Nov 30, 2009
Eunos HDB lift woes unresolved
Residents unhappy with lift shafts blocking homes shoot down suggested changes
By Ang Yiying
THE offer was laid on the negotiation tables by the HDB. But a group of Eunos residents who have been unhappy for years over external lift shafts which block their homes are refusing to budge.
Some of the 42 affected flat owners in Blocks 411, 415 and 417 in Eunos Road 5 refused to accept any of the four options offered over the weekend by the HDB in its latest bid to solve the problem.
Some of them crossed out all the options with marker pens and wrote on the form that they were still not happy with the olive branches offered.
Some want the offending lift shafts totally torn down instead.
These Eunos residents face a rather unique problem because of the way the three blocks were constructed. Each block is in a U-shape and the two staircases are located at both ends of the U while existing lifts are located in the middle.
Because odd-numbered floors do not share a common corridor - the building combines double-storey maisonettes with single-storey corner units - just upgrading the existing lift shafts was not sufficient to give all units lift access.
When the estate went through a lift upgrading programme which started in early last year, the two additional lift shafts per block could not be built facing a staircase like how it is done with most other blocks.
The new shafts ended up blocking residents' flats from sunlight and wind, making their homes dark and hot. They have had to switch on lights and air-conditioning during the day, increasing their utility bills. One resident even reported mildew growing on his walls.
Since 2006, some of the 42 flat owners have been taking on the HDB since they found out where the new lifts would be positioned. They have had numerous meetings with the HDB and the area's Member of Parliament Ong Seh Hong.
At a discussion last month, it was agreed that the project consultants to the lift upgrading works would come up with several options on tweaking the designs of the lift shafts. But at a survey conducted over the weekend on residents' preferred options, most residents who came by to look at the mock-ups were still unhappy.
Some of them surrounded HDB's deputy director of upgrading programmes management Chee Kheng Chye last Saturday morning, firing questions at him. The questions included why the lift shaft was built blocking most of the front door and one bedroom unit, when in a brochure given out to residents, the lift shaft had appeared different on the floor plan. The diagram, explained Mr Chee, is schematic and not drawn to scale.
Residents said the suggested changes were too minor to make a real difference.
One design suggested replacing part of a newly constructed wall linking the lift shaft to the corridor with aluminium fins to improve the ventilation and lighting. But as the fins are tilted at an angle to prevent people from looking into affected homes, residents said it did not make much difference. Yet, not doing so would compromise their privacy - the windows would expose their homes, including the bedroom, to the full view of anyone using the lifts.
Retiree Chew Keng Woh, 64, who rejected all the options, said: 'They have to give us an alternative, then we can make suggestions.'
Corporate planner Khng Hwee Peng, 40, who also said no to all the options, said: 'I wouldn't go to the extreme of tearing down the whole thing but we're still hoping that they will come up with a solution to add ventilation and light.'
Others, like retiree Eng Ah Hee, 63, suggested the HDB buy back their flats so they can relocate elsewhere. They said the value of their flats have been affected.
While the HDB had earlier said it would proceed with only options picked by a majority of the affected residents, it said yesterday that it would be referring the survey results to the working committee and the area's MP to decide what to do next.
Dr Ong said he hoped residents would consider the choices offered, saying that the project had been delayed for six months while solutions were explored. 'You cannot say the HDB has been short of trying,' he said.
The lift upgrading was scheduled to be completed by the first quarter of next year but now, it is likely to be done in the last quarter instead.
But at least one affected resident will be choosing from existing options. Madam Asia Mahwan, 44, said that if the project continues to be delayed and left as a construction site, the dust and debris would be a continuing inconvenience. 'We have no choice. We have to compromise...I don't think HDB will pull down the lift shafts.'
ayiying@sph.com.sg
Monday, November 30, 2009
BT : Dubai's woes could hit the fragile US real estate market
Business Times - 30 Nov 2009
Dubai's woes could hit the fragile US real estate market
Dubai World, with US$59b of debt, set off a global stock market selloff last week
(NEW YORK) Dubai's debt woes could further unhinge an already fragile US commercial real estate, as it illustrates the importance of that tiny country to global investors in an increasingly interconnected world.
