Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) announced that it would start the tender process for a hotel site on New Bridge Road after receiving a $43.8 million bid from undisclosed developer. The bid reportedly matched or exceeded the minimum price asked by the Singaporean government, thereby setting the momentum for the tender process.
URA said that the century-old leasehold site would be publicly open for bidding in two-week time and the launch date would be confirmed thereafter. The government kept the property in the reserve list until the receipt of attractive offer of the $44 million bid – in this case.
Based on the URA, with a site area of about 0.45ha, the New Bridge Road property is expected to yield a maximum permissible gross floor area of 15,687 square metres, making it an ideal location for a boutique hotel. The land parcel, located in Chinatown, is also an ideal location for three- or four-star hotel.
Though the recent survey of the Asian Real Estate Association reported that the hospitality industry lagged beyond the retail, industrial and office sectors in terms of market outlook, there are some investors who are banking on the hotel industry given the improved market sentiments. Hotel investors think that the worst time was over and that the market condition will be better by the time their construction projects are finished.
Market observers further affirmed such optimism amid the anticipated tender of the New Bridge Road property. Last month, a small hotel attracted 15 bids, with the winning tender exceeding the trigger price by 76%.