Friday, December 01, 2006
[RealEdge] BT : Bencoolen St hotel site draws top bid of $451 psf ppr
| Published December 1, 2006  | |
| Bencoolen St hotel site draws top bid of $451 psf ppr
By ARTHUR SIM
EIGHT bids were received for the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) tender for the hotel site at Bencoolen Street when it closed yesterday. The highest bid was $73 million. LaSalle LAO Singapore, which is linked to global property fund manager LaSalle Investments, put in the highest bid which works out to be $451 psf per plot ratio (ppr) for the 161,708 sq ft site. LaSalle had also participated in earlier tenders for hotel sites here, namely, the Unity Street site and the Changi Airport site, but failed to clinch either. Its bid of $73 million is 20 per cent higher than the second highest bid of $60.8 million by Park Hotel Group. Hotel Grand Central, which has been quiet on the hotel scene, put in the third highest bid of $59.7 million, suggesting that it could be ready for expansion. URA will award the tender after the bids have been evaluated. Savills Singapore director of marketing and business development Ku Swee Yong says that the high price put in by LaSalle suggests that it could be expecting room rates to increase significantly in the next few years. Mr Ku believes that the Bencoolen Street location lends itself to a four-star category hotel, suggesting that room rates would be about $120 per night. But by his estimation, LaSalle will have to charge a daily room rate of about $250 per night to make the hotel feasible, putting any new hotel in the five-star category. 'Of course, it is possible that four-star room rates could increase by the time the new hotel is finished,' he added. He also said that a hotel with a larger retail component may also be more profitable. CB Richard Ellis Research executive director Li Hiaw Ho noted however that LaSalle's bid was 13 per cent lower than the recent winning bid of $518 psf ppr for the hotel site at Mohamed Sultan Road. |
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