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The
Straits Times, 8 Sep 04
$60m hill-top resort planned for Sentosa
Amara Holdings hopes to complete the 125-room resort by 2007. Its
chief executive promises 'something that will blow you away'
By Tan Hui Yee
HOTEL operator Amara Holdings is investing $60 million in Sentosa
to build a 125-room hill-top resort in the centre of the island.
Four of the six buildings that stand on the site, a five minute walk
from Palawan Beach, will be renovated for use as part of the resort.
These include two pre-war buildings that now house holiday chalets.
It is close to a 150-room hotel being developed by an associate company
of Pontiac Land, which also built the Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore.
Both are expected to be completed by 2007.
Sentosa Leisure Group, which runs the resort island, has also inked
a deal with a Singapore developer to build another hotel, said its
chief executive Darrell Metzger yesterday at the signing ceremony
with Amara. He did not give further details.
By 2010, he said, the island could get three or four more hotels bringing
the number of hotel rooms there to 2,000, up from the existing 800.
All this is part of an $8-billion plan to revamp the island, Sentosa
Cove and the Southern Islands and make them a must-see attraction
and prime residential district.
Already, the island is set to get almost five million visitors in
this financial year (ending March 2005), exceeding its target of 4.6
million, said Mr Metzger.
Amara Holdings chief executive Albert Teo said yesterday that his
company's investment 'represents Amara's commitment and confidence
in the tourism potential of Sentosa'. It will be Amara's first foray
into resort development. The company, which runs Amara Hotel in Tanjong
Pagar, also develops property and owns specialty restaurants.
The 2.1-ha resort will be 'something that will blow you away', Mr
Teo promised yesterday. Four of the six buildings that stand on the
site, a five-minute walk from Palawan Beach, will be renovated for
use as part of the resort. These include two pre-war buildings that
now house holiday chalets. The rooms will be at least 409 sq ft and
the resort will also offer suites, a cellar bar, a spa, swimming pools
and a culinary school. Construction is expected to start next year.
Neither Mr Teo nor Mr Metzger would say how much Amara will pay for
the 70-year lease of the site. In addition, Amara will pay a percentage
of the resort's revenue.
Mr Metzger said the Sentosa Leisure Group has spoken to more than
80 investors over the past two years. 'We are very aggressive in going
out after the investors, and not just here, but regionally too,' he
added.
The recent relaxation of rules on foreigners buying land in Sentosa
Cove has made the task easier. About 6 per cent of the 117 ha in the
waterfront housing district has been put up for tender so far. Sentosa
plans to release another 6 per cent for sale, after the last of the
current tenders closes next month. Said Mr Metzger: 'We'll keep the
momentum up because the demand is there. The response to the current
tenders has been very good.' |
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