Complete Property Market Updates of Singapore

June 16, 2008

CapitaMall snaps up Atrium@Orchard for $840m

Filed under: Commercial, General, Land Sale, Property Deal — Propertymarketupdates @ 3:48 am

It has plans for dramatic makeover with 100,000 sq ft of new retail space

THE Dhoby Ghaut shopping area will soon be jazzed up now that CapitaMall Trust (CMT) has bought a prime building there for $839.8 million - right next to Plaza Singapura, which it already owns.

A makeover is already under way at one end of Orchard Road with the upcoming Ion Orchard. Further along, Somerset Central is set to transform the Somerset area. Now, it is Dhoby Ghaut’s turn.


SEAMLESS SHOPPING EXPERIENCE: This artist’s impression shows how the planned integration of Plaza Singapura and The Atrium@Orchard will create 170m of prime retail frontage along Orchard Road. — PHOTO: CAPITALAND

CMT, the owner of retail malls such as Tampines Mall and Junction 8, said yesterday it had acquired The Atrium@Orchard from the Government.

The building, with two office towers of 10 and seven storeys, will boast an extra 100,000 sq ft in retail space, including the vast ground-level atrium and the area connecting it to Plaza Singapura. The Atrium is linked to the Dhoby Ghaut MRT interchange.

CMT’s plans mean shoppers can look forward to large covered spaces, better links between The Atrium and Plaza Singapura, and more shops as CMT moves to integrate the two buildings.

CMT wants to attract overseas brands or local players such as watch shops or jewellery shops that might be keen to open flagship stores there given the extensive 170m prime frontage.

The chief executive of CapitaMall Trust Management, Mr Pua Seck Guan, said: ‘We have strengthened our foothold in the downtown area of Orchard Road.’ CMT already co-owns Raffles City with CapitaCommercial Trust.

The office development at The Atrium has about 20 tenants, including Temasek Holdings, Barclays Capital and MTV Asia. It was put up for sale by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA).

Already, government approval has been given to cover the state land or open space in front of Plaza Singapura.

Now that CMT is acquiring The Atrium, more ambitious plans are in the works, such as a fully sheltered link between the two buildings.

Also, the second floor of The Atrium will be connected to the corresponding floor of Plaza Singapura, Mr Pua said.

CMT is exploring if it would be possible to build more links between the higher floors or between the basements of the two buildings.

For retailers looking to sport an extra eye-catching presence, CMT plans to offer a striking design of duplex or double-storey stores.

With the integration, shoppers will also benefit from the direct links to the MRT station from The Atrium. Once the Circle Line is up and running, the Dhoby Ghaut station will offer commuters the convenience of three MRT lines.

In total, CMT’s plans involve adding about 100,000 sq ft of retail space and taking away about 55,000 sq ft of office space. Mr Pua did not disclose the construction costs, but analysts said they could come to a few hundred dollars per sq ft (psf).

Once completed in about three years’ time, the development will boast a total lettable area of about 900,000 sq ft, making it one of the largest developments on Orchard Road.

There are concerns that the added retail space will come onstream in uncertain economic times, but Mr Pua said ‘there is no sign of a consumer slowdown at the malls’.

Some analysts also have concerns about the purchase because the current yield from the property is just 2.1 per cent, because of the low rentals inked by SLA.

However, Mr Pua said that with leases up for renewal, ‘there is the potential to double the average office rental of the property by 2010′.

He is confident that increasing the ground floor space will improve the rentals. Units on the ground floor of Plaza Singapura command over $20 psf in rent.

CMT’s purchase will be funded mostly by a $650 million convertible bond issue. Fully underwritten by Goldman Sachs, the issue will have a coupon rate of 1 per cent and a conversion premium of 20 per cent to 35 per cent.

CMT units were halted from trading yesterday afternoon before the news was announced.

Yesterday morning, they closed down 12 cents at $3.51.

Source : Straits Times - 23 May 2008

June 11, 2008

NTUC Income to sell Beach Rd property

Filed under: General, Land Sale — Propertymarketupdates @ 1:47 am

AMID a quiet property market, NTUC Income is selling a small commercial property in Beach Road that could fetch around $24 million to $26 million.

Beach Junction, at 67 Beach Road, is a 999-year leasehold building opposite Shaw Towers. It sits at the junction of Beach Road and Middle Road.

