Lushhomemedia

Archive for July 29th, 2008

Builder has designs on posh condo market

Posted by luxuryasiahome on July 29, 2008

Heeton recruits style-setting design firm yoo for Grange Road apartments

A COMPANY once famed for its wet markets is now rubbing shoulders with one of the world’s trendiest firms in a bid to build Singapore’s most chic condos.

Heeton Holdings has roped in yoo – a design-focused property firm co-founded by French style-setter Philippe Starck and British developer John Hitchcox – for its 74 Grange Road project.

It has also recruited investment bank JP Morgan, which will take a 45 per cent stake in the 28-unit condo.

But yoo does not come cheap. The ‘Prada of the property industry’ designed Hong Kong’s JIA hotel and has hooked up with designers like Jade Jagger, daughter of Rolling Stone Mick.

Heeton is paying a flat fee of around $2 million, well over double the standard design fee, for the interior design of the units and the show suite, plus an undisclosed incentive bonus if yoo sells the units.

In return, yoo is offering a cutting-edge concept intended to draw buyers worldwide. ‘This will undoubtedly set a new standard here. Our focus is to help developers achieve higher prices,’ said yoo’s London-based chief executive Chris Boulton. ‘We do add value and ensure they sell in tough markets.’

Mr Boulton said that the firm’s projects had achieved a premium of 10 to 30 per cent above market value by capitalising on innovative design and the yoo brand to drive more traffic towards the project.

‘It’s also about making more noise about the project’ to raise its profile, he added.

Heeton’s chief operating officer Danny Low said it recruited yoo to give the freehold condo an edge over others.

‘The Singapore market is very competitive and buyers have become increasingly sophisticated. That is why we have to present a highly differentiated product for our targeted buyers, who are high-net-worth individuals and couples.’

These are the buyers who like spacious two-bedroom units of 1,600 to 1,800 sq ft or the two penthouses of 3,600 sq ft and 4,000 sq ft.

Heeton will meet yoo next week to discuss the design for the project.

This is yoo’s first residential design job here and its services will be exclusive to Heeton until the middle of next year. It also has residential projects in Thailand and Taiwan.

The project will be launched late this year or early next year. Construction should start by the first quarter of next year.

Heeton declined to give a break-even price as it has yet to appoint a contractor. It bought Grange Court for $72.8 million or $1,706 psf per plot ratio, excluding development charge, in a collective sale last August.

Knight Frank, the sole marketing agent, helped introduce yoo to Heeton. Yoo’s managing director for Asia, Mr Andrew Pang, used to work for Knight Frank.

Source : Straits Times – 29 Jul 2008

Posted in General, Luxury Property | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Lum Chang gets $65m from selling 2 Belmont

Posted by luxuryasiahome on July 29, 2008

3 Singapore firms controlled by Indian investors are the buyers

LUM Chang Holdings has sold all 16 units of its newly refurbished 2 Belmont for a total sum of about $65 million, BT understands.

The price is said to be in the $1,600 to $1,700 per square foot range.

Lum Chang bought the property, formerly known as Belmont Gardens, in 2006 for $22 million and has refurbished the apartments. At the time, the asset comprised 15 apartments but Lum Chang had said that it would convert a penthouse into two separate units.

Now, the 16 units in the four-storey freehold property are being purchased by three Singapore-registered companies controlled by Indian investors. Eight units (on the first and fourth levels) were bought for a total $36.36 million by a company controlled jointly by Govind Sahai Gupta of Kolkata and Amit Gupta, a Singapore permanent resident.

Another company controlled solely by Ashok Gupta bought four units on the third floor for a total $14.33 million, while the third company, owned solely by Asha Khatoria of Jaipur – the Indian city famous for gemstones – bought all four units on the second floor of 2 Belmont for a total $14.31 million.

BT understands that 2 Belmont’s sale has been inked but has yet to be completed.

CB Richard Ellis is understood to have brokered the deal.

2 Belmont has a site area of about 54,800 sq ft, and is located in a designated Good Class Bungalow (GCB) Area. This means that if the property is completely torn down and the site redeveloped, it can be redeveloped only into GCBs, accommodating perhaps three bungalows at most given the minimum GCB plot size of 1,400 sq m (15,069 sq ft).

‘So it made more sense for Lum Chang to refurbish the asset instead of redeveloping it,’ an industry observer suggested.

The sellers are entities controlled by Lum Chang.

