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CHRISTOPHER Lim, group executive director of Hotel Properties Ltd (HPL), says a new condo on the Beverly Mai site which the group bought last week is located just as well if not even better than the Four Seasons Park condo the group developed in the mid-1990s.

 

'The project will be the most exclusive in Singapore,' Mr Lim said in an interview with BT.

'The pricing will definitely be above $2,000 psf on average. It's a question of how much more than $2,000 psf.'

 

The 36-storey development is likely to be released for sale early next year. The configuration of unit sizes has yet to be finalised, although market watchers expect most of them to be large units of 2,000 sq ft or so, given that these are in high demand by foreign buyers and well-heeled Singaporean investors looking to buy apartments to lease out, particularly to expatriate families.

 

Mr Lim said the $1,600 psf breakeven cost for HPL's proposed new condo on the Beverly Mai site reported in the media is 'in the lower range'.

 

HPL bought Beverly Mai on Tomlinson Road through a $238 million collective sale - $1,184 per sq ft of potential gross floor area inclusive of an estimated development charge of $16.8 million.

 

The site is zoned for residential use with a 2.8 plot ratio(ratio of potential gross floor area to land area).

 

Mr Lim said the Beverly Mai site is superior in terms of accessibility and height control to the group's Four Seasons Park condo project which set the benchmark for the high-end condo market in the 1990s.

The new project at the Beverly Mai site will have 36 storeys. Four Seasons Park has 27 storeys.

 

And whereas the Four Seasons Park condo can be accessed only through Cuscaden Walk, the Beverly Mai site can be accessed through Orchard Boulevard, Grange Road (through One Tree Hill) and Paterson Road, Mr Lim said.

 

'The new condo will boast unobstructed views as it will be surrounded by landed properties and greenery, including the Good Class Bungalow areas of Rochalie Drive, Chatsworth and Bishopsgate,' Mr Lim said.

 

'Beverly Mai is in a quiet enclave surrounded by low-rise residential properties and yet it's just a minute's walk from Four Seasons Hotel.'

 

HPL's Beverly Mai deal - which is still subject to approval by the Strata Titles Board since unanimous approval from owners has yet to be secured - is the group's first major property acquisition in Singapore in about nine years.

The group is interested in more prime freehold residential sites here but will stick to its current stronghold in the Cuscaden/Orchard belt.

 

On the status of the group's long standing plans for a massive redevelopment of the group's four properties in the Orchard/Cuscaden area - Four Seasons and Hilton hotels, Forum and HPL House adding up to a land area of almost 220,000 sq ft, Mr Lim said: 'We're looking at this with great enthusiasm but not ready to make any announcements.'

 

Expectations that HPL would bring forward its plans have been running high since March last year when the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) announced a scheme to give incentives to redevelop properties along Orchard Road.

 

Under this scheme, the URA may grant additional gross floor area (GFA) beyond that allowed under the Master Plan - if redevelopments result in innovative projects that generate tourism and other economic spinoffs.

Asked if HPL will team up with Wheelock Properties (Singapore) - which recently bought a 21 per cent stake in HPL - to undertake this massive redevelopment of its four Cuscaden/Orchard properties or for the Beverly Mai project, Mr Lim said there are no specific discussions for any joint venture proposals.

 

'But there is good chemistry between the two companies, and their assets and ours are quite similar. That could lead to cooperation in future.

'We are very friendly with Wheelock. We have high regard for their management - Peter Woo and David Lawrence - and (HPL managing director) Mr Ong Beng Seng knows them personally. We like what they have done and likewise, they like what we have done.

 

'So sure, in future, anything can happen.'

 

Even without joint ventures, though, HPL can undertake the redevelopment of the four Orchard/Cuscaden Road buildings through internal resources and bank borrowings.

 

'Our gearing is relatively low, about 40-plus per cent. And we're not a property developer which is totally dependent on development profits. We have quality investment income from hotel operations,' Mr Lim points out.

HPL has more than 10 hotels, in Singapore, Maldives, Bali, Pattaya, Bangkok, Langkawi, Kuala Lumpur, Bhutan, New York and Vanuatu.