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Chou Ching

Co-Head, Corporate Real Estate

Practice Area:

Corporate Real Estate

LLB (Hons), National University of Singapore
Advocate & Solicitor, Supreme Court of Singapore

T +65 6232 0693
E chou.ching@rajahtann.com

Chou Ching has been in active practice for over 20 years in corporate real estate and real estate finance work, with a special focus on divestment and acquisition of development sites, commercial and investment properties, and industrial buildings. Her portfolio also includes project development work. 

She regularly advises banks and financial institutions on property-related financing and regulatory issues and plays an instrumental role in the commencement of her clients’ mortgage lending business in Singapore, including drafting of loan agreements and memoranda of mortgage.

Chou Ching has recently been recognised as the Lawyer of the Year for Real estate at the Women in Business Law Awards Asia 2020, which recognises law firms in the region for the achievements of their leading women in the legal profession based on their initiatives and within their respective jurisdictions. She has also been recognised in the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers in Singapore.

Chou Ching represents property developers, investment funds, statutory boards, small and medium enterprises and high net worth individuals in a wide range of real estate matters.

In particular, she frequently advises clients on the structuring of real estate deals and financing aspects and is often approached by clients to assist in niche and novel areas like joint developments and partitions, development projects which do not fall within the purview of the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act, and acquisition and divestment of shophouses which often involve land use, policy and regulatory considerations apart from the legal aspects of the transaction.

