Our dedicated team of lawyers, paralegals and legal executives brings enormous experience and professionalism to real estate transactions of every kind, including the largest and most complex. We act for both local and foreign parties, in relation to all sectors of the market, public or private, and whether involving residential, commercial or industrial properties.
End to end service
We handle transactions involving acquisition, financing, development, ownership and disposition, through all the various stages including negotiations, deal documentation and advising on risk.
We also provide property due diligence and advisory services on all property issues including applications to the relevant governmental and statutory authorities on stamp duty and approvals for subleasing, subdivision, change of use, land use and easements.
Thinking beyond the obvious
The Group has won a reputation for thinking beyond obvious legal issues, and coming up with creative answers to challenging questions. Being an integral part of a full service firm, we can draw freely on the specialist expertise of colleagues in other practice areas, such as construction, insolvency and tax – which enables us to provide comprehensive solutions to our clients’ most complex real estate issues.
Meet the team
The Group includes two veteran property lawyers, Lee Lay See, who has over two decades of practice in the fields of real estate and real estate-related corporate law, and Gan Hiang Chye is equally experienced, having worked for over 30 years in the fields of real estate and real estate-related law, including the enforcement and litigation aspects, and he is also actively involved in en-bloc transactions. Both have been frequently mentioned in the leading legal industry guides.
Margaret Chin and Elsa Chai who co-head the Group both have extensive real estate and financing experience. They frequently act for real estate developers in various residential, public housing, commercial and industrial project developments as well as represent Banks in the real estate aspects of the financing of such project developments. The Group has also advised on the real estate aspects of bank mergers.
Another Partner in the Group, Yap Chew Fern, has advised local statutory board, authorities on special projects in Singapore that involve the integration of infrastructures such as the light rail transport, bus interchange and the mass rapid transit stations and she has also acted in various real estate investment trust transactions.
WITHIN THIS PRACTICE
Practice areas
Conveyancing
We regularly represent and advise institutional investors, property fund managers and corporations in connection with the acquisition of major commercial and residential properties, hotels and other leisure developments, as well as sites for large scale development and redevelopment. In addition to traditional conveyancing, we handle sale and purchase by private treaty, auction or tender, for individuals and on a collective basis.
The Group also plays an integral role in sales by mortgagees, judicial managers, receivers and liquidators. We were, for example, involved in one of the largest hotel insolvencies in Singapore’s history, acting for the receivers and managers of the owners of a major hotel in the heart of downtown Singapore, with debts due to financial institutions of about S$250 million.
Our work extends beyond Singapore, the team having, for example, acted for liquidators in the sale of a building to a boutique investment advisory firm, as well as to several investors from Indonesia and the Middle East.
Property Development and Financing
We have an active practice in direct and indirect real estate investments, real estate project financing, sale and leaseback property transactions, real estate joint venture / joint developments, en bloc sales and purchases, development projects and real estate securitisation.
Commercial Leasing
The Group also routinely advises on lease agreements for various types of properties. We advise owners, lessees, mortgagees, and receivers and managers on the leasing of commercial, industrial and residential property, including advising major commercial building owners on anchor and major tenant leases.
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