BT: Another shot at glory for Capitol site

Business Times - 28 Oct 2010


Another shot at glory for Capitol site

Winning group plans to build iconic hotel, theatre, retail and residential development at landmark site

By KALPANA RASHIWALA

(SINGAPORE) The landmark site that includes Capitol Theatre, Capitol Building and Stamford House is ready for a makeover. It has been awarded to a partnership comprising a syndicate of investors arranged by Pua Seck Guan's Perennial Real Estate, Kwee Liong Seen's Chesham Properties, and Sukmawati Widjaja's Top Global group for $250 million or $460.93 per square foot per plot ratio.

The winning bid was the highest price offered among three tenderers whose concept proposals were shortlisted from the initial list of 14 submitted to the Urban Redevelopment Authority on Aug 18.

The group that won the tender is expected to invest about $700 million in total (including land price) to transform the site into an iconic hotel, theatre, retail and residential development. The group is allocating about half of the 542,382 sq ft maximum gross floor area to retail and entertainment use, with 25 per cent each for hotel and residential use.

'The project, including the hotel, will retain the name Capitol, as it has a lot of history and can rival The Raffles Hotel,' said Perennial CEO Mr Pua. 'We intend to restore the glory of Capitol - a brand name familiar to many Singaporeans. Historically, the location was famous for Capitol Theatre; but there was also a vibrant retail trade along High Street and there were city apartments.'

US-based architectural firm Richard Meier & Partners will work with Architects 61 of Singapore to design the project.

Capitol Theatre, Capitol Building and Stamford House will be conserved and restored while Capitol Centre will be torn down to make way for a new 15-storey building that will also have four basements. Basements 3 and 4 will be for car parking while Basements 2 to Level 2 will be for retail. Above that will be about 80 apartments of about 1,066 sq ft to 2,368 sq ft, which will be sold to help part finance the development.

A five-star hotel with over 200 rooms will be housed on the second to fourth levels of the four-storey Capitol Building and Stamford House.

Capitol Theatre will be transformed into a single-screen cinema with the largest seating capacity in Singapore (some 800 to 1,000 seats) to be operated by Golden Village for most of the year. The building will also alternate as a performance venue for in-residence theatre groups for the rest of the time.

It will be a choice venue for red carpet movie premiers and film festivals.

There will be concept retail stores for international brands on the ground level of Capitol Building while the ground level of Stamford House will feature signature restaurants related to the hotel operator.

The existing street between Capitol Theatre and Stamford House/Capitol Building will be transformed into a pedestrianised, glass-covered galleria lined with F&B outlets. The galleria and the sheltered civic plaza will provide pedestrian connectivity throughout the Capitol site and with the surroundings. There will be an underground link to City Hall MRT Station

'We've some names in mind for the hotel operator. Our partners also own hotels managed by external parties,' Mr Pua said, referring to Mr Kwee, who is one of the four brothers who control the Pontiac Group in Singapore, which owns luxury hotels such as The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore, and The Regent Singapore.

Ms Widjaja, sister of tycoon Oei Hong Leong, also owns hotels in Indonesia and China.

'We intend to complete the project in about three to four years,' Mr Pua said. URA has given the group up to eight years to complete the project.

URA said that the concept proposal from the successful tenderer offers a high quality development with an attractive mix of uses and 'befitting of its prominent location within the Civic District and its rich architectural heritage'.

Under the dual-envelope tender system for the sale of this site, the 14 tenderers were required to submit their concept proposals and tender prices in two separate envelopes. At the first stage, only the concept proposals were evaluated against a set of pre-stated criteria. Those who met the mark proceeded to the second stage, where the price envelopes of the short-listed bidders were opened and the site awarded to the tenderer with the highest bid price among them.

The other two short-listed tenderers were CapitaMalls Asia and its parent CapitaLand (with a bid of $238.2 million) and a consortium that included private equity group GAW Capital Partners ($130.1 million).

BT understands that the winning bid of $250 million was not the highest price among the 14 submissions.

The top price offer is believed to have crossed the $400 million mark and market watchers say the scheme would probably have involved a more substantial residential component for sale.