It must be taken down by early next month; preliminary checks show no immediate hazard to building
A company that built an unauthorised storey above its unit will have to demolish it by early next month, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has ordered.
The demolition order and notice to cease occupation of the unauthorised area was served last night to the owner of the unit 08-01 at The Alexcier in Alexandra Road.
The BCA told The Straits Times yesterday: “Based on preliminary site inspection and checks on the structural plans by BCA engineers, we assess that the unauthorised addition does not pose any immediate structural hazard to the rest of the building.”
It added that “investigations are still ongoing and we will take appropriate enforcement actions against the parties involved”.
The Sunday Times reported that The Alexcier – an eight-storey light industrial building – had been discovered to have illegally included a hidden floor.
The authorities, acting on a tip-off, conducted inspections last week.
The unauthorised level is about the size of eight three-room HDB flats and boasts various living spaces with workstations, beds, a kitchen and a meeting room.
The BCA, the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Singa-pore Civil Defence Force had told The Sunday Times enforcement action will be taken against those responsible.
The unit is owned by real estate investment firm ZACD Investments, co-founded by Mr Stanley Yeo and his wife Kain Sim. They are also controlling shareholders of ZACD Group, which has been listed on the GEM (Growth Enterprise Market) – referring to small-and mid-sized companies – of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since January last year.
The unit is currently on a three-year lease to property and asset management company ZACD Posh for a monthly rent of $16,200, as stated in the ZACD Group prospectus. The lease will expire on Dec 31 and ZACD Posh, which is a subsidiary of ZACD Group, is moving out to an office on Spring Singapore’s premises in Bukit Merah.
ZACD Investments director Darren Chew confirmed last night that BCA’s order has been received and the company is “working with the authorities”.
Mr Chew, who is also chief operating officer of ZACD Group, said he joined ZACD Investments in 2017 and the unit was put up for sale last year, and he does not know when the unauthorised level was put up.
ZACD Posh has been progressively moving out of the eighth-floor unit since last year, and there are fewer than 30 staff working out of its office in The Alexcier, he added.
Mr Yeo had admitted to The Sunday Times that he had built the extra space above. He said: “It is not an additional floor. It is a racking system. We built it four to five years ago for storage purposes. It is only about 3,000 sq ft to 4,000 sq ft.”
A racking system is similar to what furniture retailer Ikea uses to store large items at its pick-up hall.
A video of SCDF officers inspecting the clandestine unit on Tuesday last week shows that it – unlike a racking system – is constructed like an enclosed floor, with interior fittings.
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