Singapore's Tiong Seng Holdings and Ocean Sky International are in talks to acquire the Sloane Court Hotel and a small adjoining plot for $59.4 million, with plans to redevelop the property. According to Deal Street Asia, the site will be purchased on the condition that the shareholders of the property's vendor approve the deal.
The price excludes development charges for intensifying usage of the land. The 38,943-square-foot site in district 10 on Balmoral Road, which is zoned for residential use.
"To build up to the maximum allowable gross floor area, we will have to pay a development charge for intensifying use of the land," Lim Geok Hwee, COO at Tiong Seng, told The Straits Times. As a joint venture under their TSky Development partnership, Tiong Seng Holdings and Ocean Sky will set up a project company to redevelop the site into a 12-story condominium with 80 units of 700 square feet each.
As the two firms' second joint venture project, it follows their acquisition $15.5-million of two freehold sites on Jervois Road. The companies redeveloped the two sites into a 21-apartment project. Yuan Ching Development's wholly-owned subsidiary, Tiong Seng, owns a 60-percent stake in the joint venture TSky Development, while Ocean Sky owns the remaining 40-percent stake under its subsidiary Arctic Sky Investment.
This proposed JV deal and redevelopment aligns with the positive outlook for Singapore’s residential market. "We expect the residential outlook to be good in the next two years. The tenders and en bloc sales that have happened in the last year have been done at high prices, so that will likely translate to higher home selling prices next year," Lim said.