The Riverwalk For Sale

Source : Channel NewsAsia, 26 November 2007

An iconic redevelopment site at the heart of the CBD has been put up for sale.

Currently known as The Riverwalk, the 82,317-sq ft site is zoned for commercial use.

It has a gross plot ratio of up to 4.9, and has the potential to be redeveloped into an iconic commercial building with a gross floor area of about 403,351 sq ft, subject to approval and payment of development charge and land premium for the topping up of the lease.

Jones Lang LaSalle is the marketing agent for the site. - CNA/ir

Two Office Sites At Mountbatten And Aljunied Up For Sale

Source : Channel NewsAsia, 26 November 2007

The Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) is putting up two more transitional office sites for sale to help meet the demand for office space in the short to medium term.

The two new sites are at Mountbatten Road and the junction of Aljunied Road and Geylang East Avenue 1.

The Mountbatten Road site has an area of over 2 hectares. It can yield a maximum gross floor area of 20,000 square metres.

It is located next to the future Mountbatten MRT Station along the Circle Line, which is expected to be ready by 2010.

The Aljunied Road site spans about 1.9 hectares and has a maximum permissible gross floor area of 19,000 square metres.

Both sites will be sold on short-term leases of 15 years.

The office buildings on these sites are expected to be low-rise developments of about three storeys, which can be built quickly.

CB Richard Ellis expects keen interest in the Aljunied Road parcel due to its proximity to an existing MRT station and offices in the Paya Lebar micro-market.

Knight Frank predicts that the Mountbatten Road site will fetch up to S$130 per square foot per plot ratio or about S$28 million.

It expects the Aljunied Road site to sell for up to S$160 per square foot per plot ratio or about S$32.5 million. - CNA/so

MacarthurCook Industrial REIT Makes Foray Into Japan With S$29m Buy

Source : Channel NewsAsia, 26 November 2007

MacarthurCook Industrial REIT has made its first acquisition outside of Singapore, buying the Asahi Ohmiya Warehouse in Japan for S$29 million.

It will outsource the management of the property to Atlas Partners Japan, a Japanese real estate fund and asset management firm.

MacarthurCook Industrial said the acquisition is an important first step of its expansion into Japan, in line with its pan-Asian strategy.

It expects to have 20 per cent of its portfolio to be allocated in Japan eventually, another 50 per cent in Singapore and the remainder in other major Asian industrial property markets. - CNA/ac

Hotel Revenue Hits All-Time Record As More Tourists Stay Longer

Source : The Straits Times, Nov 26, 2007

THE tourism sector is definitely roaring, as October posted a monthful of records.

First, latest figures from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) show that hotel room revenue has hit an all-time record of $178.4 million in October - a 37.1 per cent jump over the same month last year.

Average room rates hit $219 a night, a jump of 33.9 per cent - also setting a new record.

Occupancy rates, at the same time, hit 89 per cent, up 1.8 per cent over October 2006.

Yet another record was broken as 911,000 visitors, an increase of 6.2 per cent, came to Singapore last month - a new high for the month of October.

These visitors stayed longer as well, chalking up 3.3 million days, or about 3.6 days per person - a jump of 14.5 per cent.

As for the sources of these visitors, the STB said 54 per cent of them came from 5 countries - Indonesia, China, Australia, India and Malaysia, in that order.

Visitor arrivals from Indonesia, in particular, hit a new record of 215,000 in October, which the STB attributed to the Hari Raya holidays.

Mountbatten, Aljunied Office Sites For Sale

Source : The Straits Times, Nov 26, 2007

THE Urban Redevelopment Authority has announced the sales launch of 2 transitional office sites - one at Mountbatten Road, the other at a land parcel bordering Aljunied Road and Geylang East Avenue 1.

The Mountbatten site, occupying 2.12 ha, can yield up to 20,000 sqm of gross floor area. It's also located next to the future Mountbatten MRT station along the Circle Line, which is expected to be ready by 2010.

The Aljunied-Geyland East site is slightly smaller at 1.88 ha, with a maximum gross floor area of 18,885 sqm. Like the Mountbatten site, it's also located at the fringe of the city and adjacent to an MRT station - in this case, Aljunied MRT.

Both sites, said URA, will be sold on short-term leases of 15 years.

"The office buildings on these sites will are expected to be low-rise developments of about 3 storeys that can be quickly built in about a year," it added.

Tenders for the Mountbatten Road land parcel will close at 12pm on Jan 9, while those for the site at Aljunied Road will close exactly one week later on Jan 16.

More details are available at the URA's website.(http://www.ura.gov.sg)