A NEW 200-room hospitality project expected to be completed in 2024 in the upcoming Punggol Digital District (PDD) is being offered for sale.

The development, under construction within a massive new 50-hectare business campus, will come with a 60-year lease. It will also be integrated with a business park tower in Singapore’s first smart and sustainable business district, JTC said on Monday (Apr 29).

The project sits on an 8,140-square-metre site. It is being marketed for sale with vacant possession, under a core-and-shell model where the building owner designs and constructs the base building, including its exterior elements. Fit-out works are left to the tenants before occupying the building, which is to be used as a hotel or for serviced residences.

It will overlook the Serangoon Reservoir and Coney Island, and is the first hospitality venture planned in PDD so far. 

“With no planned future supply for (the) north-east region of Singapore, this represents a distinctive opportunity for investors to capture the strong demand potential of a developed Punggol Digital District,” said Julien Naouri, senior vice-president of investment sales in JLL, which is marketing the property. 

When asked what the minimum bid price for the property was, Naouri said bidders can “develop their own financial analysis” and submit an expression of interest accordingly. 

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The core-and-shell model “offers ample opportunities for potential investors to customise the property to meet their specific requirements and branding preferences”, he said.

JTC is taking in expressions of interest to acquire the 60-year leasehold property, fit it out, and operate the hotel or serviced residence. The exercise closes on Tuesday (Apr 30) at 1 pm.  

The building is expected to achieve its Temporary Occupation Permit in the fourth quarter of 2024, JTC said in response to queries from The Business Times. 

PDD will open progressively from the second half of 2024 and will include retail, dining and lifestyle amenities.

It will house over 2 million square feet of business park and office space as well as the Singapore Institute of Technology’s new campus, and is expected to create 28,000 jobs and take in up to 12,000 students.

It is also within proximity of the Seletar Aerospace Park and Tampines regional hub. 

UOB, the largest commercial investor in the district to date, is investing S$500 million to build a 300,000 sq ft centre to house around 3,000 staff in technology, innovation and digital roles. The facility is due to be completed in 2026. 

The injection of a hospitality component into a high-tech business park estate follows a model that JTC put in place some 15 years ago, at Changi Business Park.

In 2008, JTC awarded a 60-year leasehold land parcel in Changi Business Park to Frasers Centrepoint and Ascendas Land (Singapore) for S$150.8 million or S$119 per square foot per plot ratio. The site was for an integrated retail, hotel and business park project. 

The 313-room hotel, Capri by Fraser, Changi City, opened in 2012, and a mall, Changi City Point, also came up in the business park estate.

In 2015, Frasers Property Ltd bought the 313-room hotel from the joint venture for S$203.4 million. The mall was sold to Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT) and the business park component, to Ascendas Reit.

In 2023, FCT sold Changi City Point for S$338 million, reportedly to a Chinese investor.

BT reported in January 2024 that Frasers had put the Capri hotel property up for sale. A joint venture (JV) including entities linked to two Hong Kong-based parties – Far East Consortium International and Atelier Capital Partners – were said to be in exclusive due diligence for a potential purchase. US-based global investment manager TPG Angelo Gordon was also understood to be part of the JV. The pricing for the hotel was expected to be about S$170 million.

There is at least one other hotel in Changi Business Park. Park Avenue Changi, which opened in 2013, has 171 hotel rooms and 80 serviced suites.