 Beach Junction: The 999-year leasehold building opposite Shaw Towers may fetch $24m to $26m

The six-storey development has a net lettable area of about 19,000 sq ft and is fully tenanted.

More than half of the leases expire this year, which means there is potential for near-term rental appreciation, according to marketing agent CB Richard Ellis.

‘This is also a unique opportunity for owner-occupiers looking for their own building in a very accessible location,’ it said.

The property is served by City Hall and Bugis MRT stations. Accessibility will be enhanced by the completion of Esplanade station on the Circle Line by 2010.

New investors or owner-occupiers will also be able to give the building a new name.

An industry source told BT that the site is worth about $1,300-$1,400 psf.

Besides being close to the huge, eco-friendly South Beach mixed project by a City Developments-led consortium, Beach Junction is expected to benefit from plans for the nearby Ophir Road/Rochor Road corridor, which will be transformed into a commercial node with offices, hotels and supporting uses.

Expression of interest for Beach Junction closes at 3pm on June 5.

Source : Business Times - 16 May 2008

Private home sales slide in April

Filed under: General, Land Sale, Property Deal — Propertymarketupdates @ 1:09 am

Number of new homes sold and launched fall sharply

PRIVATE home sales weakened further last month, with the number of new homes launched and sold dropping sharply from March.


 
Developers launched just 271 units in April, most of them in mass market projects. This was less than half of what they launched in March, and the lowest number since the Urban Redevelopment Authority started releasing monthly sales figures last June.

Buyers took up 274 homes, down from the 301 sold in March.

Prices also continued to dip, with the median price of new sales sliding 8.9 per cent to $943 per sq ft.

Among the best-selling projects last month were the 56-unit Stadia in Yio Chu Kang Road, which sold 52 units, and the 88-unit Breeze by the East in Upper East Coast Road, where 22 units were sold.

The 848-unit Lakeshore in Jurong West saw another 32 units sold, while 14 units were taken up at the 625-unit Quartz in Buangkok.

Source : Straits Times - 15 May 2008

June 10, 2008

ISD’s former headquarters up for tender

Filed under: General, Land Sale, Regulators — Propertymarketupdates @ 4:12 am

The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has launched a public tender for the adaptive re-use of the former headquarters of the Internal Security Department (ISD) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) at Phoenix Park, off Tanglin Road.


Garden variety: Block A of the former headquarters of the Internal Security Department and Ministry of Home Affairs at Phoenix Park, off Tanglin Road. The site is designated for office use

Designated for office use, the 641,851-sq-ft site houses 24 low-rise blocks with a gross floor area of 143,160 sq ft. The guide rent is $165,000 per month or $1.15 per square foot (psf) per month.

SLA is looking for a master tenant to take the whole site. SLA senior manager of project services Winston Cheah said: ‘The set-up of the premises allows for the tenant to parcel and sub-lease the blocks, each creating a separate identity.’

The site’s historic associations go back to the mid-20th century when the British Secret Service built the first blocks there after World War II. Their design was decided by Lord Mountbatten, then Supreme Allied Commander of the South East Asia command.

ISD’s predecessor, the Special Branch, moved in in 1948, until MHA moved in from 1977-2001. MHA was followed by Republic Polytechnic from 2004-2006.

Cushman & Wakefield managing director Donald Han says the fact that the buildings were recently used ’shows occupation readiness’, which should make them more attractive to bidders.

He reckons office rents there could be $4-$5.50 psf per month. So the developer will need to achieve a break-even cost of $2.50-$3.50 to see a good profit margin.

Mr Han also said the site has ample parking and outdoor space that could be maximised.

SLA also revealed yesterday that the tender for 10 Winstedt Road, formerly Monk’s Hill Secondary School, closed on April 16 with seven bids received.

The 164,798.5-sq-ft site and premises with a gross floor area of 83,889 sq ft drew a top bid of $211,328 per month or $2.52 psf per month from Allbest Equipments. This is 43 per cent above SLA’s guide rent of $147,300 per month or $1.76 psf per month.

Allbest general manager C H Chan said that if the company is awarded the site, it intends to use 5-10 per cent of the built-up area for its corporate office and lease out the rest at $7-$8 psf.

On the demand for such space, Mr Han said: ‘As long as it can be ready within six months, the market is still in the hands of the landlords.’

