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Parc Seabreeze

Preview by appointment...

Address: 532 Joo Chiat Road
Tenure: Freehold
Expected Completion: Mar 2012
Site Area: 58,750 sqft
Description: 20 storey in one tower block
Total Units: 94

Unit Types:
3 bedrooms ~ 1314-1398 sqft
4 bedrooms ~ 1625-1647 sqft
3+1 penthouse ~ 2347 sqft
4+1 penthouse ~ 3004 sqft

Facilities: Basement Carpark (103 lots), Landscape Deck, Sky Terrace, Children Play Area, Lap Pools, Social Pool, Children Pool, Spa Pool, Dining Pavilion, BBQ Pits, Gymnasium, Aqua Gym, Sauna and Steam Room

Location:

• Excellent transportation linkages like PIE, ECP (10-15 mins to CDB, Marina Bay Integrated Resort, Suntec Shopping belt, Raffles City, Changi Airport)
• Easy access to abundant of amenities, i.e. supermarts, wet markets, banks, food centres
• Close proximity to excellent schools like CHIJ (Katong) Primary, Tanjong Katong Primary, Chatsworth Intl Sch, Victoria Jr College, Ngee Ann Pri School, St Patrick School
• Excellent recreational facilities (East Coast Park, Chinese Swimming Club, Parkland Golf Driving range, Marina Bay Driving Rang & Golf Course)

Email lushhome@gmail.com for more information or appointment.

GIC says world could be facing worst recession in 30 years

The world could be facing its worst recession in 30 years, said Deputy Chairman and Executive Director of the Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) Dr Tony Tan.

He shared this view with over 500 GIC staff at a conference on Monday.

"The financial contagion has now spread beyond US shores, increasing the likelihood of a global financial crisis and recession. We could be facing a recession which is longer, deeper and wider than any recession that we have encountered in the last 30 years," he said.

Dr Tan added that this could be mitigated if timely actions are taken by policymakers around the world, boosting both markets and investor sentiment.

If this does not happen within the next three to four months, it will be up to the markets to work out current problems, and this is expected to be a long, painful and drawn-out process.

He said: "What is clear is that the financial and investment markets will be extremely nervous and volatile over the next one or two years."

While that means GIC's multi-billion-dollar investments in UBS and Citigroup remain shaky in the short term, Dr Tan pointed out that these are long-term investments and they are expected to give good returns when markets stabilise and economic conditions return to normal levels.

GIC invested US$10.8 billion in UBS in December last year and US$6.88 billion in Citigroup this January.

At the staff conference, GIC also unveiled three new group committees – the Group Management Committee, the Group Investment Committee, and the Group Risk Committee.

The Group Management Committee, chaired by GIC's Group Managing Director Lim Siong Guan, will address and discuss organisational issues of the group.

The Group Investment Committee will be chaired by Group Chief Investment Officer Ng Kok Song. It will develop and implement asset allocation policies and investment strategies at the group level. It will also review risk and performance of asset classes regularly.

Chief Risk Officer Sung Cheng Chih will chair the Group Risk Committee which will oversee and guide the development and implementation of risk management policies.

These committees will report to an executive committee chaired by Dr Tan.

"This management structure enables GIC to have the group-wide oversight on our business operations, investments and risks while giving sufficient autonomy to our investment subsidiaries so that they can respond in a timely fashion to changes in investment circumstances," said Dr Tan.

Analysts said this is a natural move as companies around the world brace themselves for a rocky ride ahead.

GIC's investments are closely watched as the fund is seen as one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world.

It is estimated to have some US$330 billion in assets under management, behind Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Norway's Government Pension Fund.

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 21 Apr 2008

K-REIT Asia's Q1 distributable income up 166% to S$11.4m on-year

K-REIT Asia has booked a first quarter distributable income of S$11.4 million, up 166 per cent from the same period a year ago.

The jump was mainly due to contributions from its one-third interest in One Raffles Quay, which was acquired in December 2007.

