Yahoo Finance Jerome Ng: Third generation at the helm of Chiu Teng Group
Jerome Ng: At the end of the day, I want to make sure that we create as much value as possible for the next generation (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Every Friday evening, three generations of the Ng family of the Chiu Teng Group would gather in a mansion in Casa Perla. It is a development with seven detached houses on a 99-year leasehold, 30,581 sq ft plot in Watten Estate. The mansion was the former home of Ng Teng Yeng, the patriarch of Chiu Teng Group, who passed away in 2021 at 88.
“No one lives in my grandfather’s house now,” says Jerome Ng, director of Chiu Teng Group and one of seven grandsons of the patriarch. “The whole family just goes there every Friday for dinner and to get together.” The six other detached houses in Casa Perla have been leased out.
What is little known is that Teng Yeng was the younger brother of Ng Teng Fong, the founder of the property group Far East Organization and Sino Group. Ng’s Mansion, Teng Fong’s home for over 40 years before he passed away in 2010, is at 2 Watten Estate. Far East Organization developed Watten Estate in 1969.
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Casa Perla, with seven detached houses, was developed by Ng Teng Yeng, founder of Chiu Teng Group (Photo: Google Maps)
The private housing estate was formerly a swamp. According to an Ng family anecdote, the brothers went to Johor in Malaysia and bought an entire hill. The soil from the hill was then transported back to Singapore to fill up the swamp and stabilise the land for the development of Watten Estate.
Over the decades, the brothers have kept their businesses separate. Teng Yeng operated his construction business under the name Chiu Teng, derived from the combination of his name and that of a Taiwanese business partner, who contributed to the “Chiu” which means “9” in Chinese, says Jerome.
The property development business was undertaken under the company name Affluence Properties, which developed residential projects such as a row of freehold terraced houses on Martia Road, off East Coast Road in District 15; freehold terraced and semi-detached houses at Jalan Haji Salam, off Upper East Coast Road in District 16; and the 60-unit freehold 2 RVG along River Valley Road in prime District 9.
The Alexcier, a 30-year leasehold, multi-user industrial building on Alexandra Road, was the first industrial development launched under the Chiu Teng Group (Photo: Chiu Teng Group)
Consolidation
Jerome’s father, Ng Chee Beng, joined the construction arm, Chiu Teng Construction, but subsequently branched into property development and formed Chiu Teng Enterprises in 1999. The first industrial project by Chiu Teng Enterprise was Wintech Centre, an eight-storey, strata-titled light industrial building at Ubi Road, completed in 2001. The building has a remaining lease of 33 years on its original 60-year lease from 1997. The owners of Wintech Centre are attempting a collective sale.
The other industrial property that Chiu Teng Enterprises was involved in is E-Centre @ Redhill, a 10-storey, multi-user factory at Jalan Bukit Merah. The project was completed in 2003. Today, it has 37 remaining years on its 99-year lease from 1962.
Two decades ago, Chee Beng (Jerome’s father) launched a new corporate entity, Chiu Teng Group, to spearhead the property development business undertaken as a family. Meanwhile, Chiu Teng Construction operates as a separate entity headed by Ng Chee Hwa (Jerome’s uncle) and mainly handles HDB and other government projects.
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9 @ Tagore, a four-storey multi-user industrial building designed by SCDA Architects and completed in 2012 (Photo: Chiu Teng Group)
Establishing a foothold in industrial space
The first industrial development officially launched under Chiu Teng Group was The Alexcier, a 30-year leasehold, multi-user industrial building, launched in 2006 and completed in 2008.
Jerome’s father, Chee Beng, decided to specialise in industrial property development. “He felt that the market for SMEs was underserved,” says Jerome. “Back then, it seemed that developing and selling strata-titled industrial units gave the most bang for the buck.”
Chiu Teng Group purchased two adjacent, 99-year leasehold plots along Kallang Avenue from the former Pidemco Land (now CapitaLand) for over $11 million in 2010. Jerome’s father and uncle (Chee Beng and Chee Hwa) decided to retain the existing building and undertake addition and alteration works, which were completed in 2013.
CT Hub is a strata-titled, mixed-use development with light industrial units on the upper floors and retail space on the first two levels. While all the upper floor units have been sold, Chiu Teng Group retained the 49 strata retail units on the first two levels as an investment property and also to control the tenant mix. However, in January, the retail podium was offered for sale by expression of interest, with a guide price of $85 million ($1,666 psf) based on the combined strata area of 51,028 sq ft. ERA is handling the sale.
CT Hub (pictured) and CT Hub 2 sit on adjacent plots purchased from the former Pidemco Land in 2010 (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Chiu Teng Group developed the new CT Hub 2 on the adjacent plot. It was completed in 2015. CT Hub 2 is a mixed-use development with retail space, light industrial or business space, and an 18-storey office tower with facilities such as a 50m swimming pool, a 25m infinity pool and a gym. CT Hub was designed by Ong & Ong and CT Hub 2 by ADDP Architects.
In 2010, Chiu Teng Group also purchased a freehold warehouse site from 3M and developed it into 9 @ Tagore, a four-storey multi-user industrial building. Designed by SCDA Architects, which is famous for its design of luxury residences such as The Marq on Paterson Hill, Nassim Park Residences, and Leedon Residence, the industrial building was completed in 2012. Chiu Teng Group then acquired the neighbouring industrial site from City Developments Ltd and developed it into Tagore 8, a freehold industrial building also designed by SCDA and completed in 2015.
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According to Jerome, CT Hub and CT Hub 2, along with 9 @ Tagore and Tagore 8, established Chiu Teng Group’s reputation as a developer of projects that meet the needs of industrial users.
