US home prices still falling in November

US home prices dropped in November for the fifth month straight after appearing to have bottomed out from mid-2009 to mid-2010, according to the monthly S&P/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday.

The index, which maps prices in 20 key urban areas, fell 0.5 percent from October on a seasonally adjusted basis, after a 1.0 percent fall the previous month.

It was also off 1.6 percent from the year-earlier figure.All but four of the 20 metropolitan areas covered in the index fell.

Prices rose in Washington, San Diego, California; and Charlotte, North Carolina, while in hard-hit Las Vegas they were unchanged.

The five-month fall in the index represents a clear return to bearish sentiment in the market after a slow but steady rise from the May 2009 low through May 2010, according to S&P.

The seasonally adjusted index peaked in April 2006 and has since fallen in all but 13 months.

The November level was just 1.2 percent higher than the 90-month low struck in May 2009.S&P's David Blitzer said the data suggests "that a double-dip could be confirmed before spring."

Certainly (with) eight cities setting new lows, and with the only positive news concentrated in southern California and Washington DC, the data point to weakness in home prices," he said in a statement.

Economists at Barclays Capital Research said the November fall was smaller than expected.

"We expect softness to persist in the near term as home prices continue to face headwinds from the large pipeline of foreclosures entering the market," they said in a statement.

"However, we expect this to be a gradual process with some of the decline offset by increased housing demand."Inna Mufteeva, an economist at Natixis, echoed that view."

In the context of job market sluggish revival and continuous deleveraging of households, real estate remains the area of risk for the current economic recovery," Mufteeva said.

"Indeed, still-numerous foreclosures should keep home prices subdued in the medium term despite some improvement on the real estate market."

By AFP

Increase in property and rental prices after facelift in Brickfields

Many business operators in Little India and other parts of Brickfields are likely to be edged out or forced to take a cut in their profits with an imminent increase in rental and property prices.

According to property consultants, realtors and valuers, the market was adjusting to the improved outlook Brickfields is now enjoying.

All along the price of property and rental were stagnant because Brickfields, though close to the city centre, was perceived as congested, dirty and predominantly Indian enclave with perennial traffic problems.

Property consultant agency PPC International Sdn Bhd executive director Thiruselvam Arumugam said with improved traffic flow, better infrastructure, cleaner environment and better-looking buildings the market was adjusting and this was reflected in rising property prices and rental.

He said the rental and property prices had been low for quite sometime and now the market was adjusting to reflect its true value.

“In other words the market is only making up for its lost time,” he said.

Citing the Palm Courts condominium as an example, he pointed out that before KL Sentral was built the price of a unit was between RM240,000 and RM250,000.

“But recently it has shot up to RM300,000 and it will likely go up to RM500,000,” he said.

Property valuer T. Nagalingam of Azmi & Co Shah Alam Sdn Bhd noted that foreign money had also helped boost property prices in Brickfields.

“Investors now see Brickfields in a positive light and forecast a better return on the investments,” he said.

Nagalingam said the present business operators, who are renting in Little India and other parts of Brickfields, would probably have to go somewhere else.

Since Little India took shape, many traders have complained that while their profits were dwindling due to lack of parking space fronting their shops, property owners were increasing the rental.

Little India Action Committee chairman S. Baktha, also a registered property agent, said many business operators had complained that their landlords had threatened to increase the rental once their tenancy agreement expired.

“Their businesses have been further affected by lack of parking space in front of their shops,” he said.

Sampoorna Curry House owner S Thilagavathy, 30, noted that the lack of parking was likely to keep away many customers and cut into her profits by at least 30%.

Another restaurant owner, M Prema, 40, who owns Seetharam Curry House, pointed out to lack of parking space as the main factor in the drop in her revenue.

Her business registered almost a 50% drop since parking bays were done away in the area.

Saradha Silks (M) Sdn Bhd owner P Loganathan, 45, attributed the rise in rental as the main concern of the business community in the area.

“There is talk that building owners may hike up rentals after Deepavali,” said Loganathan, who is also a tenant.

He claimed that he had learnt that building owners were planning to increase rental to RM30,000 for the ground floor, from the current RM10,000 once the tenancy agreements expired.

“I’m not sure how I’m going to deal with the increase,” said Loganathan, who claimed the move was attributed to the RM35mil facelift to the area to attract more tourists.

