13th August, Monday
Commercial
Changing landscape of Shenton Way Source: Channelnewsasia Rising land value has encouraged landlords to develop more mixed-use projects. This includes developing more residential units along Shenton Way, once known as Singapore's Wall Street. And as more financial services firms gravitate towards the new downtown area, industry players said Shenton Way has a unique opportunity to regenerate itself. V on Shenton is one of the latest residential-cum-commercial projects to hit the market in the downturn area. According to its developer, sales have been brisk. Nearly 80 per cent of the 230 units released have been sold, as of 6 August. And market watchers said the draw of downtown living has pulled in home buyers and won over the developers. According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority, there are about 1,700 completed residential units and another 2,900 units in the pipeline in the Shenton Way/ Tanjong Pagar area, as of the second quarter this year. An analyst said: "If you compare over a decade, commercial land prices - using DC (development charge) rates - have increased by about 70 per cent. Correspondingly, residential land prices have eased up over 250 per cent. That's because to begin with, residential land prices based on DC rates at that time were much lower. That gave the developers the impetus to change some of the uses in the market." Dennis Wee Group's senior manager for research & consultancy, Lee Sze Teck, said: "Generally we see more investor type of buyers. They are in there mostly for the rentals. In this low interest rate environment, generally the rental yield that they get is able to cover the instalment that they are forking out every month." Experts said the rental yield for private residential properties in the city area hovers around 3 to 3.5 per cent, and this could climb marginally over the next few years. Apart from more mixed-use developments, more changes are lined up in Shenton Way and nearby Tanjong Pagar. The URA said building owners will provide a wider sidewalk and additional tree planting to improve the pedestrian experience; and more public spaces will be introduced at the Choon Guan Street development, similar to those at Asia Square Towers, to allow for activities such as exhibitions and performances. All these are part of plans to rejuvenate the central business district.
Links to the story: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/print/1219694/1/.html http://www.todayonline.com/Print/Business/EDC120813-0000024/The-changing-landscape-of-Shenton-Way
Industrial
One-stop printing services centre at Paya Lebar Source: The Straits Times Logistics service provider Teckwah Industrial Corp broke ground last Friday for its new print media hub project. The facility, named Pixel Red and located at the Paya Lebar iPark, is a one-stop business centre for print buyers, with end-to-end supply chain services. Marketers, advertising agencies, printers, designers, digital marketing agencies and publishers could all stand to benefit from the development of this centre, said Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry. Such companies could come together at the centre to co-develop products or advertising campaigns across various media platforms, he said at the groundbreaking ceremony. The new facility will occupy about 9,000 sq m of land. It will feature five floors and have a built-up area of 23,000 sq m. Teckwah will rent out about half of the entire development to other companies in the printing and related businesses. The development is expected to be completed in 2014.
Link to the story: http://www.straitstimes.com/st/print/413963
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