Experience
Acquisitions, Divestments and other Projects
  • Acted for industrial gas company Linde in advising on the land-related aspects of the $1.4 billion expansion of its gasification complex on Jurong Island as part of a gas supply deal with ExxonMobil.
  • Acted for a private equity fund management company in advising on the real estate aspects of the business transfer of one of its special purpose vehicles pursuant to an internal restructuring exercise. The core of the vehicle’s business is the operation and management of a 9-storey commercial development on the fringe of Orchard Road with a floor area of an estimated 180,000 square feet. The property includes retail spaces, office floors and a car park.  The business transfer was valued at an estimate of $300 million.
  • Acted in the sale of Mediacorp's former iconic Caldecott Broadcast Centre, located at the heart of the Caldecott Hill Good Class Bungalow Area, for an estimated $280 million. The sale was carried out by way of the sale of the entire issued and paid-up capital of the company holding the site and was the largest private redevelopment site sold in 2020.
  • Acted for Oxley Sanctuary Pte Ltd in the purchase of McDonald's Place at King Albert Park worth S$150 million and subsequent sale of units in the project developed on the site.
  • Acted in the sale of a freehold residential development site located at 217-223A Guillemard Road and 1-21A Jalan Molek for S$93 million. 
  • Acted for Hong Kong-listed China Maple Leaf Educational Systems Ltd (one of the leading international school operators in the China) in the sale of 11 Hillside Drive Singapore for $80 million to NPS International School, an India-based international school.
  • Acted for United Overseas Insurance Limited in its first real estate investment, the acquisition of 146 Robinson Road Singapore from United Overseas Bank Limited at S$52 million as an interested person transaction.
  • Acted for a leading independent provider of assembly and test services for semiconductor chips in the sale and leaseback of one of its buildings located at Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2 for a consideration of S$40.9 million. The property that was sold had an area of approximately 121,414.64 square feet and formed part of a larger group of buildings still owned by the company. As the sale involved only one out of several buildings, many issues such as those arising from the sharing of water tanks, pump systems, electricity switch rooms and a shared link bridge had to be considered and negotiated in the drafting of the sale and purchase and leaseback agreements.
  • Acted for 8M Real Estate Private Limited and its related companies in its acquisitions of various shophouses, hotels and serviced residences at Amoy Street, Keong Saik Road, Gemmill Lane, Ann Siang Road and Tanjong Pagar Road.
  • Acted for T G Development Pte Ltd and Tee Development Pte Ltd in the exchange of an aggregate of 80 units in two separate developments jointly developed by the two companies with the units estimated to be valued at S$165 million. The matter involved making multiple representations to Land Dealings (Approval) Unit on issues pertaining to qualifying certificate and for obtaining consents to the change of ownership, as well as to Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore on stamp duty considerations. Also acted for Tee Development Pte Ltd in a related financing of about S$27.6 million.
  • Acted for an Indonesian-related company in the completion of the sale of a strata-titled commercial building for S$27 million to the government of Kuwait. The sale contract was signed after more than six months of negotiations and in the midst of falling market prices, with a two-week completion period. There were unique issues, such as approvals from the Foreign Ministries of the respective countries, encroachments, and approvals from the Land Transport Authority, which made for a challenging transaction.
Collective Acquisitions and Sales
  • Acted for a wholly-owned subsidiary of CapitaLand’s CRL Realty Pte Ltd in the collective acquisition of all the strata lots and common property in the 288-unit development known as Pearl Bank for a total consideration of S$728 million, including the topping up of the existing leasehold interest to a fresh 99-year leasehold interest.
  • Acted for Lum Chang Auriga Pte. Ltd., a subsidiary of Lum Chang Holdings Limited, in the collective acquisition of all the strata lots and common property in the development at 12 One Tree Hill Singapore, and an adjoining strip of land, for a total consideration of S$67 million, and in the financing aspects of the deal. Also acted in the sale of the developed houses.
  • Acted for Hillcrest Investments Pte Ltd in the collective purchase of 3 adjoining sites comprising two developments and a land lot at Bukit Timah Road for a purchase consideration of S$53.9 million.
  • Acted for Hullet Development Pte. Ltd. in the collective tender acquisition of all the strata lots and common property in the development at 8 Hullet Road Singapore, for a total consideration of S$38.2 million from 2 companies incorporated in Jersey and Liberia, and in the financing aspects of the deal. Also acted in the sale of the developed units.
  • Acted for the purchaser in the collective purchase of 2 adjoining sites at 97, 99 Still Road and 133 and 137 Koon Seng Road for an aggregate consideration of about S$32.5 million. The freehold properties consist of a hotel and a residential development and will be re-developed as one residential development.
  • Acted for the owners of Farrer Court in the sale of the 618-unit development to Morganite Pte Ltd, a consortium comprising CapitaLand, Hotel Properties and Wachovia Development Corporation, for S$1.3388 billion.
  • Acted for the owners of Westwood Apartments in the collective sale of the development to YTL group for S$435 million.
  • Acted for the owners of Amberville in the first-ever collective sale of old HUDC flats.
Financing 
  • Acted as Singapore real estate legal counsel in advising lenders in two rounds of amendments to an existing S$1.995 billion facility to one of Singapore's largest power generation companies by registered capacity, involving mortgages over 3 power stations in Singapore. The properties had multiple land lots and included foreshore lands. The third power station was acquired by one of the borrowers from receivers and managers and involved complex land and property issues to separate it from the desalination plant which was originally constructed together with shared infrastructure.
