DP Architects has beaten nine Vietnamese and international architectural firms to win a design competition for the Sabeco World Trade Centre in Ho Chi Minh City. This follows its winning design for the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam last year. The WTC design complies with current Singapore standards, regulations and codes of practice where applicable.
Source : Business Times - 21 May 2008
A FAMILY feud at Sun Hung Kai Properties, one of Hong Kong’s biggest developers, is shaping up to become a feisty legal battle for boardroom control.
The woes of the Kwok family have taken a dramatic twist after the chairman of Sun Hung Kai Properties, who took leave of absence in February, filed a writ against the company and his brothers.
At the time, Sun Hung Kai Properties said Walter Kwok was taking leave of absence due to ongoing personal and business overseas trips and planned to resume his duties.
Eager to return, Walter Kwok Ping-sheung has secured an injunction preventing a board vote that would see him ousted altogether, challenging an attempt by his two brothers to gain control of the company.
It is believed that cracks first began showing in the family when a friendship between Mr Kwok and a woman became the source of discontent in the family ranks over her role in the company and the advice she was giving the elder sibling.
In the writ, Mr Kwok disputes claims by his brothers that he is medically unfit to return to the helm of the company. He also listed a number of disagreements over company management. The executive claims that measures he took to boost corporate governance at the company led to discord.
The elder Kwok detailed an agreement between himself, his mother and his siblings prior to his leave of absence which outlined the process by which he would resume his role at the company.
He claims that an attempt by his brothers to permanently remove him is contrary to this agreement. As part of the deal, he was expected to produce two medical reports showing he was fit to return to work.
The ongoing saga and the prospect of the personal lives of the Kwok family being aired in public have put an otherwise modest family on the front page of every tabloid in the city. The family is well known for its conservative public presence and values, as well as its good standing in the community.
The family manages to stay relatively low key in a city where tycoons are treated like movie stars.
Walter Kwok took over as Sun Hung Kai group chairman in November 1990 following the death of his father, Kwok Tak-seng.
Today, the Kwok brothers are third on Forbes’ list of the richest people in Greater China, with an estimated net worth of US$14 billion.
Walter Kwok remains an executive director on a number of other boards of listed companies, as well as a standing committee member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
However the incident has become fodder for the press, withboth sides speaking publicly about their actions. During the weekend, the press followed family members to a number of engagements in which they spoke of acting for the good of the company.
The English-language Standard quoted rival sibling Thomas Kwok as saying that the decision to attempt to oust Walter Kwok was beneficial to both the company and its shareholders.
He dubbed it a ‘painful decision to make’.
The newspaper cited sources as saying that the brothers disagreed with a number of their sibling’s management decisions, some of which were made without consulting them.
It had previously been reported that the brothers were unhappy that although the daily operations are mainly overseen by the younger siblings, Walter Kwok had been taking an aggressive stance on business matters recently.
The female friend of Walter Kwok had moreover never been employed by the company, but started to show ambitions in certain parts of Sun Hung Kai’s business.
According to sources, this involved a desire to be put in charge of the company’s China operations.
The tycoon was reportedly one of several billionaires kidnapped by notorious gangster Cheung Tze-keung, otherwise known as ‘Big Spender’, in 1997. These reports have never been confirmed by the family.
Source : Business Times - 20 May 2008
Two-thirds backed out after US sub-prime crisis took a turn for the worse
LOCAL condominiums are not the only ones suffering from the recent sharp downturn in property market sentiment.
Two-thirds of Singapore buyers have backed out of their purchases of units in the much-hyped Chicago Spire in the United States, The Straits Times understands.
The iconic condo in Chicago was well-received when it was launched in Singapore in early March. More than 800 people attended the exhibition at the Four Seasons Hotel, and almost 40 buyers were said to have reserved units.
But more than 20 of them withdrew from their deals subsequently, after the US sub-prime crisis threatened to take a turn for the worse in the weeks following the launch, sources said.
The 150-storey Chicago Spire is touted as the world’s tallest condo, and boasts a unique spiral-shaped design.
But this was not enough to hook buyers. A number were apparently spooked by the near-collapse of US investment bank Bear Stearns, which took place a week after the Chicago Spire was launched in Singapore.
Many of the buyers who changed their minds may have been first-time punters who got cold feet, property experts suggested.
These buyers paid a US$2,000 (S$2,762) reservation fee for the units, but were refunded this amount in full, thanks to a cooling-off period that is the standard for US home sales.
Mr Colin Tan, the head of research and consultancy at Chesterton International, said it made sense for the buyers to pull out of their deals.
‘Housing prices in the US are coming down, and while some properties may look like a good investment now, you can probably get it cheaper later,’ he said.
