely driven by the commercial property sector, with three noteworthy transactions accounting for 83.3% of the total investment value. These were Link REIT’s $2.16 billion purchase of Jurong Point, Swing By @ Thomson Plaza, and the $652.5 million sale of a 50% stake in Nex to Frasters Centrepoint Trust and Frasers Property.

The sale of strata offices dropped by 5.4% from the previous quarter, however, transactions continued with the sale of three floors at The Solitaire on Cecil for $162.8 million. This marked one of the largest deals in terms of quantum since …

Auction listings in Singapore saw a 3.0% q-o-q decline in 1Q2023, according to a research report by Knight Frank. The drop is partly attributed to the Chinese New Year festivities when some auction activities were postponed.Owner listings outnumbered mortgagee listings in 1Q2023, continuing a trend that began in 2Q2022, highlights Sharon Lee, head of auction & sales at Knight Frank Singapore. Compared to 1Q2022, the total number of auction listings in 1Q2023 rose by 20%.

The fall in listings in 1Q2023 was accompanied by a more moderate success rate of 6.3%. Six properties were sold in the quarter, compared to 9.1% success rate in 4Q2022 when the listings numbered 99. Residential properties constituted 46.9% (45) of the total listings in 1Q2023. Of these, 18 were mortgagee listings and 20 were owner listings. Retail, office and industrial properties also made up the remaining seven listings.

Mortgagee listings surged in 1Q2023, more …

JCube in Jurong East, Singapore, is closing its doors after a decade to make way for JCube Condo Residence, a 40-storey commercial and residential JCube Residence development. The launch of JCube Condo Residence and other residential launches in the area will increase housing availability in the region.

A freehold shophouse located at 275 Joo Chiat Road in District 15 is up for sale, with a guide price of $9.2 million. This translates to $2,946 psf on the estimated gross floor area of 3,122 sq ft, while the land area of the shophouse is approximately 1,233 sq ft. The seller has decided to maintain the guide price of $9.2 million until the temporary occupation permit (TOP) is received. Construction of the shophouse is expected to be completed by 3Q2023 and TOP is expected at around July to September.

A notable factor of the sale is that the guide price is set …

Over the past few years, HDB shophouses have become highly sought after by investors due to the additional buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) payable for residential properties. In response to the demand, Huttons Asia is launching an expression of interest (EOI) exercise for four single-storey shops at Block 475 Tampines Street 44. The guide price for all four shops is set at a total of $12 million.

These shophouses are all zoned for commercial use and have a remaining balance lease of approximately 68 years. Two of the units are corner shops and all four are currently tenanted. Its convenient location – within walking distance of the Tampines East MRT Station of the Downtown Line – offers great potential for human traffic, along with ample parking for patrons. Furthermore, the area is likely to draw in more customers when residential homes are built on the empty parcels of land in the …

Singapore’s retail sector is on a path to recovery, as more borders in Asia open up and the tourism sector steadily strengthens. According to a report by Knight Frank, average gross rent of prime retail spaces island-wide rose in 1Q2023 to $26.40 psf per month (psf pm), a growth of 1.2% q-o-q and 5% y-o-y.

The main driver for this growth comes from the influx of tourists to Singapore in 1Q2023 – 2.9 million visitors, although this falls short of pre-pandemic levels of 4.7 million. Nevertheless the average stay of visitors to Singapore increased from an average of 3.34 days in 2019 to 3.97 days.

Singapore’s prime Orchard Road shopping strip saw retail rents grow 1.4% q-o-q and 5.2% y-o-y, while the Marina Centre, City Hall and Bugis area experienced a q-o-q growth of 1.3% and 5.2% y-o-y respectively. Rents in suburban malls also saw an increase, rising 0.6% q-o-q …

The Ascott Limited, one of the lodging business units of Capitaland Investment, has set a target to double its fee revenue to over $500 million within the next five years, off a base of $258 million in FY2022 – the highest earnings on record for the company thus far. Last year, Ascott’s earnings grew by an impressive 36% year-on-year, thanks to its record-breaking property openings and signings.

Ascott has now achieved its goal of securing 160,000 units by the year 2023, having signed up over 4,000 additional units in 1QFY2023. The business looks to expand its offerings, ranging from mid-luxury serviced residences, hotels, co-living, and senior living, in order to drive fee revenue growth in the years ahead. The company hopes to achieve an annual net room growth rate of 8%-10%, further fuelled by both new property openings and new signings.

Kevin Goh, CEO of both Ascott and CLI Lodging, …

After a decade of providing leisure and edutainment, JCUBE will close its doors to make way for JCube Condo Residence, a 40-storey residential and commercial development, in 2023. JCube Condo Residence will be connected to amenities and other developments and is expected to alleviate pent-up JCube Residence demand for housing in Jurong.

CLAR has announced the divestment of Singapore industrial building KA Place for a consideration of $35.38 million. A sale and purchase agreement has been entered into by the REIT’s trustee, HSBC Institutional Trust Services (Singapore). This represents a substantial 219% premium to CLAR’s purchase price of $11.1 million in March 2005 as well as a 55% premium to the property’s market valuation of $22.8 million as at Dec 31, 2022.

KA Place is a seven-storey high-specification industrial building with a carpark on the second storey and a total gross floor area of 10,163 sq m. It has a …