Ravi Chandran
CBRE announced on 9 September that it is inviting offers through an Expression of Interest exercise for the purchase of nine prime ground floor strata industrial units located in Pantech Business Hub – a high quality industrial complex consisting of three distinctive seven-storey blocks.
Pantech Business Hub is a 99-year leasehold industrial building with a remaining lease of approximately 63 years. Located along Pandan Loop, the immediate vicinity houses predominately light industries and food manufacturers.
The nine contiguous prime ground floor strata industrial units, located at the ground floor of Block 192 at Pantech Business Hub has a total strata area of 17,825 sq ft.
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Each unit comes with excellent specifications, having a 5.4-metre ceiling height, 20kn/m2 floor loading and a regular column-free layout. The units are also located adjacent to the loading and unloading bays. They are currently fully tenanted to tenants from the food manufacturing and engineering industry.
The indicative guide price for the prime ground floor strata industrial units is at $650 psf on the existing strata area. The units can be sold either individually or collectively.
The strata area breakdown of the units is tabled below:
| Unit No. | Strata Area |
| #01-04 | 1,367 sq ft |
| #01-06 | 1,281 sq ft |
| #01-13 | 3,488 sq ft |
| #01-14 | 1,851 sq ft |
| #01-16 | 1,259 sq ft |
| #01-18 | 1,367 sq ft |
| #01-19 | 1,862 sq ft |
| #01-20 | 1,862 sq ft |
| #01-21 | 3,488 sq ft |
| Total | 17,825 sq ft |
Pantech Business Hub is well served by an extensive network comprising major arterial roads and expressway such as the Ayer Rajar Expressway (AYE) and West Coast Highway. In addition, the property is located within close proximity to the Pasir Panjang Container Terminal – the key port for the upcoming two decades. With the Tuas Megaport (a project to consolidate all ports) in progress and to be completed in 2040, the Pasir Panjang Terminal is set to benefit from the relocation of the remaining city terminals. The 503 ha site currently houses 33 container berths and a dedicated automobile terminal.
Graeme Bolin, senior director of industrial and logistics at CBRE, says, “Industrial and logistics properties, especially warehouses or last-mile assets, have witnessed increased interest recently due to the acceleration in e-commerce during the pandemic. It’s a timely opportunity for owner-occupiers or investors to acquire a portfolio of ground-floor industrial units.”
Pantec Business Hub is connected via Ayer Rajah Expressway and West Coast Highway. It is also in proximity to Pasir Panjang Terminal and the future Greater Southern Waterfront.
“The successful buyer can expect to enjoy potential capital and rental upsides due to the positive spill-over of activities from Greater Southern Waterfront. The surrounding mature residential estates including Clementi and Jurong East also provide a ready pool of labour supply,” says Clemence Lee, senior director of capital markets at CBRE.
The prime ground floor strata industrial units at Pantech Business Hub are extremely prime, being located right next to the loading and unloading bay. With its excellent specifications (ie. high ceiling height, regular column-free layout with high floor loading), it is expected to draw strong interest from owner-occupiers who are looking to own prime ground floor units within a centrally-located mature industrial area.
Furthermore, as more of the port activities starts congregating in the area, investors for the Pantech Business Hub can expect to benefit from the potential capital and rental upsides in the development due to the positive spillover effect of commercial activities into the area.
The prime ground floor strata industrial units is on a site that is zoned as Industrial “Business 2” under the Master Plan 2019. Foreigners are eligible to buy. There will be no Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty.
Industrial property market emerged one of the most resilient across the property sectors says a recent analysis of JTC Q2 2020 Industrial property statistics.
Ms Tricia Song, Colliers International’s Head of Research for Singapore, commenting analysing that industrial property market emerged among most resilient sectors from the JTC Q2 2020 Industrial property statistics said:
“The Singapore industrial property market emerged one of the most resilient across the property sectors (retail, office, hotel, residential), amid the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as seen by continued warehouse demand supported by the accelerated adoption of e-commerce and government’s stockpiling of essential goods.
“That said, overall industrial rental and price declines were more pronounced in Q2 2020 than in Q1 2020, capturing the ground sentiments and impact of COVID-19 Circuit Breaker measures which started on 7 April 2020. With the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation, the industrial sector is likely to experience continued pressures on rents and prices, as with other sectors.
“Singapore all-Industrial property market rents declined 0.7% quarter-on-quarter (QOQ) in Q2, dragged by single-user factory. Business parks held up best but still declined 0.2% QOQ. Despite the weakness in rents, overall occupancy rate, however, rose marginally to 89.4% from 89.2%. Meanwhile, prices of industrial properties saw a decline of 1.1% QOQ, attributing largely to the 1.5% QOQ decline seen in multi-user factories.
“Overall, we are cautious about Singapore industrial market’s outlook for this year, and forecast the general industrial market to remain weak in 2020.
“The business park and high-specs segments could be more resilient, benefiting from Technology sector. Warehouses could see support from the rise in e-commerce driving demand for logistics services, and are also well-positioned for any economic rebound.”
Rents and Occupancy Rate
The All-Industrial rental index declined at an increasing rate, registering a -0.7% QOQ growth, dragged largely by single-user factory (-1.0%) and warehouse (-0.7%). This came after a 0.1% decline in Q1 2020. This also marks the highest quarterly decline since Q3 2017, and brings the All-Industrial rental index to a level at 14.2% below the peak in Q2 2014.
However, overall occupancy rates improved 0.2 percentage point (ppt) to 89.4% in Q2 2020 from 89.2% in Q1 2020, mainly due to an 0.8 ppt increase in warehouse space; more space was leased due to stockpiling and storage during the quarter. Other segments saw a decline in occupancy levels, with business parks falling the most.
