Most retail tenants to get rental rebates in June, July as CDL ups Covid-19 relief kitty to S$23m

MOST of City Developments Limited's (CDL) retail tenants will now get rebates on gross rental in two more months - June and July - as the landlord ups its rental relief kitty to S$23 million, from the S$17 million announced earlier this month.

They now stand to receive a 50 per cent rental rebate in June, followed by a 30 per cent rebate in July. These are in addition to the full rebates in April and May that CDL announced on April 6.

With the additional rental relief, CDL said on Tuesday that the majority of its over 400 retail tenants will therefore receive more than 2.8 months of gross rental rebates in total, of which an average of two months are fully funded by the landlord.

However, for "a few" tenants in certain trades or essential trades not affected by Covid-19, the CDL-funded rebates will be "calibrated accordingly".

About 80 per cent of CDL's retail tenants have temporarily halted operations due to Singapore's partial lockdown - which has been extended for four more weeks till June 1 - and a further tightening of businesses allowed to stay open amid the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.

CDL's Singapore retail segment accounts for 28 per cent of its commercial portfolio as at the end of last year.

The property player has five core retail properties - City Square Mall, Palais Renaissance, Quayside Isle, Central Mall and Waterfront Plaza - and eight retail properties where it owns strata-titled units. It also has four commercial properties with a retail component: Republic Plaza, King's Centre, City House and Fuji Xerox Towers.

Of its 426 tenants in total, 36 per cent are in food and beverage, which has been one of the sectors hit harder by Covid-19.

Yvonne Ong, CDL's chief executive officer of its commercial arm, said the group remains "fully committed" to supporting the government's latest measures to curb the spread of the virus, even as those measures have "inevitably affected businesses".

In addition to the rebates, CDL is giving tenants some relief on cash flow by allowing them to offset rent using part of their security deposit. As previously announced, the landlord will also be passing on the full quantum of the government's property tax rebates to its retail tenants, as well as those in non-residential properties such as offices and industrial properties.