Co-owner of firm that built illegal 5,200 sq ft floor at The Alexcier to face charges next month

A screengrab of an online listing (left) for the unit at The Alexcier where the hidden floor was found in 2019. PHOTOS: SCREENGRAB FROM COMMERCIALGURU.COM.SG, ST READER

SINGAPORE – The co-founder of a company that built an illegal storey at The Alexcier building in Alexandra Road will be charged in court next month – three years after the hidden floor was uncovered in 2019.

A floor spanning 5,200 sq ft, accessible by stairs from the eighth-floor office below which was occupied by ZACD Posh, had been constructed without authorisation. Its owners also dodged a development charge of more than $1 million, had the additional level been approved.

The Straits Times understands that Mr Stanley Yeo, ZACD Group co-founder and group chief executive officer, will face multiple charges in the State Courts in April.

On Tuesday (March 22), the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and Singapore Civil Defence Force said in a joint reply to queries from ST: “Prosecutorial action is being taken, following investigations into the unauthorised works at The Alexcier.”

Mr Yeo and his wife Kain Sim are the co-founders of ZACD Investments, a real estate investment firm that owns unit 08-01 at The Alexcier, where the hidden floor was found.

They are also the controlling shareholders of ZACD Group, which has been listed on the GEM (Growth Enterprise Market), Hong Kong’s exchange for smaller companies, since 2018.

ZACD Posh is the property and facilities management arm of ZACD Group.

When contacted on Tuesday, Mr Yeo declined to comment.

Built by local developer Chiu Teng Group in 2005, The Alexcier is supposed to have only eight storeys and one basement.

But, acting on a tip-off, the authorities conducted an inspection of the multi-use light industrial building in February 2019 and found a ninth floor, even though the building’s lift stops on the eighth floor.

Two flights of stairs from the ZACD Posh office led to the clandestine floor which, from a video that ST has seen, boasted various living and work spaces with workstations, beds, a kitchen and a meeting room.

Entry to these stairs was hidden behind a password-protected door disguised as a display shelf in the office pantry.

An unauthorised floor was found inside a unit on the eighth storey of The Alexcier, occupied by ZACD POSH

An engineer who inspected The Alexcier in September 2018 told ST in an April 2019 article that he had not spotted the ninth-storey addition.

Engineer Lee Hiang Meng had said: “The eighth floor looked like a typical office set-up with a usual ceiling height. It is common for office occupiers to build a lower false ceiling for easier maintenance and to conserve energy.”

A former ZACD employee had told ST then that the ninth floor was built more than eight years ago.

Mr Yeo had denied to ST then that he had built an additional floor and called it a racking system for storage purposes.

A racking system is used by warehouses; furniture retailer Ikea uses a similar system to store large items at its pickup hall.

But BCA and URA told ST that the additional floor was a “steel structure with timber flooring”, which was not allowed as it exceeded the maximum permissible intensity under URA’s Master Plan.

The Building Control Act states that anyone convicted of carrying out unauthorised building work is liable to a fine of up to $200,000 and/or a jail term of up to two years.

ST understands other offences which Mr Yeo would be facing come under the Planning Act and Fire Safety Act.

The authorities had said then that “the extensive unauthorised floor is a blatant breach of the regulations” and such contraventions would not be tolerated.

ZACD Investments was given a month to demolish the additional floor after the authorities assessed that the unauthorised addition did not pose any immediate structural hazard to the rest of the building.

The unit was put up for sale in late 2019 but the listing was subsequently removed. It is still owned by ZACD Investments.

Workers clearing objects from the unauthorised floor at The Alexcier on March 18, 2019. PHOTO: ST FILE

Facade of The Alexcier, a multi-user industrial development at 237 Alexandra Road. PHOTO: ST FILE

Mr Yeo, who was awarded the Public Service Medal in 2015 and had chaired the Tampines North Citizens’ Consultative Committee, had taken leave from his grassroots position.

A People’s Association spokesman told ST that Mr Yeo has been on leave of absence since March 12, 2019.

The case was the first known of its kind in Singapore, and had prompted then Non-Constituency MP Leon Perera to ask in Parliament in 2019 what measures were being taken to ensure that industrial buildings are not subjected to unauthorised modifications.

Mr Zaqy Mohamad, who was then Minister of State for National Development, said BCA requires regular inspections on buildings to ensure they are structurally safe. Industrial buildings must be inspected every five years.

“Source: [Co-owner of firm that built illegal 5,200 sq ft floor at The Alexcier to face charges next month] © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Permission required for reproduction”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *