Institutions bid higher for SLA sites

Source : Business Times - 14 Mar 2009

THE Singapore Land Authority (SLA) says top bids for four sites put up for public tender recently were 20-87 per cent higher than the guide rents. It also revealed that all of the top bids came from educational institutions, even though two of the sites can be used for other purposes such as offices.
A bid from Madhu International Education and Technology Services for the former Siglap Primary School in LaSalle Street was 87 per cent higher than the guide rent at $80,000 a month. This works out to $3.30 per sq ft per month based on the gross floor area (GFA)of 24,310 sq ft.
A bid from Yuvabharathi International School for the former Jurong Town Primary Primary was 56 per cent higher than the guide rent at $95,958 per month, or 76 cents psf per month based on a GFA of 125,680 sq ft.
A bid from Cambridge Institute for the former Mee Toh School in Race Course Road was 50 per cent higher than the guide rent at $103,998 per month, or $4.36 psf per month based on a GFA of 23,848 sq ft.
And a bid from Dimensions International College for the former Seh Chuan High School in Jalan Seh Chuan was 20 per cent higher than the guide rent at $90,058 per month, or about $2 psf per month based on a GFA of 45,443 sq ft.
SLA said it will offer one more site for commercial school use in the first half of this year. The commercial quantum for the second half is not yet finalised, it said.
SLA now has 73 tenants using state properties for education-related purposes. The director of its land operations private division, Teo Cher Hian, said: ‘The majority of these tenants stay until the expiry of their agreement/temporary occupation licences, which normally have a period of three years per term.’
Ravi Kant Bahl, operations consultant for Madhu International, said this is the Indian-based institution’s first foray into Singapore. If it wins the site, it intends to set up a college specialising in MBA education with a projected intake of 750 students in three years.
Mr Bahl said a substantial number of students are expected to be Indian nationals who may not have managed to secure places at US or Australian universities. ‘We will be a good alternative,’ he added. Madhu International expects to spend $1 million refurbishing the property.
Dimensions International College, which is part of Dimensions Commercial School Pte Ltd, will be a hotel and hospitality-focused school offering management and vocational courses. Most of its students are expected to be foreigners.
CEO Vincent Tan said Dimension chose the former Seh Chuan High School because students are more comfortable in a ‘campus’ setting.
Dimensions already has a campus on an SLA property near Kovan MRT station.