01/02/2021
SINGAPORE - Property heavyweights City Developments Limited (CDL), CapitaLand and Ascott Residence Trust (Ascott Reit) said on Thursday (Nov 21) that they will together redevelop the Liang Court site in Clarke Quay.
The site comprises Liang Court mall, midscale hotel Novotel Singapore Clarke Quay and serviced residence Somerset Liang Court Singapore.
Subject to approval from the authorities, the Liang Court site will be turned into an integrated development with total gross floor area (GFA) of 100,263 sq m.
The proposed project will comprise two residential towers offering about 700 residential units, a commercial component, an "upper midscale" hotel with 460 to 475 rooms, and a 192-unit serviced residence with a hotel licence.
The proposed mixed-use project will open in phases from 2024.
The new hotel will be operated under the Moxy brand by Marriott International when it is completed around 2025, while the new serviced residence will keep its Somerset branding when it opens in the second half of 2024.
The deal involves CDL Hospitality Trusts (CDLHT) selling its entire stake in Novotel Singapore Clarke Quay to the 50:50 CDL-CapitaLand joint venture (JV) entities and CDL.
At the same time, Ascott Reit, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of CapitaLand, will sell part of its interest in Somerset Liang Court Singapore to CDL. Ascott Reit said it signed a put-and-call option agreement with CDL to sell 15,170 sq m of the site’s GFA for $163.3 million to CDL, and retain 13,034 sq m of GFA.
The residential and commercial components of the new development will be owned by the 50:50 CDL-CapitaLand JV entities, while the serviced residence will be owned by Ascott Reit. CDLHT will own the hotel under a forward purchase agreement with CDL.
Ascott Reit said in its filing that it will use its net proceeds from selling part of its interest in Somerset Liang Court Singapore to develop the serviced residence, from the retained 13,034 sq m of GFA. The land's lease tenure will be refreshed from 57 years to 99 years. Upon completion, the estimated project development expenditure of the new serviced residence will be about $300 million.
