Chip Eng Seng

[Ray168]

Market responded well with its share closed at 0.645 or up 7%.
Today it inch up again to 0.655.


Buyers snap up units at Alexandra Central 99-year leasehold commercial devt attracts overwhelming interest
Published on Jan 22, 2013 By Melissa Tan

ALMOST every unit of a mixed development launched in Alexandra yesterday has been snapped up - a stark sign that buyers are turning to commercial property in the wake of new cooling measures.

Only one of the 115 strata retail units released remained unsold as at 9pm yesterday after a dramatic day of sales that caught even the developer by surprise.

It was estimated that at least 20 buyers on average were competing for each unit at the 99-year leasehold Alexandra Central, while a shop space on the third storey had as many as 155 interested buyers submitting blank cheques for a ballot.

"I had strong confidence in the project but didn't expect it to do so well," said Chip Eng Seng group chief executive Raymond Chia.

The units were sold at between $4,000 and $8,000 per sq ft, said a spokesman from CEL Development, Chip Eng Seng's property arm.
Alexandra Central is next to Ikea and on the site of the former Safra building in Alexandra Road. CEL Development paid $189 million, or $789 psf per plot ratio, for the 85,517 sq ft site in 2011.

The project includes 31 food and beverage retail units and 85 shop units. The largest shop unit in the project was not launched for sale yesterday.

Mr Chia said Alexandra Central received an unexpectedly high level of interest when it was opened for preview over the weekend.

"We initially planned a soft launch on Wednesday but because the response was so overwhelming we decided to bring it forward to Monday," Mr Chia added.

When The Straits Times visited the showflat yesterday afternoon, it was packed with agents and buyers, some of whom had been there as early as 9am.

Some were genuine end-users hoping to secure shop space before prices rose further, while others said they were interested in investing in commercial property.

Mr Simon Chye, 55, who runs snack shop business Hello Food, bought a 667 sq ft F&B retail unit on the first floor for around $4,538,000.

Mr Chye, who plans to open an outlet in Alexandra Central, said in Mandarin that he wanted to buy shop space now as prices were rising, and thought the project had a good location.

Investors were drawn to the project because of the recent cooling measures imposed on the residential and industrial sectors.

Madam Zheng Fuying, 48, said in Mandarin that she was interested in investing in commercial space as it was the only segment of the market untouched by the new cooling measures.

She added that she wanted to buy shop space as a long-term investment because retail space was getting more expensive but the market was not yet overheated.

Alexandra Central will include a 450-room hotel managed by Park Hotel Group. Construction is expected to be completed by June 2016.

[Share Investor]

With the Alexandra project, the timing couldn't have been more perfect for CES as far as the launching of retail units is concerned.

Furthermore, the project will also produce further recurring income with the hotel operation.

I am quite optimistic on the performance of the company in the short to medium term.

Will all these development translate to higher dividend for shareholders?

Vested.

[mechu]

really chiong all the way since opening this morning..

[revelationofpyramids]

I still like CES. Wonder how 100 Pasir Panjang sales is like? Anyone knows. Saw their full page ad in ST on Saturday.

For TM, don't worry, CES already booked big profits for 33M in Melbourne. 100% sold and no buyers defraud.

after park hotel shops are sold, 100PP sold, co will be left mainly with Fulcrum and a site in Perth. It will be running out of land.

CES please go into Iskandar big.. land there is still very cheap, like S$30-50 psf, and not even calculating the high plot ratio that is possible.

As a Singapore developer you will be able to attract buyers from here, because you can be trusted to finish the construction. Build either condos or gated community and provide ample security. Buyers from Singapore will bite.

[greengiraffe]

I still like CES. Wonder how 100 Pasir Panjang sales is like? Anyone knows. Saw their full page ad in ST on Saturday.

For TM, don't worry, CES already booked big profits for 33M in Melbourne. 100% sold and no buyers defraud.

No worries mate, Buyers in Australia always have an option to walk away with their 10% deposit should situation turn sour. Already happened in Gold Coast, QLD.

after park hotel shops are sold, 100PP sold, co will be left mainly with Fulcrum and a site in Perth. It will be running out of land.

CES please go into Iskandar big.. land there is still very cheap, like S$30-50 psf, and not even calculating the high plot ratio that is possible.

Er... LKH has already positioned with huge landbank in JB and near Iskandar since 2007. If not wrong, the land costs is almost next to nothing... refer to previous LKH threads...

As a Singapore developer you will be able to attract buyers from here, because you can be trusted to finish the construction. Build either condos or gated community and provide ample security. Buyers from Singapore will bite.

Otherwise, CES has certainly pulled off a big one at Alexandra Central. Now sucker buyers will have to slog hard for their investment returns in an essentially very competitive low end shopping area with niche sports retailers and Ikea.

[Share Investor]

CEL just won the tender for a site st yishun ring road for mixed development. I felt the price paid was high for that location.

[mechu]

CEL just won the tender for a site st yishun ring road for mixed development. I felt the price paid was high for that location.

More positive reaction on this news. Land cost psf is definitely on the high side if it is purely a residential development. But since there is a retail component, it changes the picture completely.

The press release did not mention the ratio between the residential and retail component. Anyone knows?

And just for comparison, anyone knows what's the psf rental for Northpoint. Could be a good guage on the pricing CES can achieve for the retail units.

[safetyfirst]

I read in the straits times, it says up to 40% for retail. Do double check again

[Share Investor]

CES has the option of selling the retail units or becoming a landlord which means recrurring income.

[revelationofpyramids]

Gfa for shops 108,500 sf n resi 158,480 ie about 40:60 ratio. Read Sumer writing in Ni forum. Can make $$$ because sale price of $3k-4k psf possible for shops, say BT. So profit of $86m upwards.[/align]