By The Star

Glomac buys land

GLOMAC’s wholly-owned unit, Glomac Alliance Sdn Bhd, has sealed a sale-and-purchase agreement with Score Option Sdn Bhd to buy 80ha of leasehold land in Puchong, Selangor, for RM77 million.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Glomac said the acquisition was in line with its core strategy to buy suitable land in Klang Valley with strong potential for a prime new development.

By Business Times

Ninth Tune Hotel in Malaysia opens

KOTA BARU: Barely three years after the inception of Tune Hotels, a total of one million people have stayed in its 12 hotels locally and abroad, confirming that it is one of the fastest-growing hotel chains in the region.

Tune Hotels chief executive officer Mark Lankaster said the limited service model offers value for money.

“We always listen to our guests and strive to meet their needs and expectations.

“Recently, we removed the RM10.90 administration fee across our entire chain.

“Guests now only pay for the room,” Lankaster told reporters after the soft launch of the 12th Tune Hotel here on Sunday.

He added Tune Hotels enjoy a 95% occupancy rate on any given day.

The opening of the Kota Baru hotel brings Tune Hotel properties in Malaysia to nine, the last hotel was opened in Bintulu on Jan 3.

Three other Tune properties are located in Kuta and Legian in Bali and one in London.

Lankaster revealed that by the end of next year, a total of six hotels woud be built.

“The Kota Baru hotel completes our framework to cover the northern, southern, central, eastern and western regions of the country and from next year we would be concentrating on building hotels beyond Malaysian shores,” he said.

By The Star

Tune Hotels to expand chain

TUNE Hotels is confident of expanding its hotel chain to more than 40 in the country and abroad by the end of next year, group chief executive officer Mark Lankester said.

At least one hotel will be opened every month from September to add to the existing 12 under its name, including two in Bali and one in London.

Lankester said the new hotels would be coming up in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Australia and the United Kingdom, beside expanding locally.

"Locally, we have covered the central, northern, southern, eastern and western parts," he said after the soft launch of the latest Tune Hotels in Kota Baru on Sunday.

Lankester said it would invest substantially for the new hotels as the development cost for a hotel in the country averaged from RM15 million to RM20 million.

In London, he said, the cost could rise to RM70 million for a hotel.

On Tune Hotels Kota Baru, he said it cost the company RM20 million to develop the 173-room hotel which was completed in 11 months to usher in the New Year.

It was built in a partnership with property company HLK Group, which established HLK Ventures Sdn Bhd to exclusively develop the hotel.

"As our sister company AirAsia is doing well with its flights to Kota Baru, it is a natural extension for Tune Group to come to Kota Baru," Lankester said.

"The opening of Tune Hotels here is also an acknowledgement of the increasing importance of Kota Baru as a travel and tourist destination with vibrant commerce and business sectors."

Lankester said although the hotel chain was targetted at leisure travellers who accounted for about 70 per cent presently, it was drawing an increasing number of guests from the business sector.

"Business organisations need their people to travel all over the country but to keep down their costs, they are putting up at Tune Hotels," he said.

On a related note, Lankester said Tune Hotels had eliminated administration fees for room reservation across all of its hotels effective from January 5.

"As we open more hotels, we have become more cost efficient. We have found that the fees are no longer relevant and the savings will be passed on to our guests," he said.

By Business Times

Bina Puri looks to Mideast, Thailand for new jobs

Construction outfit Bina Puri Holdings Bhd hopes to maintain the rate of new contracts this year by securing RM2.5 billion worth of work.

Group managing director Tan Sri Datuk Tee Hock Seng said the group is leaning towards the Middle East and Thailand for new jobs this year.

This is because he does not expect major projects to be announced in Malaysia, apart from the RM40 billion mass rapid transit system.

Bina Puri anticipates more jobs in Saudi Arabia, where its government has announced new infrastructure projects worth US$60 billion (RM183.6 billion).

It won its first project in Saudi Arabia late last year, a RM5.7 million storm water pipeline project.
"Last year was an exceptionally good year for us with both the the Ampang light rail transit line extension and the new low-cost carrier terminal in Sepang coming on board at the same time," he said.

In 2010, the group secured projects worth RM2.5 billion.