‘It doesn’t make sense to buy and hold on to US properties when there are still sub-prime problems.’
Experts said those who had seen their purchases through are likely to be more serious buyers who may, for example, have children studying in Chicago.
Most of the units that were sold were reported to be one- or two-bedroom apartments that averaged US$1 million each, or US$1,000 per sq ft.
About half the buyers were said to be Singaporeans or permanent residents, and the rest were expatriates.
It is understood that to date, about 10 of the Singapore buyers have inked their purchase agreements. At least two of them are believed to be Indonesians.
Sources said the Chicago Spire’s exhibitions in Shanghai and Hong Kong, which followed its launch in Singapore, received a lukewarm response as the turmoil in the US financial markets deepened in March.
IT PAYS TO WAIT
‘Housing prices in the US are coming down, and while some properties may look like a good investment now, you can probably get them cheaper later.’ - MR COLIN TAN, head of research and consultancy at Chesterton International, who said it made sense for Chicago Spire buyers to pull out of their deals
Source : Straits Times - 17 May 2008
THE sub-prime crisis in the United States is starting to weaken Asian property markets, said the real estate arm of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) yesterday.
GIC Real Estate president Seek Ngee Huat told a regional property conference that the impact of the crisis could hasten downtrends in the Asian property markets, according to a report by news agency Reuters.
‘The contagion effects of the sub-prime crisis can potentially accelerate the downward spin of the property cycle,’ he said in a keynote speech at the Financial Times Asia Property Summit.
‘Some market weakening is being sensed in Asia, particularly in Japan and in Australia.’
In Australia, house prices are growing more slowly and demand for mortgages fell 6.1 per cent in March from February, according to the Reuters report.
It added that in Japan, the stock of unsold apartments is rising, while housing starts fell 15.6 per cent in March from a year ago.
Housing starts - the number of new private homes under construction - are used as an indicator of the state of an economy.
On the bright side, the sub-prime carnage presents opportunities for well-positioned players, Dr Seek said.
But he added that any interested party would face competition from other institutional investors.
‘As always, weak markets favour those with the capacity to take strategic positions, and so the sub-prime meltdown presents threats as well as opportunities,’ he was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Morgan Stanley has estimated that GIC manages more than US$330 billion (S$456.8 billion) of assets. This makes it the world’s third-largest sovereign wealth fund, behind the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Norway’s Government Pension Fund.
GIC Real Estate is also one of the top 10 property investors in the world, with more than 200 investments across more than 30 countries.
Its multibillion-dollar portfolio includes the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney and the Westin Paris in France, among other buildings.
In his speech, Dr Seek said that GIC began by investing in developed markets. It only started to focus on emerging markets in Asia in the mid-1990s.
Source : Straits Times - 16 May 2008
FOREIGNERS are more bullish about the Malaysian property market than locals, according to a survey by one of the country’s property websites, thinkproperty.my.
Its chief executive officer Asim Qureshi said in the survey involving 250 participants, significantly more foreigners were positive about Malaysian real estate.
In a statement yesterday, he said 48 per cent of the foreigners surveyed indicated that the outlook over the next 12 months was positive, with 19 per cent negative and the remaining 33 per cent neutral.
Foreign participants believed that Malaysia will be relatively immune from the expected global slowdown as 45 per cent of them said the collapse of the US sub-prime market will not significantly affect local property prices, compared to 38 per cent who believed the impact will be significant.
‘Foreigners are in a great position to be able to compare Malaysian real estate with that in other countries. Most foreign investors will not look at Malaysian property in isolation, but compare Malaysia with a number of other property hotspots,’ Mr Asim said.
‘In my view, foreigners are seeing the bigger picture - a picture in which they see that Malaysia has not had a property boom for over a decade. With robust fundamentals there is a good possibility Malaysia will see its own property boom in the next few years,’ he said.
Mr Asim said reassuringly, Malaysians were positive about real estate in the country, with 33 per cent saying that the outlook was positive, and only 21 per cent opting for the negative outlook.
However, he noted that locals were more concerned about global events, with 43 per cent saying that the US sub-prime crisis will not affect Malaysian property prices significantly compared with 41 per cent who felt otherwise.
The survey also showed that property remained the most favoured investment type by far as indicated by 60 per cent of participants, compared to 26 per cent who favoured fixed deposits as the best performing investment type over the next 12 months, and 14 per cent who chose shares.
‘Participants are unsurprisingly still most positive about residential property and this is likely due to the fact that the residential sector has been the backbone of the property sector and the most resilient property type since the Asian financial crisis,’ Mr Asim said.
He said 28 per cent of those surveyed believed that detached or semi- detached houses will be the best performing asset type in Malaysia over the next 12 months, followed by 22 per cent for apartments and condominiums, and 18 per cent for linked houses.
