DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 8th, 9th & 10th December 2018

Top Story

HDB to launch around 15,000 new flats in 2019
The Housing Board (HDB) will launch about 15,000 new flats in 2019 in neighbourhoods like Sengkang, Jurong West and Kallang/Whampoa. This includes around 2,000 flats with shorter wait times in Tengah, where prospective home owners can expect to collect the keys to their new flats in two to three years from the point of application. Most people who apply for new Build-to-Order (BTO) flats wait three to four years to do so.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/hdb-to-launch-around-15000-new-flats-in-2019
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/fewer-build-to-order-flats-to-be-launched-next-year

Singapore Real Estate

Kampung Admiralty project attracts international attention
Kampung Admiralty, nestled in the Woodlands heartland, buzzes like any HDB community, but has lately become a destination from people from all over the world looking to learn about and photograph this retirement community. Designed by local architecture firm Woha Architects, the village with its own amenities won World Building of the Year at the World Architecture Festival in Amsterdam last month.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/kampung-admiralty-project-attracts-international-attention

Landmark Tower buyer continues to seek funds to finance collective sale
ZACD Group has revealed more details about its Landmark Tower purchase in May as it continues to raise funds to finance its stake in the collective sale. The Singapore wealth management and real estate services company, Sin Soon Lee Realty and MCC Land who are developing this via joint venture want to launch the condo project in the second half of 2019, at a “low S$2,000 per square foot (psf)”.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/landmark-tower-buyer-continues-to-seek-funds-to-finance-collective-sale

Co-working space that’s run like a military outfit
A new co-working space in the heart of town that claims to operate with military precision is up and running. The General Room at the TripleOne Somerset building in Somerset Road has been open for about a month, but will have its official launch next month. It includes a hot-desking area, meeting rooms, an event space and a conference room. Monthly prices start from $500 for a single desk to $4,000 for a private room with four desks. A $50 day-pass is also available.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/co-working-space-thats-run-like-a-military-outfit

Stanley Street shophouse up for sale
A freehold shophouse at 28 Stanley Street has been put up for sale in an expression of interest exercise. The four-storey conservation shophouse features a roof terrace balcony and occupies a land area of 1,729 sq ft with a gross floor area of about 6,485 sq ft, said real estate agency Auctionjia. The agency said it is looking to at least match the record price of $4,259 per sq ft that was fetched for the nearby 21 Boon Tat Street shophouse, which was sold for $16.5 million in October on an estimated built-up area of 3,874 sq ft.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/property/stanley-street-shophouse-up-for-sale

Niseko’s potential draws Singapore developers
For skiers who love deep powder, Niseko, on the northern-most Japanese island of Hokkaido, is the Holy Grail. Once a backpackers’ destination for Australian ski-bums, it is becoming a major ski destination for the international market. Investors and developers from Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia are among the parties that have played a role in that transformation. Sensing opportunity in “Japan’s Powder Paradise”, Singapore players such as SC Global Developments founder Simon Cheong and investor Peter Fu Chong Cheng began buying land there in recent years.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/nisekos-potential-draws-singapore-developers

New food, retail options as part of Great World City revamp
Japanese supermarket Meidi-Ya and renowned ramen restaurant Hototogisu Ramen are among the new additions to Great World City that will open in the coming months with the completion of the mall’s first phase of refurbishment. The $50 million facelift, which began in April, will see the mixed-use development in River Valley add 50 new tenants and three main access points to the upcoming Great World MRT Station on the Thomson-East Coast line.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/new-food-retail-options-as-part-of-great-world-city-revamp

Singapore Economy

Singapore: a global playground of infinite possibilities
The year 2018 has been a truly eventful one for the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) sector in Singapore. During the course of this year, we have played host to events that have changed the way the world views us. In the eyes of the international business community, Singapore is evolving from a modern, safe and well-connected business city into a go-to MICE destination that inspires imagination – connecting the world to possibilities while delivering distinctive experiences.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/government-economy/singapore-a-global-playground-of-infinite-possibilities

Springboard for Singapore and Guangzhou firms
Singapore companies can tap the newly-upgraded Guangzhou Knowledge City (GKC) to access opportunities in China’s Greater Bay Area (GBA), said Education Minister Ong Ye Kung on Friday. Likewise, Guangdong companies can use the innovation-focused township as a springboard for their expansion into South-east Asia.
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/springboard-for-spore-and-guangzhou-firms

Companies’ Brief

Low Keng Huat’s Q3 net profit down 60%
Construction and property development company Low Keng Huat’s net profit for the third quarter ended Oct 31, 2018 slumped 60 per cent year-on-year to S$2.63 million on the back of lower profits from its investment segment. Revenue fell 31 per cent to S$9.24 million in the absence of development revenue as well as lower revenue from the investment and hotel segments. The corresponding quarter a year ago saw development revenues of S$2.9 million.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/low-keng-huats-q3-net-profit-down-60

Centurion hits first closing of global student housing fund
Centurion Corporation has announced the first closing of its second student accommodation fund with total committed capital of S$70 million. The Centurion Student Accommodation Fund aims to generate stable and recurring income to deliver a total return by investing in purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) assets globally (outside the United States).
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/centurion-hits-first-closing-of-global-student-housing-fund

Views, Reviews, Forum & Others

Get ready for another volatile year
This has been a rough year for Asia: In US dollar terms, Asian equities are still down 11 per cent despite the recent bounce while Asian credits have fallen 1.8 per cent as of Dec 5. Escalating US-China trade tensions, deleveraging in China and the desynchronisation of global growth which boosted the US dollar are largely to blame.
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/get-ready-for-another-volatile-year

Shaw Tower an early icon of urban renewal: Experts
One side of Beach Road represents colonial-era Singapore – it is dotted with shophouses and structures such as Raffles Hotel. Meanwhile, the other side of Beach Road is home to a string of post-independence buildings such as Golden Mile Complex and Golden Mile Tower.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/shaw-tower-an-early-icon-of-urban-renewal-experts

HK tycoon Gordon Wu tunnelling out of public markets
Real estate tycoon Gordon Wu, whose plan to build artificial islands around Hong Kong was just embraced, wants to take his company Hopewell Holdings private 40 years after it made its market debut. A US$2.7 billion bid is less generous than the headline premium suggests.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/hk-tycoon-gordon-wu-tunnelling-out-of-public-markets

Pick up online purchases at HDB blocks
Customers of online retailers such as Lazada, Qoo10 and Taobao, who live in Punggol or Bukit Panjang, can, for the first time, choose to collect their purchases from lockers at their Housing Board blocks. A government-initiated parcel collection system, Locker Alliance, which launched a year-long pilot yesterday, makes this possible.
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/pick-up-online-purchases-at-hdb-blocks
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/parcel-lockers-at-hdb-blocks-being-tested