Source : Business Times - 14 May 2008

June 4, 2008

Gallant units sell land worth $45m at Bintan’s Lagoi Bay

Filed under: Developer News, General, Hotel, Indonesia, Land Sale — Propertymarketupdates @ 5:35 am

TWO subsidiaries of Singapore-listed Gallant Venture Ltd announced on Friday the sale of S$45 million worth of land at Bintan’s new Lagoi Bay development.

PT Bintan Resorts Cakrawals and PT Buana Megawisatama indicated they had sold close to 300,000 square metres at Lagoi Bay on Bintan’s northern coast for various resort, hotel, residential and retail projects. The buyers included property developers as well as resort owners, including niche hotel chain Alila Hotels and Resorts, which plans to open a luxury boutique hotel at Lagoi Bay.

The palm-fringed bay with its long stretches of silver-sand beaches is billed as Asia’s first master-planned beach resort, spread across 1,300 ha. On offer for sale within the development are seven prime beachfront resort sites and over 400 ha of residential sites. Also planned are retail malls, a golf course, a marina and a retirement village.

Bintan, part of Indonesia’s Riau islands, lies 45km south-west of Singapore. It contains an industrial park but has been increasingly positioning itself as a leisure destination. It has witnessed an increase in visitor arrivals from 113,494 in 1996 to 333,749 last year - although growth has remained flat since 2001. About one third of visitors last year were from Singapore, while more than 20 per cent came from Korea and Japan.

‘We envisage one million visitors to Bintan annually by 2012,’ said Gallant’s CEO Eugene Park. He added that Gallant will be investing S$500 million in the island over the next four years, including on roads, power, water and telecom facilities, a new airport to attract short-haul traffic and faster ferries from Singapore - which would cut down travel time to around 40 minutes from one hour at present.

‘We want to develop Bintan as an alternative to Bali and Phuket as a destination of choice for the beach tourist,’ he said.

Gallant’s major shareholders include Indonesia’s Salim group, and Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries, as well as Ascendas.

At a briefing prior to the ground-breaking ceremony of Lagoi Bay, the Regent of Bintan, H. Ansar Ahmad, said the Bintan regency ‘has issued a special regulation for all land in Bintan Resorts and Bintan Industrial Park to be designated as a vital area of the region and be accorded special protection and privileges which prohibit all forms of demonstrations or protests’.

He added that the Regency ‘has also established a one-stop service for all investment licensing and processing, thus doing away with the hassle of having to go to multiple agencies’.

With the establishment of this service, the time needed to obtain all licences will be reduced to only 33 days, he said - about the same as in Malaysia, China, Thailand and Vietnam.

The formal groundbreaking ceremony at Lagoi Bay was performed on Friday night by Riau Islands Governor Ismeth Abdullah.

Source : Business Times - 12 May 2008

May 12, 2008

Royal Peacock Hotel in Chinatown could fetch around $38m

Filed under: About Singapore, General, Hotel, Land Sale — Propertymarketupdates @ 4:39 am

THE Royal Peacock Hotel in Chinatown’s Keong Saik Road is likely to be sold soon - with a potential price tag of about $38 million.

The owners of the boutique hotel called for expressions of interest, which closed on Wednesday, after attracting at least five bidders.

The keen interest underlined rising interest in the hotel sector in Singapore, analysts said.

The 74-room hotel’s marketing agent, Cushman & Wakefield, said the property’s guide price is $38 million, or more than $500,000 a room.

While the wider property market is quiet, as many buyers and sellers are remaining on the sidelines, the hotel sector offers a different picture.

With rising tourist arrivals and room rates, investors are more than happy to pay ‘tomorrow’s price’ for a hotel located in the city centre, said Mr Donald Han, the managing director of Cushman & Wakefield in Singapore.

A five-star hotel typically sells for $700,000 to $800,000 a room, he said.

The bidders for the Royal Peacock, most of whom are foreigners, are not existing hotel players in Singapore, he said.

The hotel, which opened in 1995, is owned by Grace International, the local property offshoot of a family trading business based in Indonesia. The firm also owns The Scarlet, an 84-room boutique hotel in Erskine Road that opened in late 2004. This is set in 13 two-storey, restored shophouses built in 1868 and a four-storey shophouse.

The Royal Peacock occupies 10 restored shophouses in Keong Saik Road, which was once famous as a red-light district.