K-REIT said it saw strong rental and occupancy rates.

The company is hoping to raise almost S$552 million through a rights issue in March. Proceeds of the rights issue will be used to repay the loan for its stake in One Raffles Quay.

For the first quarter ended March, K-REIT Asia will distribute S$0.046 per unit.

K-REIT Asia's portfolio includes Prudential Tower, Keppel Towers, GE Tower, Bugis Junction Towers and one-third interest in One Raffles Quay, which were worth a total of S$2.1 billion as of December 2007. - CNA/ac

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 21 Apr 2008

KepLand secures option to develop residential site in Vietnam

Property developer Keppel Land has secured an option to develop a residential site in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City.

The project is estimated to cost US$390 million.

Keppel Land signed the agreement through its wholly-owned subsidiary Earlsbay Investments.

Under the deal, the Singapore developer will hold a 60 percent stake, while local property developer Hong Quang takes on the remaining interest.

The project is expected to be launched next year and is targeted at the upper middle market.

The development is expected to yield 1,500 luxury apartments.

Keppel Land is one of the largest real estate investors in Vietnam.

Its portfolio there ranges from office developments and residential properties to serviced apartments. - CNA/ms

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 21 Apr 2008

CapitaLand, Abu Dhabi's Mubadala join hands to develop properties

Property developer CapitaLand is joining hands with Mubadala Development to invest in the property sector in Abu Dhabi.

The two partners have launched a joint venture company called Capitala. They are pumping in US$300 million into the joint venture.

Mubadala Development will hold a 51 percent stake, with CapitaLand holding the remaining 49 percent.

Capitala will develop mainly residential properties in Abu Dhabi.

Its flagship project, with a total project cost of US$4 billion to US$5 billion, is a mixed-use integrated development surrounding the Zayed Sports City Stadium.

Mubadala Development is a wholly-owned investment firm of the Abu Dhabi government. - CNA/ms

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 21 Apr 2008

Marina at Keppel Bay wins Best Asian New Marina award

It scored for its pontoon system, wave attenuator, service standards

Marina at Keppel Bay has beaten seven other new marinas in the region to win the Best Asian New Marina/Yacht Club award at the Christofle Asia Boating Awards in Shanghai.

Twenty judges - industry experts from Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China, India and Singapore - assessed entrants on such criteria as staff service, facilities, pontoons and other dock equipment and location. Assessments were carried out on site and included meeting boaters at marinas to get their views.

Features that gained points for Keppel included its pontoon system built by US-based Bellingham Marine Industries, which incorporates a pump-out system for waste and a wave attenuator to dampen the effect of wake. The marina also scored well for service standards - it is the only marina in South-east Asia where all staff undergo a management course.

The marina beat the only other new marina launched in Singapore last year, Sentosa Cove's One Degree 15 Marina Club, as well as new developments in Dubai and China.

Among established marinas, Malaysia's Royal Langkawi Yacht Club took the top prize. Other awards included Best Asia-based Charter Company, which went to Simpson Marine and Best Asian Maritime Capital which went to Qingdao. Altogether, 21 awards were given.

Accepting its award, Marina at Keppel Bay's chief marina officer Francis Olsen said: 'Our guiding principle is simple - to offer best-in-class services as we strive to become Asia's waterfront lifestyle destination of choice. This award will spur us to work harder and lend strength to our efforts to put Singapore on the world's prime waterfront playground map.'

Although brand new, the marina has already staged a number of flagship events including hosting the 10-yacht Clipper fleet for their stopover in Singapore on the Clipper 07/08 round the World Yacht Race. It will also host South-east Asia's biggest boat show, Boat Asia 2008, next week.

The annual Christofle Asia Boating Awards is widely known as the region's premier event for recognising the efforts of boat builders, marinas, clubs and individuals in creating a diverse and exciting boating community. It has also become a must-attend event for Asia's jet set.

