This is an excerpt of Part 2 of the Q&A with speakers following TheEdgeProperty.com Symposium on Property Management 2017 on April 8. Part 2 features only questions directed at Chris Tan, managing partner of Chur Associates who received the most number of questions.

The full Part 2 of the Q&A is available online at TheEdgeProperty.com. Please note that the replies reflect the personal views of the speaker and do not constitute legal advice.

S P Setia successfully tendered for 4.6 acres (1.86ha) of leasehold land along Toh Tuck Road, Singapore for S$265 million (RM847.6 million) from the Urban Redevelopment Authority. The acquisition is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2017.

In 1Q2017, of eight properties sold under the hammer, four were landed homes, according to JLL in a release on April 3. The four transactions totalled S$11.2 million, or 73.5% of the S$15.23 million auction deals concluded in the first three months of 2017.

Sime Darby Property’s 40%-owned Seriemas Development has entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement (SPA) to sell 342.5 acres (138.6ha) of land in Bangi to S P Setia for RM447.6 million (or RM30/sq ft), with profit-sharing of 20% of the pre-tax profit from the development, subject to a maximum of RM44.7 million (or RM3/sq ft).

Last Friday, Mitrajaya Holdings Bhd announced that they have secured a RM273.8 million building job known as “A Centre of Excellence” from STF Resources Sdn Bhd. The building job is located at Lot 44, Jalan Dato’ Onn, Mukim Bandar Kuala Lumpur, Seksyen 51, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur and is slated for completion by April 2019 (24 months from now).

The market chatter that first surfaced in 2014 to merge all the property companies under PNB’s portfolio could finally happen. Instead of merging S P Setia Bhd, Island & Peninsular Sdn Bhd (I&P) and the property businesses of Sime Darby Bhd, S P Setia announced that it had entered into a memorandum of intent to only acquire I&P however. 

The factory will be located at its Sendayan TechValley, Bandar Sri Sendayan, with a planned capital expenditure (capex) of RM30 million (excluding the cost of a 12-acre [4.86ha] industrial land).

In Singapore, it is unusual to find a private condominium located close to both top ­secondary and tertiary education institutions. A ­rarity is the 505-unit The Clement Canopy at ­Clementi Avenue 1. Since its launch in ­February, about 50% of the units have been sold. “There is healthy interest across all the unit types from both owner-occupiers and investors,” says ­Anthony Wong, general ­manager for marketing at UOL Group.

According to CBRE’s 2017 Asia Pacific Occupier Survey, global economic uncertainty and a focus on cost savings are prompting MNCs to proactively adopt workplace strategies. About 50% of MNCs will invest more in their workplace strategy and space efficiency programmes, ranking that as their main priority for the coming year.

Questions from participants of TheEdgeProperty.com Symposium on Property Management 2017 were forwarded to the respective speakers after the symposium on April 8. The speakers have tried their best to reply but due to the number of questions received, some need more time, hence Part 2 of the Q&A will be published next week. Please note that both the questions and answers have been edited for clarity. The answers reflect the personal views of the speakers and do not constitute legal advice.