Foreigners preferred condominiums over linked houses while locals favoured linked houses, and 11 per cent of the survey participants believed that offices will be the best performing property type while 7 per cent opted for the retail sector.
Source : Business Times - 15 May 2008
No doubt about it - The World in Dubai belongs to the rich and famous. This cluster of real estate is shaped like a map of Earth
YOU can buy Australia, New Zealand, Shanghai or even the Antarctica, and develop it into a private kingdom.
But first, you have to be invited to purchase this exclusive piece of real estate located 4km off the coast of Dubai - The World, a spectacular man-made archipelago shaped like a map of Earth.
Currently, only one island that is part of Greenland is fully developed with a three-storey glass-framed mansion, equipped with water, sewage and electrical systems’
Every year, 50 invitations are sent to businessmen, celebrities and members of royalty.
Nakheel, the United Arab Emirates-owned property developer behind the project, wants to turn it into the world’s first island community for the elite.
Covering 931ha, The World is twice the size of Sentosa, which has a total area of 463ha.
According to Mr Christopher O’Donnell, Nakheel’s chief executive officer, half of the 300 islands with names such as Ireland and Shanghai, have been sold.
Although there had been talk that celebrities such as British singer Rod Stewart, footballer David Beckham and Hollywood couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have each bought an island here, Nakheel did not confirm any of these purchases.
Instead, the confirmed buyers include Chinese businessman Bin Hu who paid 103 million dirhams (S$38 million) for Shanghai island with plans to build a resort; Kuwait-based investment group The Investment Dar and Efad Holdings, which will transform Australasia into a resort with private residences; and Singapore-based firm Cinnovation Group, which will build a 730 million-dirham resort and spa on Nova Island.
Each island, with an average size of 300,000 sq ft, is priced between 73.5 and 183.6 million dirhams, says Nakheel spokesman Aaron Richardson.
He declined to reveal the exact cost of the multi-billion-dollar project. With The World’s barren islands, buyers will have to factor in other costs, such as building a house, ferry terminal and desalination plant.
Currently, only one island that is part of Greenland is fully developed with a three-storey glass-framed mansion, equipped with water, sewage and electrical systems. Mr Richardson would only reveal that the island belongs to an ‘influential local family’.
According to locals, it is believed to be owned by Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Al Maktoum, the vice-president and Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai.
He is also the man behind Nakheel’s other island developments, such as The Palm Jumeriah, the smallest of the three artificial palm-shaped islands along the coast of Dubai.
These island developments, along with the skyscrapers rising rapidly from the desert plains, have reshaped Dubai in recent years.
The remnants of the old city, though, is tucked away at the Bur Dubai, known for its winding alleys, beautiful palaces, mosques and old homes.
Just like the old days, the bustling local markets or souks see merchants selling spices, gold, silk, fishes and textile.
As developers compete to build the world’s tallest supertower in this fast-growing city, mega-resort Atlantis will open at the 560ha Palm Jumeirah in September.
Located on the Palm’s crescent, the facilities will include an Aquaventure water park and a 1,539-room resort.
On the Palm, there are also waterfront condos and double-storey villas, which are located on the 16 ‘fronds’.
According to Edward Sands Towers properties, which specialises in the Palm’s residences, a 1,184 sq ft one-bedroom seaview apartment is priced at 3 million dirhams, while a four-bedroom garden villa, spanning 5,000 sq ft, costs 15 million dirhams.
Homeowners come from China, South America, Britain, the United States and even Nepal.
So far, more than 4,000 properties have been snapped up, with 2,000 families now living on the island.
But with over 5,500 residential units, and more to come from third-party developers plus 30 new hotels, the island is in danger of becoming congested.
The construction of the Palm also sparked environmental concerns. The continuous breakwater was subsequently modified to create gaps on either side to allow tidal movement to oxygenate the water within and prevent it from stagnating.
Mr O’Donnell tells Life!: ‘During the planning stages, we have local, regional and international institutions to prepare a comprehensive environmental impact assessment of the marine environment.
‘The creation of new landscapes and seascapes promotes the existence of marine life.’
And two F-100 Super Sabre fighter jets have been stripped and sunk near the island to create an artificial reef, intended to encourage marine life.
At the end of this year, Nakheel will be developing yet another man-made island called The Universe.
Spanning 3,000ha of reclaimed land below The World, it will form a cluster of islands in the shape of the solar system. It is expected to have residential units and hotels.
Asked what would follow next, Mr O’Donnell jests: ‘We have already conquered The World and next, The Universe. These are icons of Dubai.’
Source : Straits Times - 13 May 2008
UNITED Engineers (UE) has reported Q1 2008 revenue of $133.6 million, up 9 per cent from the same period last year. But net profit was down 90 per cent to $1.22 million.