A state-owned investment conglomerate Dubai World, with US$59 billion of liabilities, set off a global stock market selloff last week after it said it wants to restructure its debt, including at its property subsidiary Nakheel.
'This downturn has had more of a global impact,' said Tony Ciochetti, chairman of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Real Estate in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
'As I try to explain to my students, with a global economy, we're all attached at the hip financially in some way, shape or form,' he added.
The Dubai news also cast doubt over the strength of the fledgling US economic recovery, and the prospects for a bottoming of property prices.
On Friday alone, the Dow Jones US Real Estate Index fell 2.9 per cent, nearly twice the decline of broader US market indexes. 'Dubai may have to unload some very prestigious properties at distressed prices and this will drive the price of all commercial real estate lower,' wrote Richard Bove, a banking analyst at Rochdale Securities in Lutz, Florida.
In the US, Dubai World's portfolio includes several well-known properties, and the fallout could have a larger impact on the entire real estate market.
The company is a partner with casino operator MGM Mirage in the US$8.5 billion CityCenter project, which would add 6,000 rooms to a Las Vegas Strip gambling corridor already saturated with unoccupied hotel rooms.
Nakheel, perhaps best known as the developer of Dubai's palm-shaped islands, also carries the Mandarin Oriental and W hotels in New York in its portfolio, and has a 50 per cent stake in the Fontainebleau Miami Beach resort.
And, through its Istithmar affiliate, Dubai World controls the upscale retailer Barneys New York Inc.
The main threat to US commercial property from Dubai World woes may be 'potential for contagion', said Sam Chandan, chief economist at Real Estate Econometrics LLC in New York. 'It has the potential to spill over into the broader perception of real estate development and real estate as being a very risky area for exposure,' Mr Chandan said.
Many have already been burned.
US commercial real estate values have already fallen 42.9 per cent from their 2007 peak, Moody's Investors Service said. Last month, delinquencies on US commercial real estate loans that were packaged into commercial mortgage-backed securities reached 4.8 per cent, more than six times the year earlier level, according to Trepp LLC in New York.
In a Nov 23 report, Moody's analyst Nick Levidy said prices could bottom at 45-55 per cent below their peak, implying an additional 5-28 per cent decline, but in a 'stress case' could drop 65 per cent from their peak. Like US investors, foreign investors were enticed through much of this decade to buy US real estate aided by cheap credit and the hope that property prices would steadily rise for a long time.
Currency fluctuations also provided a boost. And the US dollar lost about one-third of its value against a basket of currencies since late 2002, making it easier for foreign investors to scoop up US real estate even when valuations grew too rich for investors at home.
Dubai World's holdings go far beyond real estate. It has a 20 per cent stake in Canada's Cirque du Soleil, and also invests in the global bank Standard Chartered Plc and New York boutique investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners.
Other investments go farther afield - or under water. Dubai World is suing a former executive in a case arising from a wayward foray into submarine financing. But Mr Ciochetti suggested that it is premature to quantify Dubai World's impact on US commercial real estate.
'It is hard to focus on any one particular participant and then generalise about the whole market,' he said. 'It illustrates that very few places and participants in the commercial real estate market are totally exempt from the global economic crisis.' - Reuters
Dubai's woes could hit the fragile US real estate market
Dubai World, with US$59b of debt, set off a global stock market selloff last week
(NEW YORK) Dubai's debt woes could further unhinge an already fragile US commercial real estate, as it illustrates the importance of that tiny country to global investors in an increasingly interconnected world.
A state-owned investment conglomerate Dubai World, with US$59 billion of liabilities, set off a global stock market selloff last week after it said it wants to restructure its debt, including at its property subsidiary Nakheel.
'This downturn has had more of a global impact,' said Tony Ciochetti, chairman of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Real Estate in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
'As I try to explain to my students, with a global economy, we're all attached at the hip financially in some way, shape or form,' he added.
The Dubai news also cast doubt over the strength of the fledgling US economic recovery, and the prospects for a bottoming of property prices.