The rooms, ranging from 18 sq m to 30 sq m in area, boast period touches such as antique gilt-framed mirrors, plush purple carpets and red walls. They cost between $105 and $185 a night.

The eventual buyer will be looking to enjoy rising room rates, analysts say.

Room rates in Singapore have been rising steadily after staying low for a long period. Average rates are now hovering around $240 to $250, up from just $120 in 2004.

Mr Han said the outlook for the hotel industry remains upbeat, and Cushman & Wakefield is in the process of being appointed as the marketing agent for two other hotels over the next two months. These hotels, with fewer than 200 rooms, are also well-located.

Source : Straits Times - 9 May 2008

HPL in deal to rebuild, refurbish hotels in Libya

Filed under: Commercial, General, Hotel, Land Sale, World Property — Propertymarketupdates @ 4:33 am

Creation of JV with that country’s state pension fund manager is on cards

HOTEL Properties Ltd (HPL) has forged an agreement with Libya’s state pension fund manager to rebuild and refurbish hotels in the country, a deal achieved partly thanks to ‘middleman’ Philip Yeo.

Stephen Yeo, executive vice-president of HPL, said on Wednesday evening at a press conference here that many details have yet to be firmed up. But on the cards is the creation of a 50-50 joint venture company with Libya’s Social Security Fund Investments Company (SSFI), which manages three to four billion Libyan dinars (S$3.5 to 4.7 billion) in assets, to refurbish Tripoli’s Al Kadir hotel to five-star standard for US$30 million.

Other projects include the building of a 50-storey mixed-use tower in Tripoli for around 150 million euros (S$317.5 million), and the redevelopment of a hotel in Benghazi city, according to SSFI chairman Issa Tuwegiar. SSFI manages 23 hotels, resorts and tourism villages in Libya on behalf of Libya’s pension fund.

Hexagon Development Advisors - a consultancy headed by the former EDB and A*Star chief Philip Yeo - helped Ong Beng Seng’s HPL clinch the deal. Mr Yeo is now chairman of Spring Singapore.

The main shareholders of Hexagon - a company set up in February 2007 - are Reef Enterprises, believed to be an HPL outfit, and Ellington Investments, which focuses on energy and power industries. Through his own firm P*Yeo Investments, Mr Yeo has shares in Hexagon. The consulting firm’s senior people include other former EDB officers.

Mr Yeo and Mr Ong are understood to have visited Libya more than once in the past year and have built up a relationship with the Libyan Economic Development Board, a government body inspired in part by its Singapore counterpart.

A joint HPL-Hexagon delegation visited Libya last September to discuss business deals, according to David Ban, Mr Ong’s associate and a consultant at Hexagon who was present at the signing of a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday night.

SSFI’s Mr Tuwegiar said HPL’s expertise in tourism and hospitality is particularly welcome and the agreement was secured quickly, within a few months. HPL has interests in 23 hotels worldwide and has developed numerous luxury residential properties. It also owns shopping and commercial properties plus the Hard Rock cafe franchise in the Asia-Pacific region.

Yesterday morning, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong met Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi for what Mr Goh called an ‘illuminating discussion’ lasting almost an hour.

Mr Goh told reporters that he was interested in finding out the future direction of the Libyan economy. ‘Unless you are sure of the clarity of the direction of the Libya economy it will be a bit difficult for us to consider investing in the economy in the big way,’ he said.

Afterwards, Mr Goh met Libyan Prime Minister Al Bugdady Ali Al-Mahmoudi and witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding to further economic cooperation between the two countries. Singapore businessmen remain worried that shifting rules and regulations in Libya could hurt their investments and Mr Goh said he had transmitted these concerns to the Libyan leaders.

Libya has only recently come out of international isolation after United Nations and US sanctions were lifted.

The country has large reserves of oil and gas, as well as 1,800km of coastline and many heritage sites, including Leptis Magna, an impressive Roman ruin that is largely unexcavated.

This has led to a rapid influx of foreign businessmen and tourists, which the country’s infrastructure is struggling to cope with. Libyan government officials say they may need as many as 40,000 more hotel rooms to meet the surge in demand, as there are only about 12,000 rooms at present. Only one hotel is said to be of five-star standard and even then its facilities - for example, Internet access - are still patchy.