UE said operating profit was affected by fair-value losses from short-term investments and the carrying value of its interest in Anhui Hefei United Power Generation Company (AHUP).
It said ‘other income’ dropped 95 per cent to $588,000 due to fair-value gains from short-term investments recognised in Q1 2007, while ‘other expenses’ increased 459 per cent to $13.8 million due to fair-value losses of $2.9 million from short-term investments and $8 million (with $4.4 million attributable to the group, after minority interest) relating to the carrying value of AHUP.
AHUP has ceased contributing since Dec 1, 2007 due to proposed divestment approved by UE shareholders and pending finalisation.
In December, UE said it would sell its stake in United Power Corporation (S), which has a 49 per cent stake in AHUP, for US$85.6 million.
Gross profit for Q1 rose 20 per cent to $28.4 million and gross profit percentage was 21.3 per cent, up from 19.2 per cent in Q1 2007. This was attributed mainly to higher rental rates and partial recognition of income from the sale of the condominium project, The Rochester.
Earnings per ordinary share fell to 0.5 cents, from 5.4 cents in Q1 2007.
UE’s share price closed eight cents lower at $3.91 yesterday.
Source : Business Times - 13 May 2008
CAPITALA, an Abu Dhabi-based real estate company, yesterday launched its maiden project - an integrated development combining residential, leisure, sports and retail.
Capitala is a joint venture firm by CapitaLand - which owns 49 per cent - and Mubadala, which owns the remaining 51 per cent. The company aims to design, build, manage and maintain integrated communities in Abu Dhabi. Its maiden project, Arzanah, is located on a 1.4 million square metre site in the Grand Mosque District, minutes away from Abu Dhabi city centre, the Abu Dhabi International Exhibition Centre and the central business district.
The development boasts features such as gardens, a canal, a beach, and facilities such as a club, a spa, a school and extensive walking and cycling trails. Shopping can also be done in an open-air climate controlled environment. Residents and visitors have easy access to the Zayed Stadium, and other sports facilities such as the Abu Dhabi International Tennis Complex, the 40-lane international standard Khalifa International Bowling Centre, the Abu Dhabi Ice Rink and a state-of-the-art aquatic centre.
Capitala estimates that there will be 9,000 residences with about 18,000 residents and over two million people will visit the development annually. The first phase of the development will be completed in 2011.
‘Today, both Capitala and its maiden project Arzanah are fundamental building blocks of our long term real estate strategy - one that is focused on regenerating the community and constructing architecturally outstanding and sustainable properties that will help create secure investments for property owners and provide a quality standard of living for the community of Abu Dhabi,’ said Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, chief operating officer of Mubadala. He added that Mubadala’s Real Estate & Hospitality division is making investments in the real estate sector to address the growing need for high quality residential real estate and related services in Abu Dhabi.
Mr Heang Fine Wong, CEO of CapitaLand GCC Holdings Pte Ltd and CapitaLand ILEC Pte Ltd, said: ‘Our development will fit well with the intent of Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 which maps out a strategy for the future of the city as an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable community.’
Source : Business Times - 13 May 2008
CAPITALAND has unveiled its plans and design for a huge mixed-use development in Abu Dhabi it is developing in partnership with a local firm.
The residential, leisure, sports and retail development called Arzanah surrounds the Zayed Stadium at the gateway to Abu Dhabi island.
It will hold an estimated 9,000 homes and a projected number of 18,000 residents. More than two million visitors a year are expected.
The project itself is in the Grand Mosque District and just minutes away from Abu Dhabi city centre.
CapitaLand announced the mixed development in June last year, and said at the time that the project could cost up to US$5 billion (S$6.8 billion).
It had then formed a joint venture with Mubadala Development Company - an investment and development vehicle owned by the government of the emirate of Abu Dhabi. CapitaLand’s share of the US$300 million initial investment was $238 million.
The actual vehicle for the project - Capitala - was launched this year. Mubadala owns 51 per cent, with CapitaLand controlling the rest.
Arzanah will sit on a 1.4 million sq m area and boast manicured gardens, a 2km stretch of private beach, a canal and shopping in an open- air, climate-controlled environment.
It will also offer residents and visitors a 40-lane bowling centre, an ice rink, an aquatic centre, a tennis complex and the Mubadala-owned Abu Dhabi Knee and Sports Medicine Centre.
Mr Waleed Al Mokarrab Al Muhairi, Mubadala’s chief operating officer, said the group’s real estate and hospitality division is making investments to address the growing need for high-quality residential real estate and related services in Abu Dhabi.
Piling has already started, and the project will be completed in phases from 2011.
Source : Straits Times - 13 May 2008
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