'This is the chance for Asia to celebrate its achievement as a growing centre of luxury boating that will rival places like the Caribbean and the Mediterranean in the near future,' said Olivier Burlot, managing director of Blu Inc Media. The awards are sponsored by Christofle and organised by Blu Inc Media, publisher of Asia-Pacific Boating and China Boating magazines.

Source : Business Times - 17 Apr 2008

US housing starts hit 17-year low while consumer prices stay mild

Inflation data seen giving Fed scope to cut interest rates

The number of US housing projects started last month fell to the lowest in 17 years, while consumer prices moved up a bit less than expected, leaving the Federal Reserve some room to lower interest rates to ward off a housing-led slowdown.

While the slide in the housing sector continued, industrial production unexpectedly rebounded as utilities raised output due to colder weather, making up for weak manufacturing growth.

The Commerce Department yesterday said that housing starts dropped 11.9 per cent in March to an annual rate of 947,000 units, the slowest pace since March 1991 and well below the 1.02 million expected by economists.

'These housing starts suggest that the pace of decline is intensifying, which is the last thing the US economy needs right now,' said Stephen Malyon, senior currency strategist at Scotia Capital in Toronto.

Building permits fell 5.8 per cent to their lowest since April 1991, when the economy was in recession.

Separately, the Labor Department said consumer prices rose 0.3 per cent last month, slightly less than expected, after a flat reading in February. Stripping out food and energy, core prices, which also held steady in February, moved up an even milder 0.2 per cent, restrained by a big drop in the cost of clothing.

US stock prices shot higher and US government bond prices moved lower as investors saw the price data as leaving more room for the US central bank to keep cutting interest rates to try to spur a slowing economy. The US dollar lost ground on the prospect of more rate cuts, with the euro reaching a record high.

The Fed has lowered benchmark borrowing costs by three percentage points since mid-September, trying to ward off spreading weakness from the deep housing downturn and a related drying up of credit.

The report on consumer prices showed rising energy prices continuing to exert upward pressure on overall inflation.

Energy prices shot up 1.9 per cent in March. The cost of petrol, which hit record highs last month, rose 1.3 per cent.

While financial markets initially greeted the consumer price data as providing greater scope for the Fed to lower interest rates, not everyone agreed. Over the past year, consumer prices have risen a sharp 4 per cent on the back of surging energy costs.

'In spite of a benign core reading, the overall increase will persuade the Fed to be less aggressive in easing rates,' said Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City Corp in Cleveland.

Separately, the Fed said output at the nation's mines, factories and utilities rose 0.3 per cent in March after a downwardly revised drop of 0.7 per cent in February. Wall Street economists had forecast a 0.1 per cent decline after February's previously reported 0.5 per cent fall.

Utility output climbed 1.9 per cent after a 3.6 per cent drop in February, while manufacturing production rose 0.1 per cent after a 0.5 per cent fall.

'Factory output was held down by a large decline in the output of motor vehicles and parts. A shortage of motor vehicle parts that resulted from a strike at a parts manufacturer idled a number of motor vehicle assembly plants,' the Fed said in the report, referring to the seven-week-old walkout at American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings that lay behind a 5.4 per cent fall in motor vehicle output. Excluding motor vehicles, factory production rose 0.4 per cent.

The capacity utilisation rate, a gauge of how busy the nation's industry was, edged higher to 80.5 per cent from 80.3 per cent, still well below levels that would be considered inflationary. -- Reuters

Source : Business Times - 17 Apr 2008

Property sales total S$8.4b in Q1, up 1% quarter-on-quarter

Investment sales level in the Singapore property market in the first quarter of 2008 was similar to that in the fourth quarter of 2007 despite deepening concerns regarding the US economy.

A report by DTZ Debenham Tie Leung said a total of S$8.4 billion worth of transactions was concluded, a slight increase of one per cent quarter-on-quarter.

The office sector was the best performer with S$3.4 billion in sales, up 134 per cent against the previous quarter.

The office sector was supported by en bloc transactions which saw several major buildings, like One George Street, Hitachi Tower, Singapore Power Building and One Philip Street, being transacted.