Other projects it won are the Kuala Lumpur-Kuala Selangor Expressway privatisation job as well as building ramps and a main line bridge for the Eastern Dispersal Link in Johor.

In an interview with Business Times last week, Tee said Bina Puri has bid for building and infrastructure projects worth over RM2 billion, in Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei and the Middle East.

So far, it has won a RM62.8 million contract for structural and architectural works for Phase One of a condominium project in Thailand.

By Business Times

Elegant and fashionable

Posh: The semi-detached houses by BSG Property in Tanjung Bungah.

BOON Siew Group Property’s (BSG) NineTen project comprising 40 semi-detached houses located in Tanjung Bungah will be completed by July.

The project, which is part of the upcoming 48.5ha Permai Village township, will have the Tunku Abdul Rahman College (TARC) and Tenby International School (scheduled for completion in August) as “neighbours”.

BSG property business development manager Koay Wei Loong said the units, aimed at the middle and upper middle class, have been bought by locals and foreigners mainly from Europe, Hong Kong and Singapore.

“We made sure that everything is of the highest quality, because these buyers are usually very choosy. Most of our buyers are also repeat customers.

“Besides buying for occupancy or as a holiday home, the customers will sometimes buy it for investment,” he said after holding a private preview for selected guests recently.

BSG property executive director Alfred Chew said that the units priced from RM2.4mil to RM5.8 mil are almost completed.


Luxurious: Houses in NineTen project come complete with swimming pool.

“We have sold 60% of the NineTen project. Landed property in Penang is in demand because of land scarcity on the island. These days, we see that buildings in Penang are moving upwards,” Chew said.

By The Star

GUH seeks more land for property projects

WHILE GUH Holdings Bhd continues to look at its printed circuit board (PCB) division as the primary driver of growth this year and in years to come, the firm continues to expand its landbank for other activities.

Managing director Datuk Kenneth H'ng Bak Tee said for its PCB business, the company will move into niche, better pricing and future trend products such as light emitting diode (LED)-based special tuners and power supply.

"In further restructuring our clientele base," he noted, "we are moving away from Taiwanese and Chinese clients who are generally known for their low pricing and being bad paymasters."

While South Korean clients are basically associated with average pricing and are good paymasters, H'ng said the focus would be more on Japanese, the US and European clients who are known for not only good pricing, but also for being good paymasters.
On the property development side, GUH is looking at acquiring land in the Klang Valley, Penang island and upcoming spots in Seberang Prai.

He said GUH's Taman Bukit Kepayang development in Seremban, has so far seen development of 120 hectares and there was a balance of about 108 ha left to be developed over the next six to seven years.

"We want to maintain our current build-and-sell strategy for residential and commercial development," he added.

On GUH's plantation activities, H'ng said the 154 ha of plantation land in Kedah, acquired as a testing ground, had proven to be very successful and boasted industry-standard yields.

"We are now looking to increase the estate size to between 1,200 ha and 2,000 ha in order to achieve meaningful economics of scale," he added.

By Business Times

Oversea Enterprise To Sell Shop Offices For RM5.65 Million

KUALA LUMPUR -- Oversea Enterprise Bhd's wholly-owned subsidiary, Restaurant Oversea (Imbi) Sdn Bhd, has proposed to dispose off four units of two-storey shop offices located in Kuchai Business Park here for RM5.65 million.

The sale and purchase agreement was entered into with Yayasan Dazhi Monday, Oversea Enterprise said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia.

It said the properties were acquired on Feb 21, 2006 and its disposal would result in a loss of RM3,000 to Restaurant Oversea.

"The proceeds arising from the disposal is intended to be used for the working capital of Restaurant Oversea and is expected to be utilized within a period of 24 months from the date of the sale and purchase agreement," it said.

As for the rationale for the disposal, it said: "The location of these properties were found to be unsuitable for the intended business activities of Oversea and its subsidiaries and the current rental income derived from these properties was low.

"The disposal would generate additional cash reserves for Restaurant Oversea's working capital purposes."

By Bernama

Naim to develop RM300m mixed project in Kuching

SARAWAK-based Naim Holdings Bhd (Naim), a property developer and construction group, will develop prime land in Batu Lintang, Kuching, into the state's biggest comprehensive mixed development project, costing more than RM300 million.

