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Tag: jurong point

  • NTUC FairPrice tries experiment on hypermarket

    NTUC FairPrice tries experiment on hypermarket

    To mark the 10th anniversary of its hypermarket format, NTUC FairPrice has launched an experiential concept at its FairPrice Xtra hypermarket in Jurong Point shopping centre.

    Offering more than 26,000 grocery and household products across 57,000sqft (5300sqm) of retail space, the new hypermarket is designed to engage and entertain families in a carnival-like atmosphere with dedicated zones.

    There are five specific zones in the revamped store, grouping merchandise and activities based on specific shopper needs – the Parenting Zone, Health and Beauty Zone, Healthy Eating Zone, Kitchen Zone and Total Home Solutions Zone.

    With the store’s family-oriented focus, the Parenting Zone offers more than 1250 baby- and children-related products including formula milk, diapers, toys and clothes. There is also a KidsMart interactive play area with miniaturised shelves and shopping trolleys for children to pretend shop, plus an event space where they can play interactive games.

    Integrated pharmacy

    In the Health and Beauty Zone an integrated Unity pharmacy store provides personal-care, wellness, senior-care and adult nutrition products. A pharmacist is also available for consultations on medication. Health-related activities will also be held in this zone, such as free blood-pressure monitoring services.

    More than 2190 organic, free-from, natural, low-GI and fresh produce features in the Healthy Eating Zone, which also has an event space for such activities as cooking demonstrations, while the Kitchen Zone offers cooked meats and seafood, ready-to-eat meals and an in-store bakery by home-grown brand Swee Heng.

    The Total Home Solutions Zone features cleaners, tools, household appliances, cookware and a space for product demonstrations.

    Beyond these zones the store also offers activities like claw machines, roving magicians and musicians.

    Wider aisles and low shelves are offered so the elderly and shoppers with limited mobility can have easy access. Electronic shelf labels using e-ink for easy reading have been installed throughout the store.

    The store is open 24 hours daily.

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  • Proposed sale of Jurong Point mall draws mixed views

    Proposed sale of Jurong Point mall draws mixed views

    Experts in the property industry are divided on how much interest Jurong Point — which has been put up for sale with a price tag of more than S$2 billion — will garner, given the current retail climate and hefty price tag.

    The mixed views come after reports that the mall has been put up for sale at more than S$3,000 per sqf based on the commercial net lettable area of about 658,000sqf that is being offered for sale by its owners Guthrie GTS Limited and Lee Kim Tah Holdings.

    Several experts told that the price is too high for the 21-year-old mall, particularly in the current weak economic and retail climate. Others say that market conditions are cyclical and that the strong attributes of the mall, including its size and location, will help it attract healthy interest.

    According to the mall’s website, Jurong Point — located between Boon Lay MRT Station and Boon Lay Bus Interchange — is the largest suburban mall in Singapore, housing about 450 retailers. The mall, which opened in December 1995, was expanded twice: Once in December 2000 when it expanded to 450,000sqf and again in December 2008 to 750,000sqf.

    Mr Ku Swee Yong, chief executive of International Property Advisor, said that the asking price is high for a mall that is more than two decades old, and that interest from buyers “will be limited”.

    “Looking at the recent Paya Lebar Quarter, even though it is priced at S$3.2 billion, it is a mixed development which includes commercial, retail and residential spaces. Jurong Point is not a new mall and to ask for that value is steep,” said Mr Ku.

    “There may be a few interested parties from institutional funds (insurance or pension-related), but they would probably require some sweeteners in the deal such as rental guarantees.”

    Other deals that have been transacted in recent years include Bedok Mall, which was divested by CapitaLand to CapitaLand Mall Trust for S$783.1 million last year. Bedok Mall has a net lettable area of 222,500sqf.

    Meanwhile, Mr Alan Cheong, research head at Savills Singapore, said that he expects interest in the mall to be healthy.

    Including the 44,000sqf of space under the Government’s Community/Sports Facilities Scheme, Guthrie and Lee Kim Tah are divesting a total net lettable area of 702,000sqf in the mall through the sale of shares in companies that own this space, the Business Times reported yesterday. At more than S$2 billion, the price tag translates to a sub-4 per cent net yield.

