Excelsior Hotel and shopping complex up for collective sale at S$458 million

Feb 28, 2023

EXCELSIOR Hotel and Shopping Complex is trying its luck for a collective sale as it banks on the projected recovery in Singapore’s hospitality sector following the reopening of borders.

Located in the planning district of City Hall, Excelsior at 5 Coleman Street launched a collective sale by public tender after securing the 80 per cent requisite mandate at a reserve price of S$458 million.

Based on the proposed land use of 60 per cent hotel and 40 per cent commercial, the reserve price translates to a land rate of S$2,503 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr) including an estimated land betterment charge and lease upgrading premium.

The Excelsior comprises 99 strata-titled commercial units and a hotel with 284 rooms.

Owners of the commercial units each stand to receive between S$542,000 to S$16 million, marketing agent Cushman & Wakefield told The Straits Times on Tuesday (Feb 28).

The tender will close on April 18 at 3.00 pm.

The 44-year-old hotel-zoned property is near national monuments such as St Andrew’s Cathedral, The National Gallery, and The Supreme Court.

The 99-year leasehold site area is 1,932.2 sq m and the building has a verified gross floor area of 21,111.92 sq m.

Hotel assets, one of the hardest hit during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, are now recovering with a vengeance, said Christina Sim, senior director of capital markets at Cushman & Wakefield.

“The fundamentals for hospitality assets are solid and Singapore’s hospitality sector is expected to outperform its Asia-Pacific neighbours as borders reopen and travel recovers. China’s reopening will be an added boost for hotels as Chinese business and leisure travellers are one of Singapore’s top tourism sources,” she said.

Hotel revenue per available room is also expected to increase with the return of large-scale Mice (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) events, she added.

Additionally, while demand is picking up at a significant pace, supply is expected to be modest, with possibly an addition of another 7,000 new hotel rooms from now till 2026, Sim said.

The Excelsior is among several commercial buildings which have jumped on the collective sale bandwagon in recent months.

Two five-storey buildings on a 999-year leasehold commercial site in Hoe Chiang Road and Lim Teck Kim Road were launched for collective sale in January at a reserve price of S$216 million.

Marketing agent PropNex said the buyer has the option to redevelop the site as a hotel.

This means the reserve price could translate to a land rate of S$2,662 psf ppr including the estimated land betterment charge of S$60.4 million.

Redevelopment projects such as Keppel South Central, Newport Tower, the former Realty Centre, as well as the Government’s plan to further rejuvenate downtown Singapore, present a good opportunity to build a hotel or serviced apartments on the site, PropNex said.

Manhattan House in Chin Swee Road was launched for sale by tender at a reserve price of S$280 million in January.

This translates to a land rate of about S$1,715 psf ppr after factoring in the lease top-up premium and a land betterment charge.

The 99-year development was completed in 1976 and comprises 269 units across 16 floors.

The commercial-zoned site may be rezoned to “residential with commercial at the first storey” with a substantial portion of the site allowed for a residential tower of up to 30 storeys, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

The collective sale tender for Golden Mile Tower, which was launched at an asking price of S$650 million, or S$1,550 psf ppr, closed in January with a few expressions of interest, and is now in private treaty talks with several parties.

But not all have succeeded in getting off the ground.

The S$1.6 billion collective sale of Orchard Towers fell through in February after failing to obtain the requisite 80 per cent consent from unit owners, highlighting the difficulties in putting together a deal for a big mixed-use project.

In August 2022, the S$1.8 billion collective sale tender for People’s Park Centre in Chinatown closed without any bids.

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/pro...e-s458-million