Waterloo Apartments en bloc makes way for Fragrance Group new hotel
Waterloo Apartments has been successfully acquired by Fragrance Victory Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of listed Fragrance Group Limited. This is the first en bloc to be granted permission for hotel redevelopment.
The group intends to redevelop the 14,369 square feet 999-years leasehold property at 64 Waterloo Street into a hotel as they seek to expand their portfolio.
The final collective price of $131.1 million is almost 14% higher than the reserve price of $115 million. The owners of the 30-units Waterloo Apartments stand to receive gross sales proceeds of nearly S$4.37 million per unit.
Due to the high development baseline for the site, there will be no development charge payable to redevelop into a hotel site. With a permissible plot ratio of 4.20, the total maximum gross floor area could attain 6,348 square feet.
Since the introduction of the cooling measures in July, there has been slowdown in the en bloc movement for large residential site. This unique opportunity allows Fragrance Group Singapore to leverage on their deep understanding and expertise in hotel development and management.
Amenities Nearby Waterloo Apartments
The Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station which is one station away serves as an interchange for North-East, North-South and Circle Line. The accessibility to transport will be a key attribute for tourists and business travellers when choosing a good value hotel in the city centre.
Within walking distance is the Bugis market where visitors get to enjoy outdoor flea market shopping and local savoury. The Kampong Bahru enclave offers an insight into the early settlement and the rich culture and heritage behind it. The Arab Street offers exotic cuisine which are bursting with spices from Middle East.
Plaza Singapura
Plaza Singapura is located along Orchard Shopping Belt and in the Civic and Cultural District. The shopping mall enjoys a direct linkage to the Dhoby Ghaut MRT interchange station, which serves three MRT lines – the North-South Line, the North-East Line and the Circle Line.
Plaza Singapura adopts a broad-based positioning with a wide range of retail offerings to meet the needs of visitors and families. It is able it to attract a wide range of shoppers from throughout Singapore. It is seamlessly connected to the retail podium of The Atrium @ Orchard via internal walkways on ground and middle levels.
School of The Arts (SOTA)
Located at the gateway of Civic and Cultural District, SOTA with its architectural award-winning campus provides an outlet for training and education of performance arts. The campus address pays tribute to the pioneer Singapore composer of the national anthem, Zubir Said.
The SOTA arts facilities facilitates the learning and teaching of Dance, Music, Film, Ceramics and Sculpture to Performance Dance.
Transport Nodes Near Waterloo Apartments
The excellent location of Waterloo Apartments is well connected to two MRT network such as Bencoolen MRT Station (Downtown Line) and the Bras Basah MRT Station (Circle Line), making it a strategic location for a hotel development.
Downtown Line 3
The Downtown Line 3 (DTL3) debuted on 21 October 2017, making it the longest underground and driverless MRT line in Singapore at 42km long.
When completed, the DTL3 will surpass the 35.7km Circle Line (CCL), to facilitate direct travel from the north-western and eastern areas of the island. Downtown Line will provide its commuters with direct access to the Central Business District and Marina Bay areas and improve connectivity to residential, industrial and lifestyle enclaves.
DTL1 with six stations from Chinatown to Bugis opened on 22 December 2013.
DTL2 with 12 stations from Bukit Panjang to Rochor opened on 27 December 2015.
The DTL3 Extension from Expo to Sungei Bedok, an additional 2.2km, will open in 2024.
The 21-kilometre long DTL3 comprises 16 stations and is the longest stretch of the Downtown Line to be opened. DTL3 will feature three interchange stations at MacPherson, Tampines, and Expo.
The MacPherson interchange station connects DTL3 to the CCL. While the Tampines and Expo stations links to the East-West Line (EWL) and provides commuters greater accessibility at significantly shortened travelling time to other parts of Singapore.
There will be eight Civil Defence shelters built into DTL3, namely Geylang Bahru, Bedok North, Bedok Reservoir, Tampines West, Tampines, Tampines East, Upper Changi and Expo.
Bencoolen Station
The Waterloo Apartments is about 4 minutes’ walk to the Bencoolen station located at Bencoolen Street. The Bencoolen MRT Stations measures at 140 metres long and 22 metres wide is Singapore’s deepest subterranean station at 43 metres below ground.
The station had to be constructed at such depth due to pre-existing infrastructures that are already place. Other factors including the underground North-South Line (NSL) and CCL tunnels that contributed to the deep excavation works. Bencoolen MRT Station has three entrances and comprises six levels – concourse, upper mezzanine, lower mezzanine, platform and two service levels. To provide greater connectivity to the existing rail network, the station has an underground linkway connected to CCL Bras Basah station and the NAFA Campus extension is integrated above one of the station’s entrances.
The station will serve students, office workers, businesses and tourists, with its close proximity to the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), Singapore Management University (SMU), Manulife Centre, Sunshine Plaza, National Museum and hotels along Bencoolen Street. The station is also nearby several worship places such as the Kwan Im Temple, Sri Krishnan Temple, Maghain Aboth Synagogue and Masjid Bencoolen.
With the redesigned Bencoolen streetscape boasting wider pavements, dedicated cycling paths and bicycle lots, the a full-day bus lane and the station is one of the initiatives to transform Singapore into a car-lite country.
Fragrance Group strategies move for hotel expansion
Given that the residential en bloc market was adversely affected from the July 6 2018 cooling measures, the director of capital markets at Cushman & Wakefield, Christina Sim decided to change the course of the collective sale. They opted to seek approval from Urban Redevelopment Authority to change the planning permission to hotel instead.
“We were also fortunate that the site is well located and within a zone which the Urban Redevelopment Authority would like to see enhanced into a kaleidoscope of delightful and memorable places.” says Christina Sim, Director of Capital Markets at Cushman & Wakefield.
About Fragrance Hotels
Fragrance Hotel is one of Singapore’s largest chains of economy hotels with 21 operational hotels in Singapore. Being one of the best budget hotels in Singapore, they have been providing quality and affordable accommodation since 1998.
Their established track record and reputation of providing cheap accommodation in Singapore has led to our Fragrance brand becoming well established in the local and regional hospitality industry. Most of their hotels are strategically located in the city or city-fringe areas and easily accessible by major roads, public buses and the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) railway system. The acquisition of Waterloo Apartments is inline with the group’s mission and value.
With Fragrance Group extensive expertise in hotel development and management, the decision to redevelop Waterloo Apartments into a hotel provides a good opportunity to build on their portfolio of recurring income.