Daily Archives: 19 Nov 2009

Holiday Inn Park View completes overhaul

Posted on 19 Nov 2009 | Comments Off on Holiday Inn Park View completes overhaul

The Holiday Inn Park View, which opened here in 1985, has been renamed Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre as part of a $25 million refurbishment exercise.

Its signage, reception area, guest rooms and food and beverage outlets have been overhauled. Despite the downturn, the decision was made to go ahead with renovating the 319-room hotel over a 15 month period. This was done in conjunction with InterContinental Hotels Group’s Holiday Inn global relaunch programme.

‘We’re long term players. For us to refurbish in slightly more difficult economic times actually makes greater sense. If you do it in good times, you essentially take rooms out of the inventory,’ said Aron Harilela, director of Hong-Kong based property developer The Harilela Group, which owns the Holiday Inn in Singapore as well as other properties in Asia, Europe and the Americas.

The group also owns three transit hotels here at Changi Airport, as well as a 20 per cent stake in Thomson Medical Centre.

Looking ahead, The Harilela Group is expanding its portfolio with the launch of two hotels in Tier 2 and 3 cities in China – the first of which will open in the second quarter of 2010 and the second in Q3 2011.

The two hotels, each costing US$15 million, will be funded by a mix of debt and equity. ‘We’re looking to do five hotels in China. There’s a big market for internationally branded, standardised products,’ said Dr Harilela, adding that land in Tier 1 cities tends to be priced exorbitantly.

Meanwhile, the Holiday Inn has out-performed the industry this year, according to general manager Shantha de Silva, with occupancy rates in the mid-80s, down from the low 90s in 2007-08.

Room rates this year have come down about 20 per cent compared to last year but remain in the low $200s.

‘We’ve been trading fairly robustly even, this year,’ said Mr de Silva. Business travellers make up 60-70 per cent of the clientele.

And Mr de Silva is confident that the hotel industry is likely to pick up soon.

Source : Business Times – 19 Nov 2009

Comments Off on Holiday Inn Park View completes overhaul

Posted in General

Tagged , , ,

CIMB seeks to set up private real estate funds here

Posted on 19 Nov 2009 | Comments Off on CIMB seeks to set up private real estate funds here

Forms JV with S’pore firm to invest in Aussie property

The real estate division of Malaysia’s CIMB Group is looking to set up private real estate funds in Singapore to invest in Australian property.

CIMB has formed a joint venture with Singapore-based TrustCapital Advisors – CIMB-TrustCapital Advisors Singapore, or CIMB-TCA – which is now raising equity to invest in office properties in Melbourne and Sydney.

TrustCapital Advisors’ managing director Chris Cheah told BT the target is for the JV to grow total assets under management in Australia to A$3 billion (S$3.87 billion) in five years. Several funds will be set up and at least one will be listed, he said.

Mr Cheah owns 50 per cent of TrustCapital Advisors, which has a 30 per cent stake in CIMB-TCA. The remaining 70 per cent is owned by CIMB Real Estate.

With the setting up of CIMB-TCA, Singapore has become CIMB’s international headquarters for private real estate funds outside Malaysia. The group has another JV, with Singapore’s Mapletree Investments, to run its Malaysia-focused private real estate funds.

For this newest JV, CIMB will provide A$20 million of seed money. The JV company will tap CIMB’s private and investment banking units to raise equity for its funds, Mr Cheah said.

The first fund CIMB-TCA sets up will target completed office buildings in Australia. Mr Cheah said Australia was picked as the first market to enter because it is ’safe’.

‘If you look at the global economies right now, I think the Australian economy is one of the strongest,’ he said. Occupancy rates for Australian office space stand at more than the 90 per cent generally. And the market also provides good returns – broadly speaking, office buildings offer yields of 7 per cent or more per year, said Mr Cheah.

He is also very familiar with the Australian market – as the former head of property for Australia’s ANZ bank. His partner David Tan, who owns the remaining 50 per cent of TrustCapital Advisors, is the former CEO of APL Japan Trust and led Singapore-listed CapitaCommercial Trust before that.

CIMB Group is Malaysia’s second-largest financial services group.

Source : Business Times – 19 Nov 2009

Comments Off on CIMB seeks to set up private real estate funds here

Posted in Overseas Property

Tagged , , ,