According to Lum Chang’s 2007 annual report, three Lum Chang subsidiaries inked deals in 2006 to sell four units at 2 Belmont to a director of Lum Chang.

‘These sales are expected to be completed at any time before June 30, 2008, after the completion of the redevelopment of 2 Belmont. Full consideration for the sale of these four apartment units has been received,’ Lum Chang’s 2007 annual report said.

Back in May 2006, when Lum Chang bought Belmont Gardens, the company had said that managing director David Lum would buy four units.

Source : Business Times – 29 Jul 2008

Posted in Developer News, General | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Lippo-Mapletree books better-than-expected H1 earnings

Posted by luxuryasiahome on July 29, 2008

Lippo-Mapletree Indonesia Retail Trust (LMIR Trust) has posted first half earnings of S$39.3 million, 3 per cent higher than its own forecast. Revenue came in at S$53.8 million, which also exceeded projections.

Lippo-Mapletree said it is on track to pay out 5.84 cents per unit for the whole year, as earlier forecast. The trust said it is less affected by inflationary pressures because it targets the middle and upper-income markets.

Viven Sitiabudi, CEO of LMIR Trust, said: “When you are visiting some of the malls in Indonesia, you will not really feel that pressure. Our target market is middle to upper income… the people that will be really affected (by inflation) are more at the lower level.”

According to the Retailers Association in Indonesia, retailers continue to see double-digit growth and Lippo-Mapletree has noted that its rentals are still very stable.

“In our portfolio, we are still experiencing an increase of rental as per the projection, which is around 10 per cent per annum on reversion. So if it’s a three-year rent, we’re still able to command about a 30 per cent increase in the rent, so that’s still in line with what we’re saying in our prospectus,” Ms Sitiabudi said.

For the second quarter alone, earnings for LMIR Trust came in at S$15.9 million, 3 per cent higher than its forecast. This works out to a distribution of 1.50 cents per unit.

Revenue for the three months ended June was 15 per cent higher than projected, at S$24.5 million.

Lippo-Mapletree is starting to see contributions from its new acquisition, Sun Plaza, which has increased its IPO net lettable area by 20 per cent and has also diversified its property income.

Ms Sitiabudi said: “This is one of the best malls in Medan. The anchor tenant is very strong… we’ve identified certain areas that we can easily turn into a net leasable area to drive the rent up.

“And while Sogo has got a long lease, we’ve also been looking at their traffic and the sales in that particular area, and we believe that we will be able to talk to them and achieve a win-win situation.”

Lippo-Mapletree said the fundamentals of Indonesia’s retail sector remains strong and it is looking at acquiring more malls moving forward.

The trust is the first REIT that provides exposure to Indonesia’s retail sector. Its sponsor, Lippo Karawaci, is still continuously developing malls.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 29 Jul 2008

Posted in General, REITS | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

JTC sees record take-up of its ready-built space in 2007

Posted by luxuryasiahome on July 29, 2008

JTC Corporation has reported a record take-up of some 246,300 square metres of its ready-built space last year, surpassing the previous record seen in 2005.

The bouyant industrial property market last year helped JTC to book a record surplus of S$1.183 billion, up 50 per cent from 2006. The numbers were also boosted by impairment loss write-backs of nearly S$159.4 million on its properties.

But JTC has hinted that the upward momentum is unlikely to continue this year.

Ow Foong Pheng, CEO of JTC Corporation, said: “We expect that it would follow how the economic projection will be. So FY 08/09, I think growth is expected to be slower and it will probably pan out in our industrial space demand as well.”

JTC saw some 360 hectares of its prepared industrial land taken up last year – the biggest in ten years.

Going forward, JTC said demand for industrial space this year is unlikely to be as strong as 2007. However, it would continue to invest in more research and development projects, and focus on producing more innovative industrial space solutions.

This includes taking on higher-risk projects that require specialised needs and bigger investments.

Mrs Ow said: “With a very vibrant and good group of private industrial developers out there, JTC can step back and allow the private market to play in the provision of more generic industrial space.

“But we will still keep an eye to ensure that there’s sufficient supply of ready-built factories to meet the needs of the industry. This will free JTC to move further upstream towards planning and developing more specialised parts that meet new needs.”