On Friday alone, the Dow Jones US Real Estate Index fell 2.9 per cent, nearly twice the decline of broader US market indexes. 'Dubai may have to unload some very prestigious properties at distressed prices and this will drive the price of all commercial real estate lower,' wrote Richard Bove, a banking analyst at Rochdale Securities in Lutz, Florida.
In the US, Dubai World's portfolio includes several well-known properties, and the fallout could have a larger impact on the entire real estate market.
The company is a partner with casino operator MGM Mirage in the US$8.5 billion CityCenter project, which would add 6,000 rooms to a Las Vegas Strip gambling corridor already saturated with unoccupied hotel rooms.
Nakheel, perhaps best known as the developer of Dubai's palm-shaped islands, also carries the Mandarin Oriental and W hotels in New York in its portfolio, and has a 50 per cent stake in the Fontainebleau Miami Beach resort.
And, through its Istithmar affiliate, Dubai World controls the upscale retailer Barneys New York Inc.
The main threat to US commercial property from Dubai World woes may be 'potential for contagion', said Sam Chandan, chief economist at Real Estate Econometrics LLC in New York. 'It has the potential to spill over into the broader perception of real estate development and real estate as being a very risky area for exposure,' Mr Chandan said.
Many have already been burned.
US commercial real estate values have already fallen 42.9 per cent from their 2007 peak, Moody's Investors Service said. Last month, delinquencies on US commercial real estate loans that were packaged into commercial mortgage-backed securities reached 4.8 per cent, more than six times the year earlier level, according to Trepp LLC in New York.
In a Nov 23 report, Moody's analyst Nick Levidy said prices could bottom at 45-55 per cent below their peak, implying an additional 5-28 per cent decline, but in a 'stress case' could drop 65 per cent from their peak. Like US investors, foreign investors were enticed through much of this decade to buy US real estate aided by cheap credit and the hope that property prices would steadily rise for a long time.
Currency fluctuations also provided a boost. And the US dollar lost about one-third of its value against a basket of currencies since late 2002, making it easier for foreign investors to scoop up US real estate even when valuations grew too rich for investors at home.
Dubai World's holdings go far beyond real estate. It has a 20 per cent stake in Canada's Cirque du Soleil, and also invests in the global bank Standard Chartered Plc and New York boutique investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners.
Other investments go farther afield - or under water. Dubai World is suing a former executive in a case arising from a wayward foray into submarine financing. But Mr Ciochetti suggested that it is premature to quantify Dubai World's impact on US commercial real estate.
'It is hard to focus on any one particular participant and then generalise about the whole market,' he said. 'It illustrates that very few places and participants in the commercial real estate market are totally exempt from the global economic crisis.' - Reuters
BT : Public debt threatens world economy
Business Times - 30 Nov 2009
Public debt threatens world economy
Debt explosion may even trigger new wave of recession
(PARIS) The debt dilemma confronting Dubai has thrown into sharp relief a new threat to the financial health of rich countries that have borrowed and spent heavily to escape recession and must now pay up.
Dubai, a once-thriving Gulf emirate, has sent world markets into a tailspin with an acknowledgement it will need a six-month moratorium on about US$59 billion worth of debt owed by its sprawling conglomerate Dubai World.
But Dubai is hardly alone in having come to the uncomfortable conclusion that its Biblical seven fat years are over.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has warned that the world's 30 leading industrialised economies will see their indebtedness grow to 100 per cent of output in 2010, a near doubling from the percentage 20 years ago.
Japan's public debt is forecast to hit 200 per cent of output next year. Comparable projections are 127.3 per cent in Italy and 111.8 per cent in Greece.
The debt weighing on national budgets will have soared by up to 45 per cent worldwide in the period from 2007 to 2010, leading ratings agency Moody's estimated on Wednesday.
'Preliminary estimates suggest that the total stock of sovereign debt will have risen by as much as 45 per cent or US$15.3 trillion from 2007 to 2010,' Moody's analyst Jaime Reusche said in a statement.
This is 'over 100 times the inflation-adjusted cost of the Marshall Plan', the huge US investment programme launched to revive Europe after World War II, he added.
Moody's estimated in a report that the total global debt in 2010 would reach more than US$49 trillion.
