City Development's retail tenants get full rental rebates in April, 50% in May

Fiona Lam
Published Mon, Apr 6, 2020 · 02:41 AM

CITY Developments Limited (CDL), one of Singapore's largest commercial landlords, on Monday said it is committing more than S$17 million in property tax and rental rebates to help its office and retail tenants cope with the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The amount includes the full quantum of the government's enhanced property tax rebates, announced last month under the Resilience Budget, which will be passed on to CDL's tenants.

These enhanced rebates comprise the 100 per cent property tax rebate for qualifying commercial properties and 30 per cent for businesses in other non-residential properties such as offices and industrial properties.

CDL on Monday morning said it has disbursed rental rebates "in a targeted manner" to qualifying retail tenants in March.

It will continue to do so for its retail tenants, providing rental rebates of 100 per cent in April and 50 per cent in May. After May, further support may be rolled out progressively.

"Rental reliefs are disbursed in a calibrated manner as the Covid-19 outbreak has impacted different malls and trade categories in varying degrees," the property giant said in a media statement.

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"Tenants facing severe cash flow issues will be given more flexibility in rental payments."

Yvonne Ong, chief executive officer of CDL's commercial division, said there is no one-size-fits-all approach as needs vary, with some being more urgent than others.

CDL is reviewing tenants' requests on a case-by-case basis. It noted that close engagement with tenants to understand their operating challenges is critical as the coronavirus situation continues to evolve and the authorities introduce new regulations.

All non-essential businesses within CDL buildings will be closed from April 7 to May 4 (dates inclusive), in line with the Singapore government's stricter "circuit breaker" safe-distancing measures announced on Friday.

Some CDL buildings will remain open from April 7 to May 4, solely to facilitate the continued operations of businesses or stores offering essential services.

"During this period, all mall-wide promotional activities will be suspended and some sections of our malls may be closed," the company said.

As at Dec 31, 2019, CDL's retail segment accounted for 28 per cent of its commercial portfolio. CDL has five core retail properties, eight retail properties where the group owns strata-titled units and an additional four commercial properties with a retail component, totalling 426 tenants. In terms of the trade mix, 36 per cent are in the food and beverage sector.

CDL shares gained S$0.09 or 1.3 per cent to trade at S$6.80 as at 10.18am on Monday.

The group's announcement comes ahead of a Parliament sitting this week, when new legislation will be introduced to ensure landlords pass on property tax rebates in full to their tenants.

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