    “We believe that this is a fair price given that the availability of a prime mall for sale is a rarity here.

    “Also, it seems surprising that with office yields trending towards the sub-3 per cent levels, we still can have retail mall yields at around the 4 per cent levels. Although over the past five years, yields have fallen from the high 4 per cent levels to about 4 per cent, interest rates have also been trending down.”

    Mr Desmond Sim, head of CBRE Research in Singapore and South-east Asia, also said that although the retail industry is under pressure currently, malls with strong characteristics still be popular.

    “Malls with strong retail attributes (residential catchment, transport node location) still instil confidence from retailers. Investors will look beyond the current market which is largely cyclical and look at the longer term,” Mr Sim said.

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  • Jurong Point put on market with over S$2b price tag

    Jurong Point put on market with over S$2b price tag

    biggest suburban shopping centre, Jurong Point, has been put up for sale with a price tag exceeding S$2 billion.

    This works out to more than S$3,000 per square foot based on the commercial net lettable area of about 658,000 sq ft that is being offered for sale by an equal joint venture between Guthrie GTS and Lee Kim Tah Holdings, both of which have been delisted.

    At over S$2 billion, the price tag translates to a sub-4 per cent net yield, Michael Leong, director of sole marketing agent Array Realty said.

    Array in turn is working exclusively with JLL to conduct an expressions of interest exercise that will close on Nov 18.

    Guthrie and Lee Kim Tah are divesting a total net lettable area of 702,000 sq ft – including 44,000 sq ft of space under the government’s Community/Sports Facilities Scheme (CSFS) which is currently being used by occupiers such as NTUC First Campus Co-operative’s My First Skool and voluntary welfare organisations.

    There is a further space of about 59,000 sq ft under three strata retail units divested by Lee Kim Tah and Guthrie about two decades ago to Golden Village, NTUC FairPrice and POSB – taking the total net lettable area in Jurong Point to 761,000 sq ft.

    Guthrie and Lee Kim Tah are offering their 702,000 sq ft in the mall through the sale of shares in companies that own this space. “The two partners have owned the property for many years and want to look at pursuing new interests and opportunities,” said Mr Leong. Lee Kim Tah was delisted in early 2015 and Guthrie in November 2013.

    Most stockmarket analysts would think that a net yield of 3-plus per cent based on Guthrie and Lee Kim Tah’s asking price is too low to make for a yield-accretive acquisition by Singapore mall Reits (real estate investment trusts).

    However, JLL regional director of Singapore capital markets Anthony Barr expects Jurong Point to appeal to a broad range of other institutional investors including sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and insurance groups.

    “Rarely do stabilised assets of this scale become available. There have been no comparable sales of a suburban retail property of this size on the open market for more than a decade in Singapore’s tightly held retail sector; other large sales have been either related party transactions involving listed Reits or sales of partial interests.”

    A high-performing mall, Jurong Point is regarded as “fortress retail”, he added. “This, combined with the dynamic growth planned for the Jurong district, will ensure a broad range of interest at the indicated pricing.”

    Jurong Point is seamlessly linked to the Boon Lay MRT Station and Bus Interchange. It currently draws an average monthly visitorship of six million and has a catchment of 150,000 households within a five-km radius, with potential for growth as the new town planned in Tengah is progressively developed.

    Major tenants for the space at Jurong Point owned by Guthrie and Lee Kim Tah include FairPrice Xtra, Courts, Harvey Norman, Uniqlo and Kiddy Palace in addition to three foodcourts. Joining their ranks soon will be BHG, which will open a nearly 50,000 sq ft department store on three levels in December; part of this space was previously occupied by John Little.

    The mall is nearly fully let.

    Jurong Point stands on two sites; one has a balance lease term of about 76 years and the other, 89 years. Their combined land area is 557,288 sq ft.

    The original Jurong Point was completed in 1995 and spans four levels of retail space (Basement 1 to Level three). The CSFS space is on Levels 4, 5 and 6.

    The extension, which was completed in 2008, has three retail floors – Basement 1 and Levels 1 and 3.

    About 1,000 carpark lots in Jurong Point are available for use by shoppers.

    The mall’s total gross floor area (GFA) is 1.07 million sq ft; there is no unutilised GFA.

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