The freehold, 260-unit The Creek @ Bukit was the first project that Jerome Ng was involved in when he joined Chiu Teng Group (Photo: Chiu Teng Group)
Maiden residential project
Jerome joined the family business in 2015 after graduating from the University of Washington, Seattle. “I realised that Chiu Teng Group serves society and adds value to SMEs,” he says. “They make up 99% of the companies in Singapore.”
However, the first project that Jerome was involved in when he joined the firm was not an industrial one. Instead, it was a residential project, namely the 260-unit freehold The Creek @ Bukit on Toh Tuck Road. The project was launched in November 2013 and completed in 2017. It was a redevelopment of the former Green Lodge, purchased en bloc for $191.9 million in September 2012.
“The Creek was launched just five months after the TDSR [total debt servicing ratio] kicked in, and it had a big impact on the residential market,” relates Jerome.
The arrival pavilion of Le Meridien Maldives Resort and Spa, developed by Chiu Teng and opened in September 2021 (Photo: Chiu Teng Group)
Overseas presence, large-scale developments
Still, Jerome’s ambition is to expand the business by diversifying beyond industrial development, undertaking larger-scale projects and expanding beyond Singapore’s shores. Outside of Singapore, Chiu Teng Group already has a presence in Indonesia, Maldives and Vietnam.
The group ventured into Indonesia two years ago and is developing 500 subsidised houses on a 5ha site in Jakarta with a local joint-venture partner. The project is 55% sold to date.
Chiu Teng Group is also the developer of the 141-villa Le Meridien Maldives Resort & Spa, which opened on Sept 1, 2021. It marks the group’s first hospitality project.
About 70 of the 141 villas at Le Meriden Maldives are water villas (Photo: Chiu Teng Group)
Located on the 9ha Thilamaafushi, an island surrounded by a lagoon, the resort is just 35 minutes by seaplane from the international airport in the capital of Male. It has a dive centre, a spa and three restaurants — the all-day dining restaurant Turquoise, the Velaa Bar & Grill, and Riviera Tapas & Bar. About 70% of the villas are water villas. The average occupancy rate to date is between 70% and 80%.
“It’s a seasonal market,” says Jerome. “The peak season is at the end of the year and Chinese New Year, and then there is a lull in the middle of the year before picking up again.” Most guests are from China, Russia, India, the Commonwealth of Independent States countries and the US, as the resort is under Le Meridien Hotels & Resorts, which is part of Marriott Bonvoy’s portfolio of 30 brands for which members can use their Bonvoy points.
Chiu Teng Group has a presence in Vietnam through its 28.92% equity stake in Singapore-based developer Olive Tree Estates. Two other major stakeholders are Tham Keng Chuen, chairman of National Housing Organization (NHO) — an established social and affordable housing developer — and Kim Kyoo Chul, executive director of NHO. They have a 20.29% stake each in Olive Tree Estates. The developer has completed 20 projects, with a focus on affordable housing units across Vietnam, primarily in Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Ha Long and Hai Phong.
The 98-unit, fully-sold CT Foodchain gave Chiu Teng the foretaste on the demand for private food factories (Photo: Chiu Teng Group)
Niche in food factories
At the home base in Singapore, Jerome has found a niche in food factories. It started with CT Foodchain, which has 98 strata-titled B2 industrial units dedicated to the food sector at Pandan Loop in the Pandan Food Zone. The units have a 99-year lease from 1984, which means a remaining lease of 59 years. They are entirely sold. “That’s when we saw a demand for private food factories and began looking for sites,” says Jerome.
The next site purchase was the BHL factories site at Mandai Estate, which Chiu Teng Group purchased for $130 million in late June 2022. The 80,287 sq ft, freehold site will be developed into the 10-storey, ramp-up food factory CT FoodNEX. The project will have 109 strata-titled industrial units and a canteen. The B2 industrial units have sizes from 1,700 to 2,928 sq ft, with prices starting from $2.5 million.
Launched in May 2023, over 70% of the units at CT FoodNEX have been sold at an average price of about $1,500 psf, says Jerome. Initially, buyers were evenly split between investors and end-users.
Since the property cooling measures kicked in last April, which saw additional buyer’s stamp duty for foreigners and investors in residential property raised significantly, the number of investors in CT FoodNEX has been “creeping up”, notes Jerome. “Today, it’s more like 45% end-users and 55% investors.”
The 109-unit CT FoodNEX is 65% sold since its launch last May (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
The buyers of units at FoodNEX also tend to be in the 40–50 age group who are attracted to properties with a freehold tenure, he adds.
Nevertheless, the demand for cloud kitchens, remote central kitchens and food packaging spaces has increased since Covid.
He sees enormous potential in CT FoodNEX's location in Mandai Estate. It is close to two future growth areas: the Mandai precinct, which will be developed into an eco-tourism hub; and the former 20ha Turf City at Kranji, which will be redeveloped into a new precinct with public housing, entertainment and lifestyle amenities.
Planning for next-generation
Over the years, Jerome reckons Chiu Teng Group has developed properties with more than $1.5 billion in development value. “The most important thing for us is our reputation,” he says. “It’s our responsibility to uphold and enhance it.”
The group has a family office, TYN Investment Group — that bears his grandfather’s initials — and some of Jerome’s cousins are involved in it. The family office invests in real estate, equities and bonds. The assets include a detached house at Jalan Haji Salam developed by Affluence and held for investment.
Although Jerome is just 35 and a father of a 15-month-old boy, he is already planning for the fourth generation. “It’s about stewardship,” he says. “At the end of the day, I want to make sure we create as much value as possible for the next generation.”
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