With more than 25 years of transactional experience, Ching Chern still fondly refers to real estate practice as her first love - which is quite the statement considering how much she dotes on her daughter.
Her passion for drafting and understanding each matter down to its little intricacies have led her to specialise in providing complex legal advice across a broad range of Real Estate projects. Her key competencies including delivering strategic legal advice in plain English, contract negotiation, and project management.
Her love for helping her clients with their real estate transactions drives her to pursue each case with the same fervour that she does her with her other passions, which include reading and exploring the arts scene.
As a commercially astute legal business partner, Ching Chern has practice experience in real estate and financing transactions for various types of properties (residential, commercial, industrial and hotel) and has represented individual and corporate purchasers and vendors; developers (both licensed and unlicensed); banks and financial institutions, as well as, borrowers; Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board and CPF members; landlords and tenants; a statutory board for its land matters; and purchasers of hotels in Singapore.
Conveniently situated in the central area of District 01, this institution of the real estate practice possesses an earnest, unassuming charm that appeals to homeowners and corporate clients alike.
Deal Highlights
Developer Matters
• Advised and acted for a subsidiary of a listed developer in its development sales of terrace houses and semi-detached houses, including advising on the transfer of the electrical sub-station on the development estate, and advising and assisting the developer in requiring its errant purchasers to rectify their encroachment on parts of the road (pending its surrender to the Land Transport Authority)
• Advised and acted for subsidiaries of various listed licensed developers in their development sales of several blocks of residential units in their respective condominium projects
• Advised and acted for a subsidiary of a listed licensed developer as their lead legal advisors in their development sales of the first condominium development project (with flat units and strata terraces) to be launched using the new format developer sale documents under the amended Housing Developer’s Rules
• Advised and acted for a subsidiary of a listed company (the landowner) in its joint venture with a subsidiary of a listed licensed developer in respect of their terrace factory development project
• Advised and acted for licensed developers of niche development projects to appeal to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore for an extension of their deadlines to fulfil the conditions of the remissions of the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty for licensed developers in light of the Urban Redevelopment Authority suspending its processing of all submissions during the period of its review of the land use in the Geylang area
• Advised and acted for a listed company in its tender for 2, 4 and 6 Mount Emily Road and advising the client of its various options – from redeveloping the site for sale to retaining the existing buildings, and its stamp duty liabilities for each option
Collective Sale / Enbloc Matters
• Advised and acted for the Collective Sale Committees of Fernhill Court, Orchard Bel Air, Astor Green Condominium, Highgate Condominium, Nouvelle Park, Casa Riviera, Ville Des Flores, Pandan Valley Condominium, and Laguna Park
Land Matters
• Trusted legal advisor for a statutory authority from 2009 to 2019, and since late 2022, in respect of the restructuring of its land matters for its corporatisation exercise in 2009 and its post-corporatisation land matters – including long-term sub-leases, non-concurrent sub-leases, concurrent sub-leases, tenancy agreements, and Applications for New Certificates of Title, in respect of various parts of its lands for different related uses
• Advised and acted for the Land Transport Authority in their Licence Agreement and Easement in respect of their Bus Interchange located within a licensed developer’s mixed-use development
• Advised and acted for vendors and purchasers of Singapore landed residential property to ensure compliance with the terms and conditions of/for approval from the Land Dealings (Approval) Unit under the Residential Property Act
• Advised and acted for 2 co-purchasers of one landed property to be redeveloped into 2 individual houses (one house to be solely owned by each co-purchaser) – including preparing the Partition Agreement, and liaising with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore regarding the stamp duty considerations, the Central Provident Fund Board regarding the use of each co-purchaser’s CPF funds, and their mortgagee bank for their various mortgage loans
Landlord and Tenant Matters
• Advised and acted for the individual and corporate Landlords in:
- the leasing of various residential properties (houses and apartments)
- the leasing of retail shop units at various commercial buildings and shophouses
- the leasing of office units in various commercial buildings
- the leasing and licensing of food and beverage spaces in a hotel
• Advised and acted for the corporate Vendor (who became the corporate Tenant) in the sale and leaseback of various commercial properties (where the Purchaser became the Landlord after completion of the sale)
• Advised and acted for the corporate Tenant in the lease of retail shop units at various non-residential buildings
• Advised and acted for the Tenant in the lease of office units, at various commercial buildings, as well as acting for a private business school Tenant in their lease of office and commercial school premises in a commercial building
• Advised and acted for the subsidiary of an Italian luxury fashion brand in their takeover of their franchisee’s retail shop unit with a new lease from the landlord for the brand’s flagship store at a reputable shopping mall along Orchard Road, Singapore
Financing
• Acted for developers and/or their mortgagees in project financing (for purchase and construction financing)
• Acted for CPF Board on the transfer of mortgages (including mortgages over HDB and private properties) from one bank to another bank
• Acted for the Singapore branch of a foreign bank in its redemptions of mortgages over Malaysian properties which had been granted to Singapore borrowers
• Acted for a reputed Singapore bank for the mortgage of a Vanuatu-flagged vessel in the Vanuatu Ship Registry located in New York City, United States of America - to ensure the enforceability of the bank’s security against the Vanuatu vessel
Hotel Projects
• Advised and acted for the purchaser consortium in its purchase and mortgage of the 334-room Bay Hotel Singapore (now renamed as Travelodge Harbourfront), obtaining fresh hotel licences and completion within 5 weeks from the date of the Sale & Purchase Agreement. It was one of the largest hotel transactions in Singapore in 2019
• Advised and acted for a purchaser consortium in its tender bid for the block of service apartments known as Ascott Raffles Place which had approval to be converted to a hotel where the clients required various intricate conditions precedent
Membership
Member
The Law Society of Singapore’s Conveyancing Practice Committee (2011 to current)