Managing director Datuk Hasmi Hasnan said the proposed development would be sprawled over 13.597ha and be completed over 20 years.

The project will comprise a four-storey shopping mall with basement car park, office tower block, hotel tower, a 36-storey office tower with basement and elevated carpark, showroom, 18-storey condominium block and a 27-storey high-rise apartment.

"We will incorporate a water theme park, a roof garden and incorporate plenty of greeneries so as to come out with a development that is eviromental friendly and one that the local populace can enjoy and benefit from," he said.
The project will be developed on a joint venture basis between Naim, Sarawak Mosque Welfare Trust Board and Tabung Baitulmal Sarawak.

The three parties signed a memorandum of understanding to facilitate the venture witnessed by Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.

Hasmi said Sarawak Mosque and Tabung Baitulmal will each have a 15 per cent equity in the project venture while Naim would hold the remaining 70 per cent.

"We estimate employment for more than 2,000 people in the project," he said, without disclosing, when the construction will begin.

By Bernama

Can the MRT address the long-term transport problem?

MUCH will be said and written about the mass rapid transit (MRT) in the next several months with construction expected to begin in July this year. Some will be for it, others will be against it.

At RM36.6bil, the public transport system will be one of the country's largest infrastructure projects. But this figure is for the civil works only. The prices of the trains and land acquisition have yet to be factored in. So the figure will certainly swell.


Why not have more cars fitted to the two-car system?

The building of this new MRT line as opposed to the current monorail and light rail transit must be seen from the perspective of what we know today as our public transport system.

When the monorail and LRT were built in the mid-1990s, Klang Valley has a population of about 3 million. Today, we have a population of 6.6 million. By 2020, it is estimated to be 8 million.

While we were building our monorail and LRT in the mid-1990s, Singapore was extending their MRT system with the first portion of the line ready for service in the late 1980s. Despite a population of just over 3 million in 1990, they opted for the MRT in the 1980s, and not the LRT, monorail or whatever. Today, Singapore's MRT is serving a population of more than 5 million people and that network is constantly being extended.

Over in the Klang Valley, we were building two systems, the monorail and the LRT line. At that time, questions arose why we needed two systems and fragmentise public transport further. Why not have just one system? This question was never answered. The two systems lack integration. To use the monorail, one has to get off and get out of the LRT station, and walk some distance to get on the monorail line, for example between Dang Wangi and Bukit Nenas station.

The people who designed, planned and built the LRT and monorail also did not factor in park-and-ride facilities. They just built a station where they can, put in a line and expect everyone to walk there in the sun and rain.

The result is that today, there are cars parked under the electric lines which electrify the LRT and there is a charge to this. So, in addition to spending about RM5 on a return ticket, there is the RM5 parking charge.

If one has to fork out RM10 to use the LRT or the monorail and yet at the same time, having to bear with the inconvenience, they may as well spend a bit more to have the convenience of driving to the city. That explains our low ridership. For every one ticket we sell, Singapore sells nine, London 16 and Tokyo 48.

All of us know there is a cost to infrastructure. Whether it is road network, bandwidth or public transportation system, it is a sunk cost. As with most public infrastructure projects, there is no profit to be made from it.

So the thing for the Government to do is to consider it as an investment for future years, for future generations. London's underground is about 150 years old. It was the first underground railway system in the world. Today, it serves the Greater London population of more than 7 million, which is about equivalent to Klang Valley's population. Greater London did not have a population of nearly 8 million some 150 years ago, yet they opted to build the underground. Closer home, Singapore did not have a population of 5 million 25 years ago.

When and if we build this MRT, it will not be for the next 30 or 40 years. It is for posterity. In that sense, it need not be wasteful.

But there is a need to be focused here. Do we want to sell more made in Malaysia cars to Malaysians or do we want to improve public transport? It is not possible to have both.

One may ask, why not have more cars fitted to the present two-car LRT system? The LRT started with a two-car system. It can be fitted to a maximum of four cars. The LRT platform is designed to fit only four. The LRT has a carrying capacity of about 30,000 per hour per direction for a two-car system. So there is a cap to capacity. The MRT has 50% more carrying capacity and the car is 50% wider.

