SINGAPORE: Andaz Singapore, a boutique hotel brand under Hyatt Hotels Corp, is scheduled to open in the first half of 2017, said M+S Pte Ltd chairman Tan Sri Azman Yahya.
“The hotel itself is of a decent size, at over 340 rooms, and we have gone through a long and detailed evaluation process before choosing Andaz,” he told a media briefing here yesterday.
While he declined to reveal estimated room rates and occupancies, saying that they are subject to market forces, he said M+S and Hyatt Hotels Corp expect them to be “strong”.
Hyatt Hotels Asia-Pacific group president David Udell said Andaz Singapore will complement Ophir-Rochor, a vibrant old neighbourhood that is seeing much development.
“Being in an [culturally] expressive neighbourhood [near Kampung Glam and Bugis] and an exciting development, we want to reflect that in the hotel. It’s really about embracing the sights and sounds of the neighbourhood,” he said.
Facilities of the new hotel include a lounge area, restaurants, bars, a rooftop outdoor venue, meeting and event spaces, spa services, a fitness centre, an outdoor swimming pool and a gift shop.
The hotel is part of the S$4 billion (RM10.71 billion) DUO integrated development coming up on a 6.67-acre (2.69ha) site at Ophir-Rochor, which will also include DUO Tower Grade A offices, DUO Residences luxury condominiums and the 56,000 sq ft-DUO Galleria boutique retail.
In total, DUO has a gross floor area of about 1.73 million sq ft, with Andaz Singapore constituting 17% of that space.
The Greenmark Platinum-certified DUO Tower will be a 39-storey building with floor plates of up to approximately 31,000 sq ft.
M+S chief operating officer Kemmy Tan said the company is in the midst of leasing out the towers and is in talks with various multinational companies.
About 94% of the 660 units of luxury condos have been taken up since they were launched in October last year.
The units range from 1,528 sq ft to 1,927 sq ft and are currently priced at S$2,600 per sq ft.
M+S is a 60:40 joint venture (JV) between Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd that was set up to develop sites in Marina South and Ophir-Rochor in the island republic.
The JV company’s other development is Marina One, an integrated residential, retail and office development in the Marina Bay central business district.
Marina One comprises 1,042 luxury residential condominiums, 1.88 million sq ft of net Grade A office space, and 140,000 sq ft of retail space.
Azman said 83% of the 401 units under the first phase of Marina One’s condos have been sold since they were launched in October.
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on January 28, 2015.