HPL has consolidated ownership of the Concorde at 100 Orchard Road (Image: Savills Singapore)
Hotel Properties Ltd has acquired the Concorde hotel and mall complex on Singapore’s Orchard Road for S$821 million ($618.7 million), setting the stage for the property’s redevelopment amid a government-led rejuvenation drive in Southeast Asia’s best-known shopping belt.
HPL’s bid for the strata-titled complex prevailed after a public tender exercise that closed Wednesday, according to a Thursday announcement by Savills Singapore, the exclusive marketing agent for the site. In the city-state’s biggest collective sale of 2024, the SGX-listed firm controlled by tycoon Ong Beng Seng is buying out the Concorde’s remaining ownership after amassing 95.4 percent of the strata area of the property.
With a height cap of 10 storeys, the Concorde has an officially verified built area of 539,719 square feet (50,142 square metres) of space, giving it a plot ratio of 5.41. With the master plan allowing for a plot ratio of up to 5.6, HPL can build a more than 3 percent larger project on the site, adding another 18,170 square feet of space.
The sale price of S$821 million, roughly in line with the S$820 million guide price, translates to S$1,804 per square foot of potential built area, which takes into account a charge of S$213 million to add a fresh 99 years to the existing land lease, Savills said.
“Developers continue to be drawn to prime development opportunities here and are very excited by the URA’s plans to rejuvenate and refresh Orchard Road,” said Jeremy Lake, managing director for investment sales and capital markets at Savills.
Premium Site
Measuring 99,623 square feet, the Concorde site at 100 Orchard Road benefits from 558 feet (170 metres) of frontage along the shopping strip. The site also borders Cavenagh Road, Kramat Lane and Buyong Road.
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The current outline application for the new project consists of 40 percent hotel accommodation, 40 percent residential and 20 percent commercial space (including balconies). The current 1983-vintage complex comprises a three-storey retail podium with 108,510 square feet of strata area and a 407-room hotel overlooking Istana Park on the fourth through ninth levels.
The site is within three minutes’ walk of both the Dhoby Ghaut MRT Interchange and Somerset MRT station. Future development is planned for an underground walkway connecting the site to Somerset MRT.
The Concorde is just under 2 kilometres (1.3 miles) from The Forum mall, the Voco Orchard Singapore hotel and the HPL House commercial block, a trio of properties under redevelopment by HPL — whose majority shareholder, billionaire businessman Ong, was handed two criminal charges last month in relation to his dealings with the now-jailed former transport minister S Iswaran.
Collective Success
Savills underlined the appeal of Orchard Road sites by pointing to its own track record in the neighbourhood.
“The sale of Concorde Hotel & Shopping Mall is the fourth major collective sale along the Orchard Road corridor brokered by Savills,” Lake said, with the deal following the successful trades of Tanglin Shopping Centre, Ming Arcade and Delfi Orchard.
City Developments Ltd is expected to combine Delfi Orchard, a strata-titled retail and office block it agreed to acquire for S$439 million in May, with the adjoining Orchard Hotel Singapore, which is held by CDL Hospitality Trusts, a REIT controlled by the local development titan.
Singapore’s TE Capital and LaSalle Investment Management recently achieved record prices for the first two office floors sold in their VisionCrest Orchard project, located across Istana Park from the Concorde complex. The joint venture had signed the $331 million agreement to acquire that complex last November in Singapore’s biggest commercial property deal of 2023.
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