DAILY NEWS

Daily News – 26th Sep 2019

Singapore Real Estate

Republic Plaza reopens after S$70m revamp
City Developments Limited (CDL) on Wednesday unveiled the revamped Republic Plaza, its flagship property in Raffles Place, following an extensive S$70 million asset enhancement initiative (AEI) which started in April 2018. Although the building had previously undergone several enhancements, this was its first major facelift since it was completed in 1996. At 280 m tall, the 66-storey skyscraper stands as a…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/republic-plaza-reopens-after-s70m-revamp

Braddell View’s latest en bloc attempt again closes without bids
The tender for Singapore’s largest private residential site, Braddell View estate, has closed without any bids after it was relaunched for collective sale at an unchanged price of S$2.08 billion. In response to queries, Tang Wei Leng, managing director for marketing agent Colliers International, said: “The collective sale tender for Braddell View estate closed at 3pm on Sept 25 without bids. The Braddell View collective sale…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/braddell-views-latest-en-bloc-attempt-again-closes-without-bids

Companies’ Brief

CapitaLand beats retail blues by working hand in glove with tenants
CapitaLand Group, a major retail landlord in Singapore, has been weathering the tough retail environment by working more closely with its tenants. In a recent interview with The Business Times, Jason Leow, president of Singapore and international at CapitaLand Group, said: “Retail for us is about being differentiated from the rest. We look at a few indicators to see if the retailers are doing well. Our shopper…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/capitaland-beats-retail-blues-by-working-hand-in-glove-with-tenants

GuocoLand keen to grow presence in China
GuocoLand is keen to deepen its presence in its core market China, singling out Greater Shanghai and Chongqing as areas for potential growth. In Greater China, provinces such as Jiangsu and Zhejiang could offer opportunities for the developer to grow its footprint, group managing director of GuocoLand China, Hoon Teck Ming, told The Business Times.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/real-estate/guocoland-keen-to-grow-presence-in-china

Lendlease Global Commercial Reit in ‘no hurry’ to buy assets
From Jem to Paya Lebar Quarter, Lendlease has built a number of plum projects in Singapore that could eventually become acquisition targets for the new Lendlease Global Commercial Reit. But the Reit manager is in “no hurry” to buy more assets and will focus for now on getting maximum value out of a S$1.4 billion starting portfolio that comprises Orchard strip mall 313@somerset and Sky Complex, a Grade A office in Milan.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/lendlease-global-commercial-reit-in-no-hurry-to-buy-assets

SLB Development inks agreement to divest industrial property
SLB Development has entered into a share sale and purchase agreement to divest the entire share capital of Wellprime, its wholly-owned subsidiary which owns a property at 50 Lorong 21 Geylang for S$13.5 million. The freehold industrial property in question has a land area of about 837.1 square metres. SLB originally planned to redevelop it into a multi-use light industrial building comprising 11 factory units and…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/slb-development-inks-agreement-to-divest-industrial-property

ESR Reit’s preferential offering of 98.1m units open for subscription at S$0.510 per unit
ESR Reit (real estate investment trust) opened its preferential offering of about 98.1 million new units for subscription on Thursday at 9am with an issue price of S$0.510 per unit. Subscription can be made via acceptance forms for new units provisionally alloted to entitled shareholders under the offering, application forms for excess new units, and automated teller machines (ATMs) of participating banks DBS…
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/esr-reits-preferential-offering-of-981m-units-open-for-subscription-at-s0510-per
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/esr-reit-preferential-offering-opens-for-subscription-at-0510-apiece

Co-living startup Commontown eyes growth in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia
Co-living startup Commontown aims to double the number of beds it has in Singapore to 80 from 40 by the end of the year, and expand to Indonesia and Malaysia in the first half of 2020. The Singapore-headquartered South Korean firm will open new spaces in the Republic over the next three months, including in Geylang, Novena, Red Hill, River Valley and Tiong Bahru.
https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/garage/co-living-startup-commontown-eyes-growth-in-singapore-indonesia-and-malaysia
https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/co-living-firm-aims-to-double-number-of-beds-here