Will HPL’s minority investors benefit from the redevelopment of its Orchard Road assets?

HOTEL Properties Ltd (HPL) could unlock a great deal of value from its cluster of prime Orchard Road properties. Whether this leads to a big payday for minority investors is another matter, though.

On Monday (Aug 28), shares in HPL bounced up 10.8 per cent after the company announced it had received provisional permission from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) to redevelop Forum The Shopping Mall, the voco Orchard Singapore hotel, and office development HPL House.

These properties – widely seen as HPL’s crown jewels – occupy freehold and 999-year leasehold land spanning 14,027 square metres (sq m) along Orchard Road and Cuscaden Road.