They're Old, But Not Without Appeal

Source : Today, Weekend, August 4, 2007

AFTER years in government service, they are a little worse for wear, but that didn't stop private entities from snapping them up.

The tenders for the former CPIB building at Cantonment Road saw a record 15 bidders vying for the one property. Bravo Building Construction Pte Ltd, a property development company, won the Cantonment Road tender with a bid of $91,731 per month, and is planning to spend some $3 million on renovation.

It plans to retrofit it as a green and handicapped-friendly building complete with wireless network and sublet units to companies involved with the upcoming Integrated Resorts.

It is one of the three State properties recently awarded by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) to increase the supply of interim office space.

Phillips Securities, which won the bid for the former Moulmein community centre at Shan Road at $35,000 per month — the first community centre to be adapted for office use — will spend an additional $1 million to $2 million to renovate and outfit an Investor Centre.

Location, more than the price, was a consideration in the choice of site.

The third site, the former CID Training Centre at Pearl's Hill Terrace, went to Hean Nerng Warehousing Pte Ltd, which put in a bid of $5,300 in monthly rent.

Mr Donald Han, managing director of Cushman & Wakefield Singapore, said the aggressive competition for these sites is part of the spillover effect from high rentals in the Central Business District.

This is the fifth time the SLA has offered State property for office use since February.

Two tenders are now open for office use at 169 Sims Avenue and the former Pei Chun Public School at Toa Payoh.

Three more sites — the former ITE Balestier, Kim Keat Camp at Jalan Rajah and the former Haig Boys' School at Mountbatten Road — will be launched soon.

Amount for construction demand forecast Increased

STRONG demand in the construction sector – which raked in $7.6 billion in the first five months this year – has spurred the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) to revise the construction demand forecast for the year to between $19 billion and $22 billion, up from $17 billion to $19 billion.

Private sector construction is expected to form 70 per cent of demand, with a rise in demand for commercial, residential and hotel developments, as well as major projects like the Marina Bay Financial Centre and contracts for the Integrated Resorts.

Minister of State for National Development Grace Fu said that concrete prices were stabilising, leaping from $70 before Indonesia banned exports of sand in January, to between $140 and $150 today.