The members of the G-7 grouping of rich countries will account for more than three-quarters of the increase, 'as their fiscal accounts have been hit hardest by the crisis', Mr Reusche said. 'As growth turns negative in 2009 for most countries, the relative debt load becomes harder to bear.'
At the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels, economist Cinzia Alcidi said: 'A debt equivalent to 100 per cent of gross domestic product means that everything produced in the course of a year will have to go toward reimbursement. Are governments in a position to do that?'
The fear is that if financial markets begin to doubt the ability of countries to pay what they owe, they could steer clear of official debt instruments - such as treasury bonds - and thereby deprive countries of fresh cash.
'If the debt continues to grow, it's not hard to imagine a country having trouble securing finance,' said Jean Pisani-Ferry of the Bruegel think-tank in Brussels.
Other analysts have warned that heavily indebted governments could see their credit ratings lowered, raising the cost of critical borrowing.
Under such a scenario, governments would be tempted to raise interest rates offered to national creditors, thus intensifying the debt burden.
'That's what makes debt explosive,' noted Michel Aglietta of the research group Cepii.
Economist Daniel Fermon of the bank Societe Generale has warned that in an 'extreme case', a debt explosion could trigger a new wave of recession.
In principle a return to robust economic growth should reduce the need for public borrowing, although economists caution that that may not happen in the current climate where a weak recovery is forecast.
The weight of debt can also be eased if inflation rises faster than interest rates. But Mr Aglietta of the Cepii institute said higher inflation can erode consumer spending, triggering 'a flight of private capital toward countries with lower inflation'.
The alternative, according to Bruegel's Mr Jean-Pisani Ferry, is to 'raise taxes or cut public spending'. But both the OECD and the International Monetary Fund have stressed that too abrupt a clamp-down on spending could snuff out recovery.
Mr Aglietta said governments should try to reassure credit markets by 'signalling in advance their spending cuts or tax increases'. For the moment, however, the message to the markets from Europe is mixed.
Germany plans to cut taxes, Spain is preparing to raise them, the Netherlands sees spending cuts in 2011 while France has ruled out any tax hike. -- AFP
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
Is the party over? Dubai has sent markets into a tailspin with an acknowledgement it will need a six-month moratorium on US$59b worth of debt owed by Dubai World
Public debt threatens world economy
Debt explosion may even trigger new wave of recession
(PARIS) The debt dilemma confronting Dubai has thrown into sharp relief a new threat to the financial health of rich countries that have borrowed and spent heavily to escape recession and must now pay up.
Dubai, a once-thriving Gulf emirate, has sent world markets into a tailspin with an acknowledgement it will need a six-month moratorium on about US$59 billion worth of debt owed by its sprawling conglomerate Dubai World.
But Dubai is hardly alone in having come to the uncomfortable conclusion that its Biblical seven fat years are over.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has warned that the world's 30 leading industrialised economies will see their indebtedness grow to 100 per cent of output in 2010, a near doubling from the percentage 20 years ago.
Japan's public debt is forecast to hit 200 per cent of output next year. Comparable projections are 127.3 per cent in Italy and 111.8 per cent in Greece.
The debt weighing on national budgets will have soared by up to 45 per cent worldwide in the period from 2007 to 2010, leading ratings agency Moody's estimated on Wednesday.
'Preliminary estimates suggest that the total stock of sovereign debt will have risen by as much as 45 per cent or US$15.3 trillion from 2007 to 2010,' Moody's analyst Jaime Reusche said in a statement.
This is 'over 100 times the inflation-adjusted cost of the Marshall Plan', the huge US investment programme launched to revive Europe after World War II, he added.
Moody's estimated in a report that the total global debt in 2010 would reach more than US$49 trillion.
The members of the G-7 grouping of rich countries will account for more than three-quarters of the increase, 'as their fiscal accounts have been hit hardest by the crisis', Mr Reusche said. 'As growth turns negative in 2009 for most countries, the relative debt load becomes harder to bear.'
At the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels, economist Cinzia Alcidi said: 'A debt equivalent to 100 per cent of gross domestic product means that everything produced in the course of a year will have to go toward reimbursement. Are governments in a position to do that?'