Source : Business Times - 9 May 2008

FRHI confirms in-principle sale of Raffles Hotel

Filed under: About Singapore, General, Hotel, Land Sale — Propertymarketupdates @ 4:30 am

RAFFLES Hotel is being sold - as readers of BT were told yesterday. Under an in-principle agreement announced yesterday, Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI) will sell the iconic hotel to a consortium led by former Credit Suisse investment banker Mark Pawley.

‘Completion is expected to take place at the end of May 2008,’ FRHI added in its statement.

Raffles Hotels & Resorts, owned by FRHI, will continue to manage the hotel under a long-term management contract.

The pricing for the transaction and details of consortium members were not disclosed.

While he was head of Asian Real Estate, Gaming and Lodging business at Credit Suisse Investment Banking in Asia, Mr Pawley was involved with the $1.7 billion sale of the entire Raffles Holdings’ hotel portfolio - including Raffles Hotel in Singapore - to US-based private equity firm Colony Capital in 2005.

Colony later merged that portfolio with Fairmont Hotels & Resorts’ assets to create FRHI.

Colony is today understood to hold about 40 per cent in FRHI while Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s Kingdom Hotels International owns the rest.

BT reported yesterday that a preliminary agreement had been inked on the sale of Raffles Hotel and the adjoining shopping arcade and that the price is believed to be in the ‘mid-$600 million range’. The report had also said that the buyer was believed to be a family trust, most likely linked to a European family.

Market watchers yesterday suggested the trust is likely to be a member of the consortium.

Raffles Hotel, Singapore, is just the latest asset FRHI/Colony have sold from the former Raffles Holdings portfolio acquired in 2005.

Last year, FRHI sold 100 per cent equity interest in its two Cambodian hotels, Raffles Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh and Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor in Siem Reap, to Kingdom Hotels Investments for US$36.4 million and at the same implied enterprise value. It also sold Swissotel Sydney last year.

In late 2006, FRHI sold Swissotel Merchant Court in Singapore to a fund managed by LaSalle Investment Management at a price reported to be in the $300-400 million range.

In its statement yesterday, FRHI said: ‘As part of FRHI’s ongoing business strategy to build a brand-focused global hotel company, FRHI continues to pursue opportunities to monetise its hotel real estate investments.

‘These asset sales are purely real estate transactions that provide an opportunity to realise the value of our very successful investments and provide us access to significant capital for future growth of our management companies.’

‘Similar to FRHI’s past real estate transactions, any hotels that are sold will continue to be part of the company’s hotel collection and will be managed under long-term management contracts.’

Source : Business Times - 9 May 2008

Raffles Hotel looks set to be sold at hefty price tag

Filed under: About Singapore, General, Hotel, Land Sale — Propertymarketupdates @ 4:27 am

Consortium led by banker may buy hotel and adjoining arcade for $650m

MYSTERY buyers are set to acquire the historic Raffles Hotel for more than treble the $200 million it sold for just three years ago.

The 121-year-old hotel and the adjoining shopping arcade are changing hands again after a consortium led by a Singapore-based banker agreed to buy the property, the American and Middle Eastern owners announced yesterday.

The eye-popping price tag is about $650 million, The Business Times (BT) reported yesterday.

The dramatic jump in value of the heritage property is the result of Singapore’s booming hotel industry, market watchers say. Average room rates are now about $240, way up from $136 in 2005.

The identities of the buyers are not yet clear, though the consortium is being led by prominent former Credit Suisse banker Mark Pawley, who declined to comment yesterday.

The BT cited unnamed sources as saying the consortium might be linked to a European family.

As a Credit Suisse banker, Mr Pawley helped arrange the $1.7 billion sale of the hotels of Raffles Holdings to US-based Colony Capital in 2005. The hotel portfolio included Raffles Hotel and the adjacent shopping arcade - valued at $200 million then.

Mr Pawley is chief executive of Singapore-based Oxley Capital Group, a private investment house focusing on real estate and private equity. Oxley told Reuters yesterday that it was not the buyer.

After Colony bought Raffles Holdings, it combined the hotels, including Raffles Hotel, into Fairmont Hotels & Resorts, which it had also acquired.

Yesterday, Fairmont Raffles Hotels International (FRHI) announced that it had reached an in-principle agreement with the consortium led by Mr Pawley to sell its stake in Raffles Hotel.

The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the month, the firm - controlled by Saudi Arabian billionaire, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal - and Colony said in a statement.

FRHI said it continues to look for ways to ‘monetise its hotel real estate investments’.