JTC is divesting 62 of its ready-built properties to Mapletree Investments, and the transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 29 Jul 2008

Posted in General, Industrial | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Strong response for CapitaLand’s luxury residential units in Bahrain

Posted by luxuryasiahome on July 29, 2008

Singapore developer CapitaLand is seeing strong response for its high-end luxury residential units at Raffles City Bahrain.

When completed in 2010, the Raffles City Bahrain integrated development will include three residential towers, landscaped sky villas, and high-end retail outlets.

CapitaLand said that about 80 per cent of the units in one of the residential towers have been booked within three weeks of a private sales launch.

124 apartments and penthouses were put up for sale, and more than 100 had been taken up. They fetched higher prices than other other high-end residential apartments in Bahrain.

Raffles City Bahrain is CapitaLand’s foray into the Gulf region. – CNA /ls

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 29 Jul 2008

Posted in Developer News, General, Luxury Property, Overseas Property | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Park Central@AMK gets over 1,000 applications so far

Posted by luxuryasiahome on July 29, 2008

Some 20,000 people have visited the showflats at Park Central@AMK, Singapore’s third condominium-style public housing development.

The project, launched last week, has received over 1,000 applications so far, marginally lower than City View@Boon Keng, a similar development nearer the city that went on sale earlier this year.

Applications for Park Central units will close on August 5.

David Liew, managing director of United Engineers Developments, said: “The people coming here, they are more cautious, they are more serious. They are asking about the qualifying criteria. What we are seeing is more genuine interest.”

All 578 units at Park Central come with the look and feel of a private residential home but they cost about 40 per cent less, at S$500 per square foot.

The developer says the resale flats around the area will not pose a threat to sales of Park Central. That is because many of the resale units are much older, at between 10 and 20 years old.

The developer believes many home hunters will prefer to buy brand new flats, even though they have to pay about 10 per cent more. The pricing of such projects built by private developers had caused a stir earlier this year.

City View@Boon Keng’s price tag of S$520 per square foot was a record for new public housing flats. Over 3,500 people applied for the 714 units, but only 66 per cent actually bought them.

Six months after its launch, the project’s marketing agent says 20 per cent of the units remain unsold.

Donald Yeo, executive director of HSR International Realtors, said: “If a project has a slower pace to get rid of the units, that does not mean the market cannot sustain the price. It’s still very competitive and I believe the prices are still realistic.”

Industry players expect prices at the next condo-style public housing project in Bishan estate to be even higher, partly due to the spike in construction cost.

Source : Channel NewsAsia – 29 Jul 2008

Posted in General, HDB News | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

Heeton project getting the Starck treatment

Posted by luxuryasiahome on July 29, 2008

His firm will design interiors of Grange Rd property

HEETON Holdings and its joint venture partner JPMorgan Global Special Opportunities Group will build the world’s first Philippe Starck-branded housing in Singapore.

Mr Starck: His company yoo will not have an equity stake in 74 Grange Road

The project will be built on a site that the partners acquired last year at 74 Grange Road for $72.8 million.

The development, expected to be launched around year-end, will now come under the design, marketing and branding direction of Starck’s yoo Inspired by Starck, a company co-founded with UK developer John Hitchcock in 1999.

While yoo has about 25,000 units of branded housing worldwide, it will not have an equity stake in 74 Grange Road. Nor will it be the architect.

Instead, it will provide interior design services and specifications for the interior finishes and fittings of the proposed 28-unit project.

It may provide landscape design, and buyers of the units may be offered furniture design packages for their homes.

The JV partners also hope to ride on yoo’s marketing and public relations expertise, as well as draw on its pool of high net worth clients.

Heeton chief operating officer and executive director Danny Low said that yoo’s services will cost about US$2 million, including the use of the ‘yoo Inspired by Starck’ brand.

The named of the development is yet to be finalised.

Mr Low added: ‘This will be yoo’s first residential design project in Singapore, and yoo’s design services for the Singapore market will be exclusive to this project until mid-2009.’

Chris Boulton, CEO of yoo, said that it expects to announce more projects in the region soon. There are already yoo projects in Hong Kong and Phuket, Thailand.

Mr Boulton said that based on earlier projects, yoo developments can fetch 10-30 per cent more than market prices. According to him, yoo branding can help generate faster sales ‘and sell in tough times’.

Prices for units at 74 Grange Road have not been confirmed. The break-even price was previously reported to be about $2,500 per square foot.

Source : Business Times – 29 Jul 2008

Posted in General, Luxury Property | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »