The mainboard-listed group, which used to develop high-end projects, is focusing on ECs and mass-market condos these days.

 

SING Holdings used to develop high-end Singapore residential projects such as 38 Draycott Drive, The Laurels along Cairnhill Road and Robin Residences in Bukit Timah.

 

These days, however, it is focusing on mass-market private condos and the public-private housing hybrid known as executive condos (ECs).

 

Explaining the " back to basics" strategy, Sing Holdings' chief executive Lee Sze Hao says: " Because of the pandemic, we are in uncertain times. But upgrading is like an essential item. If I live in a HDB flat with my parents and I am going to get married, if I can afford it, I will buy an EC. That' s the entry-level that is most affordable."

 

" So I think that catering to the upgraders' market is probably the best bet for us."

 

The low interest rate environment and strong liquidity are fuelling property buying and have created a couple of bright spots, according to Mr Lee.

 

One is the " super-luxury segment" - with big apartments sought by foreign buyers, and large Good Class Bungalows on the shopping lists of Singaporeans including new citizens.

 

However, Sing Holdings has no plans to cater to this segment at the moment as it finds demand in the upgrader housing market to be more sustainable, says Mr Lee.

 

The group has a 70:30 joint venture with Wee Hur that is developing Parc Botannia, a 735-unit private condo in Fernvale Street in Sengkang. Fully sold, the project is targeted for completion by the end of this year.

 

Mr Lee is getting busy with the group' s next project, an EC development in Yishun.

 

The proposed scheme will have 12 blocks of 14 storeys with more than 600 units comprising three, four and five-bedroom units. Facilities will include swimming pools, a tennis court, coworking space and meeting rooms.

 

Located at the corner of Yishun avenues 8 and 9, the project will be near the planned 40-hectare Khatib Bongsu nature park, a rich mangrove and mudflat habitat on Singapore' s north-eastern coast.

 

Sing Holdings clinched the Yishun EC site at a tender that closed last October at S$576 per square foot per plot ratio, 8.9 per cent above the next highest bid. The project is slated for launch in the first half of next year - nearly seven years since the last two EC launches in Yishun.

 

" Yishun is a fairly big estate, and it is also quite an old estate. I would foresee that there' ll be many families in the area either looking to upgrade to an EC from a HDB (flat), or with children looking to buy properties near their parents. So the project' s launch will be timely for them."

 

The eligibility criteria for buyers of new EC units include a S$16,000 monthly household income cap.

 

Pricing for new EC projects, at around S$1,100-1,200 psf, is lower than new mass-market private condos, which are easily S$1,400-1,500 psf, said Mr Lee.

 

Another draw of ECs is that government grants are available for EC buyers with combined household income of up to S$12,000 per month, notes Mr Lee.

 

Sing Holdings was started by Mr Lee' s father, the late Lee Fee Huang, who arrived in Singapore during World War II from Kajang in Malaysia, where his parents had settled after leaving Ann Kway in Fujian province in China.

 

Mr Lee Fee Huang worked at a provision shop along China Street and subsequently bought over the provision shop' s business for S$6,000 and began his journey as an entrepreneur. He started an import-export business.

 

Then in 1964, he set up Sing Holdings, followed by Sing Investments and Finance (SIF) in the same year. Mr Lee Sze Hao' s eldest brother, Sze Leong, is SIF' s CEO today.

 

Through the decades, Sing Holdings has been developing residential projects here.

 

In the 1980s, it embarked on industrial property developments such as KB Warehouse in Kaki Bukit and Sing Industrial Complex in Ang Mo Kio. In the 1990s, it ventured into commercial property, acquiring a stake in a commercial building in Wellington, New Zealand. This was the group' s first overseas foray.

 

Also during the 1990s, Sing Holdings teamed up with Keppel Land and Temasek to develop Ocean Towers in Shanghai. The trio later sold the property.

 

In 2016, Sing Holdings bought the Travelodge Docklands hotel in Melbourne, which it continues to own.

 

Mr Lee joined Sing Holdings as an executive director in 1992. He was appointed the company' s managing director in March 2001 and CEO in March 2009. The company was listed on Sesdaq in 2006 before moving to the mainboard in 2007.

 

" Through the years, I have gone through many cycles and crises. The most important thing is to have financial discipline at any point in time, whether it is a bullish market at the time, or downmarket," said Mr Lee, 57.

 

Asked if the group plans to enter new markets or businesses, he said: " We continue to assess opportunities. That said, for a small company like us, I think it is better for us to remain focused on the area that we are familiar with.

 

" I do not want to stretch our financial resources, going here, there, everywhere - just for the sake of diversification."

 

What has given Mr Lee the greatest satisfaction is being able to create what he calls the " heartware" within the company: fostering a corporate culture that cultivates integrity, fairness and collaboration among the staff.

 

Sing Holdings has 13 staff members and the average length of service is 16 years. The staff members include an architect, reflecting the importance Mr Lee places on design and layout for the group' s projects.

 

" We may be selling 735 units in a project, but for that one person or family who pays about a million dollars buying one unit in our project, the design of their home is so important to them.

 

" The brief that I always give to our design team is: There must be no bad units in the project. I can' t say every unit is a good unit, but we will look at the design holistically and make sure that none of the units have a wrong facing or a bad layout."