StarNova Capital brings together four parties with complementary expertise. HPC Realty, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed HPC Holdings, holds the largest stake at 47 per cent. Headquartered in Singapore, HPC is involved in civil engineering and general building construction, including major upgrading works across the city-state. HPC is expected to serve as the main contractor for the redevelopment project.

CWT, the Singapore-based integrated logistics, warehousing and supply-chain solutions provider, holds a 25 per cent stake. CWT was privatised by HNA Belt and Road Investments (Singapore) and delisted from the Singapore bourse in 2017. It is now an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed CWT International.

Lexing, a Singapore-incorporated company controlled by Wang Zeya of Ding Zhou Investment — which is involved in real estate investment across Asia and Australia — holds 23 per cent. The remaining 5 per cent belongs to Oliver Ong’s O2 Realty, which is principally engaged in real estate management and consultancy services.

The JV company is looking to sell a portion of the property — possibly parts or all of 10 Tuas South Street 1, which accounts for about 23 per cent of the total site area — and use the sale proceeds to redevelop the rest of the site into a green logistics and industrial facilities hub. The redevelopment rides on the site’s proximity to the new Tuas mega port, positioning it to serve the next generation of logistics and warehousing demand.

The redeveloped property is intended for eventual sale. However, to boost the asset’s appeal to potential buyers, the plan is to lease it out first and establish its income-generating potential. O2 Realty will be primarily responsible for leading the operations of the JV company and its subsidiaries.

The transaction is subject to approval by HPC’s shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting, as HPC announced on 27 March — the same date the sale-and-purchase agreement for the Tuas South properties was signed.

The four existing buildings at 10, 20, 30 and 40 Tuas South Street 1 have a total GFA of about 608,000 sq ft, reflecting a plot ratio of slightly above 0.5. This is significantly below the 2.5 plot ratio accorded to the site under URA’s Master Plan, which would allow a maximum GFA of 2.93 million sq ft — nearly five times the current built-up area.

Both the Tuas South Street 1 property and the nearby 51 Tuas View Link — which Far East sold in January for S$121.1 million to a JV between PGIM’s real estate business and Northstar Capital Logiprop — are part of Far East’s strategy to shed non-core assets and recycle capital. A key selling point is that the respective site leases were not issued by JTC Corporation, and hence not restricted by the agency’s policies on assignment of lease and subletting, making them attractive to a wider pool of potential buyers.

The site at 10, 20, 30 and 40 Tuas South Street 1 was part of a bigger land parcel of 1.37 million sq ft, which Far East clinched at a URA tender that closed in February 1996. The group redeveloped the remaining land into The Westcom, a six-storey strata industrial building. Similarly, the 51 Tuas View Link plot was part of a larger site of about 969,700 sq ft from the same URA tender in February 1996, with the remaining land developed into the Tradelink Place project, which is fully sold.