The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has awarded the first two office sites in 2008. They are the former Monk’s Hill Secondary School at 10 Winstedt Road and the former MHA complex at Phoenix Park of Tanglin Road, respectively. The tenders for these 2 sites were conducted in May and June this year.

2 The Winstedt Road site located at city-fringe, off Bukit Timah Road, attracted 7 strong bids above the guide rent of $147,300 per month. Allbest Equipments Pte Ltd which tendered $211,328 per month or $27.12 per sqm per month was awarded the tender. We understand that they plan to retain about 5 to 10% of the built-up space for its corporate office and sub-lease the remaining space.

3 The other choice site at the former MHA complex at Phoenix Park of Tanglin Road is the largest office site (about 59,630 square metres) offered by SLA thus far. The sprawling site which is under conservation study, received 11 strong bids, of which 10 were above the guide rent of $165,000 per month. The tender was awarded to LHN Facilities Management Pte Ltd of the LHN Group Pte Ltd which tendered $368,888 per month or $27.73 per sqm per month (note: artist impression available from LHN). The LHN Group is also the master tenant of several other State properties, two of which were for office use at the former Gan Eng Seng School at 10 Raeburn Park, SLA’s largest office site in terms of Gross Floor Area offered last year, and the former CID training centre at 18 Pearl’s Hill Terrace, which enjoys 100% occupancy by design and consultancy firms.

4 SLA’s Director of Land Operations (Private) Division, Mr Teo Cher Hian, commenting on the award said, “In picking the winning bid, SLA considered among other factors, the best value for the State based on allowable uses, business concept, track record and the financial health of the company. We understand that LHN Group plans to configure the site into separate tenant clusters. With nearby office buildings such as the adjacent former MOE headquarters at 1 Kay Siang Road which now houses the YOG headquarters, and more impending office set-ups, this site completes the area as an office hub.”

5 Mr Kelvin Lim, Managing Director of the LHN Group said that LHN Group’s plan for this site is to transform it into an iconic, integrated office complex with ancillary use including F&B. Although located at the fringe of the Orchard Road belt and the CBD, Mr Lim intends to add convenience to tenants, like what was done at their other office at Raeburn Park, and provide shuttle service to the nearest Redhill MRT Station. LHN Group hopes to attract the public sector and private office operations which are expanding, consolidating or setting up back-of-house operations away from the CBD.

6 SLA is preparing 2 more properties for dedicated office use for tender under RentDirect¹ . The 1st at 11 Kelantan Road (former police post) with a GFA of about 177 sqm, with its convenient location is likely to attract small start-ups. The other is the former Pacific Can Building, a 2-storey building at 19-25 Cecil Street with a GFA of about 1810 sqm, which was vacant after a previous office tenancy expired without renewal. The new tenancy is up to end Jun 2011.

7 Since February 2007, SLA had awarded 22 out of 24 tenders offering office use as one of the allowable uses. The total GFA is about 157,000 sqm. Mr Teo elaborated, “So far, our office tenders have been well-received with strong bids submitted. This supply has met the immediate need of tenants decanting from prime locations. We understand from our tenants that the take-up rates from their sub-tenants have also been good. There is also a healthy take-up by local start-ups, MNCs and financial institutions of all our prime, city-fringe and suburban located State properties. SLA will continue to monitor the take-up rates and identify more suitable sites for office use, if there is demand.”

8 For more information on these properties, please visit SLA’s State Property and Information Online (SPIO) web portal, or call the SPIO hotline at 6323 9154.

-The End -

Issued by:
The Singapore Land Authority
17 July 2008

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¹ Some State properties have short tenures of around three years due to future development plans. The RentDirect scheme allows businesses to make direct rental offers to SLA for vacant State buildings placed on the scheme. The properties will be first put up for offer for 2 weeks. This is a faster and shorter tender period than usual. After the 2-week period, if SLA does not receive any acceptable offer, SLA will evaluate subsequent acceptable offers received on a first-come-first-served basis. RentDirect retains elements of competitive bidding and at the same time gives businesses seeking to launch their new businesses quickly and with more certainty.