URA will release a tender for a hotel site situated at the junction of Clemenceau Avenue and Havelock Road over the next two weeks.
URA said it has already accepted an application from a property developer for the site, which was put up for tender on the Reserve List. The developer has committed to pay a minimum bid of $40.8 million for the site.
The 99-year leasehold site, which spans 0.55 hectares, can generate a maximum gross floor area of 11,555 sq m. A hotel with a maximum allowable height of seven storeys can be constructed on the site.
Tay Huey Ying, Colliers International’s research and advisory director, said the plot is likely to be developed into a hotel to cater to business travellers.
Mr. Nicholas Mak, a real estate lecturer from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, said the plot could attract four to eight bids that will range from $47 million to $53 million.
These bids are likely to come from a mix of local and foreign developers, as well as hotel owners, with possible joint ventures.
With competitors in the surrounding area and the Swissotel Merchant Court nearby, he stressed that the hotel site needs to carve its own niche. "This new hotel will be smaller than Merchant Court Swissotel and it is located at a busy junction, so it cannot compete head-on with bigger hotels in the area," said Mr. Mak.