Sky-High Parking

Source : The Straits Times, Mar 17, 2008

PARKING the car is set to reach a whole new level - with a high-rise condominium where every apartment comes with its own private garage in the sky.

The Hamilton, coming up at 37 Scotts Road on the former site of Hotel Asia, will make this fantasy come true.

VROOM WITH A VIEW: The Hamilton, to be located on Scotts Road, will become the first residential high-rise in Singapore, and the third in the world after New York and Dubai, to have a private car porch for each apartment. -- PHOTO: HAYDEN PROPERTIES

Residents of the 30-storey tower will be able to drive their vehicle into a special glass elevator that will lift the vehicle from the ground floor to their 'porch' on the same level as their living rooms.

The 56-unit development has not been launched yet. But when built, it will become the first residential high-rise in Singapore, and only the third in the world after developments in New York and Dubai, to have this vroom-with-a-view parking feature.

Ms Leny Suparman, director of developer Hayden Properties, said the feature offers 'a unique way of living in a condominium yet with the advantages of a landed property'.

Motorists here have already become familiar with high-tech 'stack' parking, though it is not quite the seamless elevator ride The Hamilton promises.

At the Chinatown nightlife hub Club Street, the first fully mechanised public carpark was launched last month.

And MacDonald House in Orchard Road has had an elevator take vehicles to its carpark on the second and third levels after its refurbishment in June 2005.

Owning a unit at The Hamilton, complete with its own private parking bay, will not come cheap.

Hayden Properties is unable to give any price indication for its units - averaging 3,000 sq ft in size.

But according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority's website, apartments in the vicinity have been going for around $4,000 per sq ft.

At The Hamilton, that could work out to about $12 million a unit.

In land-scarce Singapore, mechanised parking systems may seem the way to go, taking up less space than conventional parking lots.

A spokesman for the Land Transport Authority (LTA), which owns the M-Park@Club Street, said the mechanised carpark occupies 900 sq m and provides 142 parking lots.

A conventional multi-storey carpark would need a 2,000 sq m site to provide space for the same number of vehicles.

Hayden is a joint venture between local financial consultancy company KOP Capital and Emirates Tarian, a subsidiary investment company of the Emirates Investment Group.

While its car-porch-in-the-sky is a ritzy feature, not all motorists are sure they will like their cars riding up and down elevators.

'What if the lift breaks down?' asked regional foreign exchange manager David Hong, 44, who prefers to keep his wheels on the ground.