  • Led the real estate team in acting for the lender in the real estate aspects of a S$1.18 billion facility to a major property developer in Singapore for the acquisition of a Government Land Sales site at Jalan Anak Bukit.
  • Led the real estate team in acting for a syndicate of lenders in the real estate aspects in financing the collective acquisition of the development known as Park West consisting of 436 residential and commercial units and the construction costs of the new development, totaling about S$1.13 billion.
  • Led the real estate team in advising a major listed REIT group in Singapore on the real estate aspects of its S$978 million financing facility, secured by the properties at Mandarin Gallery and Mandarin Hotel. The facilities are eligible to qualify as green loans (pursuant to the terms of the facilities agreement) if certain certifications / ratings are awarded by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore.
  • Led the real estate team in acting for a syndicate of lenders in the real estate aspects in financing the acquisition of the Government Land Sales site at Stirling Road and the construction costs, totaling S$900 million.
  • Led the real estate team in advising the borrower on the real estate aspects of its financing in relation to the acquisition by Allianz Real Estate Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, on behalf of National Pension Service of Korea and Allianz group companies, via its AREAP Core I fund, of a 50% stake in OUE Bayfront. The transaction deal is about S$634 million.
  • Led the real estate team in acting for a major REIT group in Singapore in connection with a S$540 million refinancing facility for a major integrated development in Singapore. The facilities were structured as a sustainability-linked loan which incorporates interest rate reductions linked to predetermined sustainability performance targets, in line with the group’s commitment to reduce the environmental impact of its portfolio.
  • Led the real estate team in acting for a syndicate of lenders in the real estate aspects in financing the collective acquisition of the development known as Landmark Tower consisting of 139 residential units and the construction costs of the new development, totaling more than S$384 million.
  • Led the real estate team in advising the lender on the real estate aspects of an Islamic loan financing, amounting to approximately S$190 million, for refinancing existing loans and for asset enhancement works at Starhub Green, a 7-storey building located at 67 Ubi Avenue 1, Singapore.
  • Led the real estate team in acting for the Singapore branch of a major Malaysian bank in the real estate aspects of a S$166 million refinancing facility to a major hotel group for the asset enhancement and renovation works of a hotel at Telok Blangah Road, which was acquired by the group in 2019. We had also acted in the financing of the original acquisition. This was the group’s first hotel launched in Singapore.
  • Led the real estate team in advising the lenders on the real estate aspects of a green loan financing in relation to facilities for, inter alia, the construction and development of a data centre. The transaction deal is approximately S$150 million.
  • Led the real estate team in advising the lenders on the real estate aspects of a S$125 million financing secured by the mixed-use development with commercial, residential and hotel components located at North Buona Vista Road. The development includes the Rochester Shopping Mall with a net lettable area of about 66,866 square feet including retail outlets and the hotel development known as Park Avenue Rochester with an aggregate of 351 units of hotel rooms, suites, serviced apartments and serviced offices.
  • Led the real estate team in acting for the lender in a S$145 million refinancing facility secured by a hotel located at 200 Middle Road.
  • Led the real estate team in acting for the lender in a S$129 million acquisition facility for the purchase of Robinson Point located at 39 Robinson Road.
  • Led the real estate team in acting for the lender in the real estate aspects in the development financing for the project at 19 Nassim Hill, totaling $110 million.
  • Led the real estate team in acting for the lender in the real estate aspects of a S$105 million financing facility to joint borrowers for the acquisition of 108 Robinson Road.
  • Led the real estate team in acting for a major local bank in Singapore in connection with a S$50 million bridge facility and property loans amounting to S$55 million to finance the acquisition of shares listed on the Singapore Exchange via open market purchases or negotiated transactions with selected shareholders. The facilities were secured by first and second mortgages over 10 properties in Singapore.
  • Led the real estate team in acting for the hospitality arm of one of Vietnam’s largest multi-sector conglomerates in connection with a S$41.6 million acquisition facility for the acquisition of a hotel in Singapore.
  • Acted for a bank in the acquisition from another bank of a portfolio of property and term loans granted to medical practitioners and medical and dental clinics in Singapore, which was transferred pursuant to Section 55C of the Banking Act and required the approval by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the High Court.
  • Acted for several banks in reviewing and drafting their template documents and security documents for the commencement of mortgage lending in Singapore.
Leasing
  • Acted for a statutory board in Singapore as lessor in the grant of separate leases for a private and a public golf course, covering approximately 2.78 million square metres and involving discussions among multiple agencies.
  • Acted for Razer in its build-to-suit lease from Boustead Project's joint venture company of its new South-east Asia Headquarters at One-North.
  • Acted for a landlord in its lease of an entire 4-storey conservation shophouse at South Bridge Road, comprising a total floor area of approximately 22,000 square feet, to a co-working operator. The lease included important financial covenants, green lease requirements and covenants for the tenant to comply with the building’s Green Mark Platinum requirements.