24th July, Tuesday
Residential
Two sites at Dairy Farm, Punggol up for tender Source: Business Times Two residential sites, expected to yield about 950 units, have been launched by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), and the Housing and Development Board (HDB). The 99-year leasehold sites, at Dairy Farm Road and Punggol Way/Punggol Walk respectively, are catered to the development of condominiums/flats, and executive condominiums (EC) respectively. The 188,861.2 sq ft (sq ft) site at Dairy Farm Road, has a maximum gross floor area (GFA) of 396,617.4 sq ft, and is expected to yield some 390 homes. Said Lee Sze Teck, senior manager, research and consultancy, at DWG: "The Dairy Farm Road site is attractive because it is nested within the Dairy Farm neighbourhood and near to the nature reserve. There are amenities nearby such as The Rail Mall and schools. The upcoming downtown line, Hillview MRT station in 2015 will further add to the attractiveness of the site." He expects strong interest in the site, with up to 10 bidders participating in the tender. "The estimated top bid could be between $500 to $550 per sq ft per plot ratio (psf ppr) while the breakeven cost is between $900 and $950 psf. The estimated selling price could be at least $1,100 to $1,200 psf," he added. Another analyst also expects strong bidding of about eight to 10 bidders for the plot, noting that the subject site is superior to the land parcel at Petir Road that was sold in November last year. The second site, which is located next to Twin Waterfalls at Punggol Way/Punggol Walk, has a site area of 201,799.4 sq ft, and maximum GFA of 605,398.3 sq ft. It is expected to yield about 560 EC units. DWG's Mr Lee expects the site to see up to six bidders, with the estimated top bid between $300 and $350 psf ppr, which is comparable to the successful land price of $320 psf ppr for a site at Punggol Central/Edgefield Plains which was sold to Qingjian in April. "The breakeven cost could be between $600-$650 psf, and the estimated selling price between $750-$800 psf, comparable to Twin Waterfalls," he added. EC launches in the area have seen strong sales, with Prive, Riverparc Residences having sold all of their units, and Twin Waterfalls being 98 per cent sold. That being said, with so many project launches in Punggol, demand might have reached a saturation point, and developers might be cautious with their bids, said Mr Lee. Another analyst disagreed: "There could be strong interest for this EC site, as this is the last EC site under the H2 2012 GLS programme that is in close proximity to Punggol MRT station, and is easily accessible to Tampines Expressway and Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway." He expects the site to attract between eight to ten bidders, with a winning bid of between $310-$320 psf ppr. Tender for the residential sites at Dairy Farm Road and Punggol Way/Punggol Walk will close at 12 noon on 11 September and 4 September respectively.
Links to the story: http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/print/144294 http://www.straitstimes.com/print/Money/Story/STIStory_825436.html http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/print/1215152/1/.html
Industrial
Landlord wins non-lease renewal case Source: Business Times In a ruling which has implications in landlord and tenant agreements, including commercial and residential leasing arrangements, the High Court last week ruled that a tenant cannot assume that the landlord has automatically agreed to renew a tenancy just because monthly rental payments were accepted for months following the end of the official tenancy period. In the case involving plaintiff and landlord C&P Holdings Pte Ltd (C&P) against defendant and tenant Kuehne+Nagel Pte Ltd (K&N), Justice Quentin Loh ruled on 16 July that a three-year lease was not validly extended despite the tenant K&N e-mailing the landlord C&P about 17 months in advance to say that it will exercise its right to extend the (tenancy) contract. Landlord C&P never replied to the K&N e-mail, remained silent and did not warn its tenant that the lease was going to expire. Rather, C&P continued to invoice the tenant and accepted payment of rental after the lease expired. Justice Loh ruled that the tenant's e-mail was only an "expression of future intention", and added that the landlord was entitled to remain silent about this statement of future intention. He added that the landlord's "silence can only amount to a representation when there is a duty to speak or disclose, and the landlord had neither the duty to respond to the tenant's expression of its intention to extend the lease nor the duty to inform the tenant that the lease term had expired". He ruled that the landlord had no duty to tell the tenant the lease was going to expire or had expired, and added that the landlord's act of continuing to invoice the tenant and accept rental payment did not mean the lease was extended by two years as per the contract. Rather, after the three-year tenancy expired on 8 Jan 2009, "a periodic" month-to-month tenancy was created which either party could terminate by giving one month's notice to the other. The case has general application to all kinds of leases, including residential and commercial leases, as it implies that tenants cannot assume their tenancy is extended beyond the original lease period just because they continue to pay rent. When the original contract expires, what tenants have is a periodic tenancy which the landlord can terminate by giving one or more months' notice.
Link to the story: http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/print/144674
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