The fear is that if financial markets begin to doubt the ability of countries to pay what they owe, they could steer clear of official debt instruments - such as treasury bonds - and thereby deprive countries of fresh cash.
'If the debt continues to grow, it's not hard to imagine a country having trouble securing finance,' said Jean Pisani-Ferry of the Bruegel think-tank in Brussels.
Other analysts have warned that heavily indebted governments could see their credit ratings lowered, raising the cost of critical borrowing.
Under such a scenario, governments would be tempted to raise interest rates offered to national creditors, thus intensifying the debt burden.
'That's what makes debt explosive,' noted Michel Aglietta of the research group Cepii.
Economist Daniel Fermon of the bank Societe Generale has warned that in an 'extreme case', a debt explosion could trigger a new wave of recession.
In principle a return to robust economic growth should reduce the need for public borrowing, although economists caution that that may not happen in the current climate where a weak recovery is forecast.
The weight of debt can also be eased if inflation rises faster than interest rates. But Mr Aglietta of the Cepii institute said higher inflation can erode consumer spending, triggering 'a flight of private capital toward countries with lower inflation'.
The alternative, according to Bruegel's Mr Jean-Pisani Ferry, is to 'raise taxes or cut public spending'. But both the OECD and the International Monetary Fund have stressed that too abrupt a clamp-down on spending could snuff out recovery.
Mr Aglietta said governments should try to reassure credit markets by 'signalling in advance their spending cuts or tax increases'. For the moment, however, the message to the markets from Europe is mixed.
Germany plans to cut taxes, Spain is preparing to raise them, the Netherlands sees spending cuts in 2011 while France has ruled out any tax hike. -- AFP
Copyright © 2007 Singapore Press Holdings Ltd. All rights reserved.
Is the party over? Dubai has sent markets into a tailspin with an acknowledgement it will need a six-month moratorium on US$59b worth of debt owed by Dubai World
ST : Skybridges not deemed part of condo's gross floor area
Nov 29, 2009
Skybridges not deemed part of condo's gross floor area
We refer to last Sunday's article, 'More condos let you walk on air', which reported that fully covered skybridges are considered part of a condominium's gross floor area, which is pre-determined by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
The report elaborated that this means the floor area occupied by a skybridge could have been used for another apartment unit, giving developers additional income.
The article made reference to Lincoln Suites, that the space taken up by the skybridge could have been used for a $700,000 studio apartment.
Skybridges are not considered part of a condominium's gross floor area (GFA).
A covered skybridge that connects communal areas between two or more blocks, and serves as a communal passageway to facilitate the residents' movement at the upper levels is exempted from the GFA calculation of the development.
In the case of Lincoln Suites, the design of the skybridge includes both a passageway as well as an indoor gym.
As the gym functions more like a clubhouse facility and does not serve as a passageway to facilitate the movement of residents between the two blocks, it does not qualify for GFA exemption.
The remaining area of the skybridge is exempted from GFA just like other covered skybridges.
Han Yong Hoe
Group Director (Development Control)
Urban Redevelopment Authority
Skybridges not deemed part of condo's gross floor area
We refer to last Sunday's article, 'More condos let you walk on air', which reported that fully covered skybridges are considered part of a condominium's gross floor area, which is pre-determined by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
The report elaborated that this means the floor area occupied by a skybridge could have been used for another apartment unit, giving developers additional income.
The article made reference to Lincoln Suites, that the space taken up by the skybridge could have been used for a $700,000 studio apartment.
Skybridges are not considered part of a condominium's gross floor area (GFA).
A covered skybridge that connects communal areas between two or more blocks, and serves as a communal passageway to facilitate the residents' movement at the upper levels is exempted from the GFA calculation of the development.
In the case of Lincoln Suites, the design of the skybridge includes both a passageway as well as an indoor gym.
As the gym functions more like a clubhouse facility and does not serve as a passageway to facilitate the movement of residents between the two blocks, it does not qualify for GFA exemption.
The remaining area of the skybridge is exempted from GFA just like other covered skybridges.
Han Yong Hoe
Group Director (Development Control)
Urban Redevelopment Authority
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
