Hotel Site At Joo Chiat For Sale At Around $20m

Source : The Business Times, September 2, 2009

A CONSERVED building in Joo Chiat Road, approved for hotel use, is up for sale at $20-$22 million.

It is owned by a local investment company, says Credo Real Estate, which has been appointed to sell it.

The hotel building has a three-storey front section and a four-storey rear extension. It has 68 guest rooms and a pub, both leased by operators for total gross rent of just over $1 million.

The leasehold site of 99 years from June 1995 covers 7,629 sq ft. The total gross floor area is about 22,925 sq ft. This means the asking price works out to $872-$960 per sq ft of gross floor area.

Joo Chiat was gazetted as a conservation district in July 1993. The hotel, which is near Paya Lebar Central, is likely to benefit from an appreciation in capital value as the transformation of Paya Lebar Central materialises, says Credo Real Estate. Paya Lebar Central is one of the four growth areas in the 2008 Master Plan.

'Prospects for the hotel industry remain strong, with visitor arrivals expected to increase because of the Formula One Grand Prix, the 2010 Youth Olympic Games and the integrated resorts,' said Yong Choon Fah, executive director of Credo Real Estate.

'Given the location of the property and the future development of the Joo Chiat/Paya Lebar vicinity, there is great potential for improved revenue and capital appreciation.'

The tender for the property closes on Oct 6.

Separately, the Housing and Development Board said yesterday it is withdrawing a commercial site in Tampines from the reserve list of the government land sales programme for H2 2009.

The government has decided to withdraw the site, at Tampines Concourse, because it will be affected by future infrastructure works, HDB said. The site was released under the reserve list for application in October 2007.