THE site of the former Changi Hospital has yielded two bids from developers interested in turning it into a spa, a bed-and-breakfast or a holiday chalet.
The old military hospital near Changi Village is the first of four properties in the area identified by the authorities for lease under a plan to rejuvenate the sleepy hollow.
Local companies Bagus Asset Management and Whitehouse Holdings submitted the bids for the three-block hospital complex in Halton Road.
The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) told The Straits Times via e-mail that the companies have proposed monthly rent of $33,388 and $25,919 respectively for the site.
The winning bid is likely to be announced early next month by the Urban Redevelopment Authority.
Bagus Asset Management is a subsidiary of Bestway Properties, while Whitehouse Holdings is the property arm of publicly listed company Vita Holdings.
Both companies declined to reveal details of their bid when contacted last Thursday.
Bestway going into the leisure business via its subsidiary Bagus signals a new area for it, because it now manages only office buildings on lease from the SLA, such as Bestway Building in Shenton Way and Bestway House in Outram.
Whitehouse Holdings, on the other hand, developed and now manages the former Rex Cinema in Mackenzie Road - now a nightclub - and the Whitehouse in Maxwell Road, which is now an office building.
The SLA said it is putting vacant state properties in the Changi area to use until a more permanent purpose can be found for them.
The three other pre-war properties to be offered on lease are the former Commando Battalion headquarters at 1 Fairy Point Hill; an art-deco bungalow at 23 Turnhouse Road; and a kampung-style building in Lorong Bekukong, near Changi Point Ferry Terminal.
Commercial property developer Jones Lang LaSalle sees the Changi area as ideal for hotels, restaurants and spas to open shop.
Its regional director Lui Seng Fatt suggested they be Mediterranean and Caribbean-style resorts, or perhaps on the lines of Club Med.
'These are quite different from American-style resorts, which the integrated resorts are shaping up to be,' he said.
He added that his firm is likely to be approached by developers looking to make Changi an alternative to the glamour of the IRs planned to come up in Marina South and Sentosa.
However, Mr John Ting, principal architect of AIM & Associates, warned that, although the area has great potential for development, it must not be overdone.
He said: 'You cannot recreate the ambience here anywhere else. So I hope any development will be sensitive to the historical value of these properties.'