The industrial sector also saw increasing interest. Investments in industrial properties rose 31 per cent quarter-on-quarter to S$690.5 million, mainly in en bloc deals purchased by REITs.

However, residential sales fell to S$2.2 billion, down 45 per cent from the last quarter.

DTZ said sales activity in the private residential market slowed significantly in the first quarter due to weakened market sentiments. It added that developers and buyers were taking a wait-and-see attitude.

Preliminary figures showed there were only about 2,000 private residential transactions recorded through caveats in the first two months of 2008.

According to DTZ, there were only 795 developer sales in the first quarter of this year, reflecting a 46 per cent quarter-on-quarter decline. This was the second lowest quarter of developer sales since the SARS-stricken period, which was the first quarter of 2003.

DTZ added that rents have increased marginally due to tight supply. Monthly rents of prime condominiums increased 2.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter to average S$4.90 per square foot.

For non-prime districts, monthly rents of condominiums increased by an average of 2.5 per cent quarter-on-quarter to S$2.10 per square foot.

DTZ said rental increases of private residential properties are likely to moderate due to budget constraints and the slower influx of expatriates. - CNA/vm

Source : Channel NewsAsia - 17 Apr 2008

Landmarks plans Indonesia's first casinos in Bintan

Malaysia's Landmarks Bhd, backed by Asia's largest gambling company, hopes to build Indonesia's first legalised casinos in a US$3.1 billion resort project to compete with Las Vegas Sands Corp in Singapore.

The 'objective is to develop a new destination for Indonesia', chief operating officer Lim Boon Soon said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur.

The gaming element 'will accelerate the whole integrated development in Bintan', an island in Indonesia.

The planned casinos in Bintan will compete with gaming resorts that Las Vegas Sands and Genting Bhd, Landmarks's biggest shareholder, are racing to build in Singapore, which is a 55-minute ferry ride away.

The regulated gambling market in the Asia-Pacific region will probably expand 16 per cent a year to US$30.3 billion in 2011, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

'It could work, though the execution risks are there,' said Keith Wee, an analyst at OSK Research Sdn. With casinos in Malaysia as well as Singapore, 'competition will be tough'. Singapore plans to double the number of overseas visitors to 17 million annually and triple tourism receipts to S$30 billion by 2015. The island-nation ended a four-decade ban on casinos in 2005 amid surging gambling revenue in the Chinese city of Macau.

Landmarks aims to capture the spillover from Singapore, targeting about three million visitors a year to Bintan, eight times more than the 370,000 tourists now, Mr Lim said.

Bintan, the largest island in the Riau archipelago of Indonesia in the South China Sea, is being developed into one of Asia's biggest holiday resorts by the governments of Indonesia and Singapore and a group of companies.

Resorts there include the Banyan Tree Bintan, Bintan Lagoon Resort and Club Med Ria. Occupancy rates for resorts in Bintan climbed to 61.4 per cent last year from 54.9 per cent in 2006, according to the website of Bintan Resorts International Pte, the marketing consultant for resorts in Bintan. There are more than 1,300 hotel rooms in the island, it said.

Landmarks' project, which will be valued at S$4.2 billion, will have as many as five resorts, condominiums, villas, health spas and water canals, Mr Lim said in an interview on Tuesday. 'Five years down the road, having a casino won't be special.'

The casinos may be opposed by local politicians. 'The plan to build casinos uses a newly issued regional regulation,' said Ferry Mursidan Baldan, a member of the Indonesian Parliament's domestic and regional affairs commission. 'This is a problem' because 'the national law says that gambling is banned'. Should gambling be legalised in Bintan, 'then other regions would follow suit', he said. 'This we don't want to happen.'

Landmarks will build the resorts over eight years at a development cost of S$2 billion. The company plans to sell five so-called integrated resort lots of about 25 hectares each to investors, Mr Lim said. Each of them comes with a 'casino offering', he added. -- Bloomberg

Source : Business Times - 17 Apr 2008