These asset sales, it said, are ‘purely real estate transactions that provide an opportunity to realise the value of our very successful investments’.

Staff and guests at Raffles Hotel are unlikely to be directly affected by the change.

‘Similar to FRHI’s past estate transactions, any hotels that are sold will continue to be part of the company’s hotel collection and will be managed under long-term management contracts,’ it said.

The BT reported that the sale would come with a 40-year management contract for Raffles Hotels and Resorts, citing unnamed sources.

It also reported a sale price ‘in the mid-$600 million range’. The 999-year leasehold Raffles Hotel has 104 suites. The shopping arcade has a 99-year lease.

Mr Donald Han, Cushman & Wakefield’s managing director, said the hotel sale price would exceed $1 million per room, after taking out the retail component. Generally, a five-star hotel sells for about $700,000 to $800,000 a room.

Back in 2005, concerns were raised about securing the legacy of the hotel, which is a part of Singapore’s history and heritage. But the parties involved have said the hotel’s legacy remains intact.

Source : Straits Times - 9 May 2008

Beach Rd building sold for $70m

Filed under: Commercial, General, Land Sale — Propertymarketupdates @ 2:53 am

Hirsch Bedner and Irish private equity firm turning asset into boutique offices

AN Irish private equity firm and renowned international interior design firm Hirsch Bedner Associates have bought 700 Beach Road, currently a small office, home office development named In-City Lofts, for a total $70 million.

The duo will pump in a further $3.5 million to upgrade the eight-storey building and reposition it as a boutique office block.


700 Beach: The total investment of $73.5m works out to $1,097 psf of the enlarged total net lettable area

The building has 8,500 to 12,000 sq ft floor plates, 4.5-metre ceiling heights and a roof terrace with a full-sized lap pool and gym facilities. When the refurbishment is completed in August this year, the property - located between Golden Mile Tower and Golden Mile Complex - will be renamed 700 Beach.

The spruce-up will increase the building’s existing net lettable area by about 5,000 sq ft to 67,000 sq ft - of which 12,000 sq ft will be owned by Hirsch Bedner and 55,000 sq ft by Fine Grain Property Consortium (Singapore) Pte Ltd.

The all-in investment of $73.5 million by the two parties works out to $1,097 per square foot of the enlarged total net lettable area. Hirsch Bedner has taken about one-and-a-half floors while Fine Grain has bought the remaining six-and-a-half levels.

The site’s lease was extended to 99 years starting April 2004, after the building was completed.

The interior design process of the refurbishment for the entire building is being handled by Hirsch Bedner, which will also move into the space it has bought. This will be the Los Angeles-based firm’s regional office, housing its 80-strong design team.

Fine Grain has appointed Jones Lang LaSalle to lease its space in the building. ‘The gross monthly per square foot asking rent is in the high single-digit range and we’re targeting MNCs who’re sensitive to high office rents in the CBD,’ says JLL regional director and head of markets Chris Archibold. JLL is in talks with three potential tenants for areas of various sizes, Mr Archibold added.

Assuming an average rent in the high-single digit range, the net property yield would be about 8 per cent, analysts say.

Fine Grain is 65 per cent controlled by Ireland-based investors led by Ronald Bolger, Singapore’s Honorary Consul General in Ireland and former managing partner of KPMG Ireland.

The other 35 per cent is controlled by Singapore- based investors led by Colin MacDonald and Wan Fook Kong. (Mr MacDonald is also managing director of McCraic Holdings, owner of Molly Malone’s Irish pub and BQ Bar). Mr MacDonald, his brother Alastair (a chartered accountant), Mr Bolger and Mr Wan are directors of Fine Grain.

700 Beach Road is Fine Grain’s first property acquisition in Singapore and the firm has allocated about $70-80 million more for further property purchases here in the next six months or so. ‘We’re targeting undervalued assets, overlooked by investors perhaps because of the properties’ current use or the way they’re being managed. We can refurbish and reposition such assets and seek to add value to existing buildings rather than build something from scratch,’ says Mr MacDonald, who is also Fine Grain’s CEO.

Fine Grain’s portion of the acquisition will be funded by 70 per cent debt, provided by Munich-based Hypo Real Estate Group.

700 Beach Road was sold by In-Space Pte Ltd, whose shareholders include Wee Chwee Heng of Kumpulan Akitek.

Source : Business Times - 7 May 2008

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