What is wasteful is spending money on piecemeal solutions the LRT and monorail, for example to solve a eternal question that hovers around population growth and the need for public transport.

What is wasteful is having two MRT stations just 400m apart from each other.

What is wasteful is building the MRT, while ignoring and not improving the bus, taxi and Komuter system.

Assistant news editor Thean Lee Cheng thinks there is a need to think very long term when investing in infrastructure projects.

By The Star

Bina Puri unit buys land in KK for RM4.5m

KUALA LUMPUR: Bina Puri Holdings Bhd said its wholly owned subsidiary, Bina Puri Properties Sdn Bhd has acquired a parcel of land in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah of about 1.95 acres for RM4.5mil.

Group managing director Tan Sri Tee Hock Seng said in a statement yesterday that the land would be developed into a serviced residence, with an estimated gross development value of about RM60mil.

The land will be used for the development of one block of service apartments consisting 100 units with sizes ranging from 1,500 sq ft to 4,500 sq ft.

The land will be developed into a serviced residence, with an estimated gross development value of about RM60mil.

By The Star

Equine unit to develop land

EQUINE Capital Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Equine Park Country Resort Sdn Bhd, has signed a joint development agreement with Revenue Concept Sdn Bhd to develop a 3.6ha in Subang Jaya, Selangor, into a RM1 billion mixed commercial and residential development.

The project will be carried out in phases over seven years, Equine said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

By Business Times

Tesco plans 3 more stores in Penang, Kedah

TESCO Stores (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd is expanding its business in the northern region by opening three more outlets in Penang and Kedah within this year.



Tesco Malaysia chief operating officer Tim Golding said the company wanted to bring its Tesco offers to more customers and the new outlets will be opened at Seri Tanjung Pinang in George Town, Penang, and in Kulim and Alor Star, Kedah.

He said the new outlet at Seri Tanjung Pinang is expected to open in June.

The company has invested RM20 million on setting up the leased outlet, making it a long-term tenant at the development, which has been said to be the largest seafront project in Penang's history.

"Tesco Malaysia also has further developments in Alor Star and Kulim, where two more of our outlets will be opening this year. Both projects cost about RM50 million each," he said at the official launch of Tesco Bukit Mertajam at Jalan Rozhan yesterday.

Tesco Bukit Mertajam, which measures 9,000 sq m, opened for business on September 23 last year and is Tesco Malaysia's 36th outlet in the country and Penang's fourth.

Apart from more than 60,000 product lines in fresh food, groceries, apparel, electrical appliances, furniture and health and beauty items, the outlet also features over 50 shop units and 30 pushcart stalls.

Golding said the new Alor Star outlet will be located in the Stargate township, a 124ha mixed development in Tandop.

Tesco Kulim began constructions in September last year in Taman Lembah Impian. The two-storey hypermarket is expected to be completed in the second quarter of this year.

Golding said Malaysia was a fantastic market for Tesco, which plans to open seven to eight new outlets annually. The company is presently in planning stages for the new outlets nationwide.

He added that Tesco Malaysia also boasts a 100 per cent local employment rate, with Malaysians filling various positions in the company across the country.

Tesco Malaysia government relations and legal affairs director Azlam Shah Alias said for 2011, the company would invest an estimated RM500 million.

It was reported earlier this month that Tesco Malaysia has plans to invest RM280 million and open four more hypermarkets over 12 months starting from March, bringing the total number of stores it has nationwide to 40.

Tesco Malaysia started operations here in 2002 with its first store in Puchong, Selangor, and has invested over RM3 billion since. Last year, it recorded RM3.6 billion in revenue.

By Business Times

GSB to sell land, hotel for RM22mil

KUALA LUMPUR: GSB Group Bhd's unit, Serta Usaha Sdn Bhd (SUSB), has entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement with Leopad Holdings Sdn Bhd to sell its property, comprising land and a 13-storey hotel, for RM22mil cash.

The property is situated in Jalan Kapar, off Jalan Syed Putra, in Kuala Lumpur.

GSB, in a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, said the proposed sale is expected to be completed within eight months from the date of the agreement.

By The Star

CapitaMalls confident of meeting payout target

KUALA LUMPUR:CapitaMalls Malaysia REIT Management Sdn Bhd (CMRM), the manager of CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust (CMMT), is confident of achieving its target of 7.45 sen distribution per unit (DPU) amid the positive microeconomic outlook for Malaysia this year.

