TAY Sharon

Sharon is a Senior Partner and Deputy Head in the Real Estate & Property Department.

She graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1995 with an LLB (Hons) (2nd Upper) degree. In university, she was placed on the Dean’s List several times. After graduating, she joined Lee & Lee and was admitted to the Singapore bar in 1996. In 2002, she was made a Partner. She was made Deputy Head of the Real Estate & Property Department in 2022.

She served as a part-time tutor for several years for the Conveyancing module of the Practice Law Course conducted by the Board of Legal Education Singapore for law graduates seeking admission to the Singapore Bar.

She handles a wide range of real estate and conveyancing work and her practice covers virtually the entire spectrum of real estate and financing transactions, including the sale, leasing and purchasing of residential, commercial and industrial properties. She represents clients which have diverse interests including individuals, publicly listed companies, private corporations, banks, societies, charities, high net-worth individuals, management corporations, government authorities and associations. Her work also includes corporate financing, and the preparation of wills, lasting powers of attorney and trusts.

She has acted for logistics service providers, automotive industry players and real estate investment trusts in the sale, purchase, mortgage and leasing of commercial and industrial properties administered by governmental authorities, such as the Housing and Development Board and JTC Corporation.

She has also acted for both major financial institutions and borrowers (including various public listed companies) in numerous high-value loan transactions, including financing of purchases of large commercial buildings, construction loans to housing developers, and syndicated loan arrangements involving multiple banks.

In particular, she has extensive experience and is well-versed in the collective purchases and sales of residential, industrial and commercial developments, including organising and galvanising teams to handle the due diligence and transaction particulars.

She has experience in a wide spectrum of real estate practice, having represented and advised many public listed and private corporations, banks, societies, unincorporated associations, charities and individuals in their acquisitions, dispositions, leasing of and development of vacant land, residential, industrial and commercial properties and hotels. These transactions include advising on the structuring of real estate deals, financing of real estate projects, the regularisation of complexities in titles of properties and the amalgamation, subdivision and strata subdivision of properties.

She has acted for government agencies in real estate work, including the sale of land belonging to the Minister for Finance (“MOF”) to the lessees of the development “Normanton Park”. She has also represented the Insolvency and Public Trustee’s Office (“IPTO”) on matters relating to the collective sale of Henley Industrial Building.

Some of Sharon’s work includes:

  • Acting for developers in acquisitions under Government land sales.
  • Acting in the acquisition, divestment, joint development and financing of properties including commercial, industrial and residential complexes, hotels and vacant lands for development.
  • Acting in real estate transactions involving applications for approvals/permits, the alienation of State Land, surrender, subdivision, strata subdivision, exchange and partition.
  • Acting for housing developers in the sale of units under the Housing Developers (Control and Licensing) Act
  • Acting for developers in the sale of units under the Sale of Commercial Properties Act.
  • Advising developers on the legal requirements with respect to property management.
  • Acting in real estate matters involving trust and estate issues.
  • Acting in the formation and registration of clubs, societies, charities and religious bodies and advising on legal issues involving such entities and on regulatory requirements and permits for acquisition of properties by such entities.
  • Acting in conjunction with other practice groups in Lee & Lee in transactions involving syndicated loans, multi-currency loans, bonds, joint ventures, asset and business acquisitions, asset restructuring and debt restructuring.
  • Acting in cross-border transactions including the collective sale of 15 plots of plantation land in Senai-Kulai, Johor, Malaysia.

Sharon has acted for purchasers and sellers in many enbloc sale and purchase transactions including the following significant deals:

  • Acting for Morganite Pte Ltd, a joint venture between CapitaLand Residential Limited (35%), Hotel Properties Limited (22.5%), Morgan Stanley Capital (Real Estate) Pte Ltd (22.5%) and Wachovia Development Company (20%), in the purchase of the development known as “Farrer Court” at a record price of S$1.3388 billion.
  • Acting for the owners of the development known as “Leedon Heights” in a collective sale whose price was S$835 million.
  • Acting for the owners of the development known as “The Grangeford” in a collective sale whose price was S$625 million.
  • Acting for the owners of the development known as “UIC Building” in a collective sale whose price was S$600 million.
  • Acting for the owners of the development known as “Anderson 18” in a collective sale whose price was S$477.7 million.
  • Acting for the owners of the development known as “Char Yong Gardens” in a collective sale whose price was S$420 million.
  • Acting for the owners of the HUDC development known as “Waterfront View” in a collective sale whose price was S$385 million.
  • Acting for the owners of the development known as “Himiko Court” in a collective sale whose price was S$336 million.
  • Acting for the owners of the development known as “Henry Park Apartments” in a collective sale whose price was S$175.888 million.
  • Acting for the owners of the development known as “Gillman Heights Condominium” in a collective sale whose price was S$548 million.

More recent transactions that Sharon has acted in also include the following:

  • Acting for the owners in the collective sale of several residential developments including Sun Rosier (78 units, S$271 million), Florence Regency (336 units, S$629 million), Kemaman Point (89 units, S$143.88 million), and Dunearn Gardens (114 units, S$468 million).
  • Acting for the owners in the collective sale of several mixed-use developments including Pearlbank Apartments (288 units, sold for S$728 million).
  • Acting for the purchasers in the collective purchase of several residential developments including Rio Casa (286 units, S$575 million) and Serangoon Ville (244 units, S$499 million).