CMMT, a shopping mall real estate investment trust (REIT), recorded a total annualised DPU of 7.26 sen for last year, exceeding its forecast of 7.16 sen as stated in its listing prospectus.

CMRM chief executive officer Sharon Lim said the company’s strong operating performance demonstrated its ability to proactively manage its assets and create value for unitholders.

“Ours malls maintained close to full occupancy (98.3 per cent), while shopper traffic grew to 16.2 per cent (13.1 million) in the fourth quarter ended December last year compared to the year before (11.3 million).

“We also expect to complete our proposed acquisition of Gurney Plaza extension by this year,” she told reporters during a briefing on the company’s fourth quarter results here yesterday. Sharon said CapitaMalls Asia’s recent acquisition of Queensbay Mall in Penang would form the seed asset for its planned RM1bil Malaysia retail property fund, which would provide a pipeline of assets for CMMT to acquire.

“CMMT will continue to actively pursue acquisition opportunities on its own, to increase its asset size and strengthen its position as Malaysia’s largest ‘pure-play’ shopping mall REIT,” she said.

For the fourth quarter of 2010, CMMT achieved a distributable income of RM24.8mil which was 3.1% higher than its forecast of RM24.1mil while DPU was recorded at 1.84 sen, 3.4 per cent higher than its forecast of 1.78 sen.

CMRM chairman Kee Teck Koon said: “With our quality portfolio of three strategically located shopping malls in the higher growth urban centres of Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, CMMT is well positioned to capitalise on the expansion in Malaysia’s retail sector.”

By Bernama

Demand for new houses to surge, says Knight Frank MD

There will be a surge in demand for new houses in Malaysia as Asian property investors look for properties, and expatriates come here for projects under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).

"The expatriates will be here for the duration of the projects such as the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), among others. They would need a place to stay," said Eric YH Ooi, managing director of Knight Frank.

Ooi said, Asian investors are returning as Malaysia still offers the best value for properties, as compared to Singapore and Hong Kong where the property price is about five times more expensive.

Malaysia is the prime investment location in Asia because of its stable property market and relative affordability.

Many investors are coming to the market, rich with cash, and with an appetite for luxury properties in Kuala Lumpur, Ooi said on the sidelines of a property market outlook summit in Kuala Lumpur recently.

The investors from Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan are buying condominiums, apartments and bungalows in the KLCC, Bangsar, Mont' Kiara and Kenny Hills areas.

Ooi said Malaysia's positive economic outlook and improvement in the rental market is driving them here.

During 2008/2009, rental of the properties fell by 20 per cent to 40 per cent in some locations in Kuala Lumpur, because of the financial meltdown and more supply in the market.

"It has improved and rentals are hovering between RM3.50 per sq ft and RM7.00 psf now," Ooi said.

Ooi expects more than 15 per cent of the sale of luxury properties this year to come from foreigners.

But this is low compared to 2008, where some 40 per cent of the sales were contributed by foreigners.

"We expect it to return to levels of 30 per cent," he said.

By Business Times

Naim to develop Batu Lintang land

Sarawak-based Naim Holdings Berhad (Naim), a property developer and construction group, will develop prime land in Batu Lintang, Kuching, into the state’s biggest comprehensive mixed development project, costing more than RM300 million.

Managing Director Datuk Hasmi Hasnan said the proposed development would be sprawled over 13.597 hectares and be completed over 20 years.

By Bernama

iProperty.com starts free property website

iProperty.com Malaysia, today announced the launch its free property website, www.home-guru.com.my.

The website would provide an additional distribution channel for all agents subscribing to iProperty.com.

Some 5,200 real estate agents in Malaysia will now be able to advertise their properties to an even larger audience of property hunters and investors, it said in a statement today.

By Bernama

Genting S’pore eyes building

SINGAPORE: Casino operator Genting Singapore says its subsidiary Resorts World Properties is in negotiations with Singapore Technologies to buy an office block.

The Singapore Business Times reported that Resorts World is expected to pay about S$1,500 per square foot on the current net lettable area of 98,906 square feet.

This would come to about S$150mil (US$117mil).

By Reuters