Business Times - 29 May 2007

Condo on Hotel Asia site to boast parking in each unit
By ARTHUR SIM



LET it not be said that Singapore is behind on any of the latest property trends.

Hotel Asia, which will be redeveloped into a 30-storey luxury condominium, will have private car-parking in each unit, the most recent fad in luxury high-rise homes. The price is around $4,000 psf.

A new entrant to the Singapore market, Hayden Properties, bought Hotel Asia from the Ascott Group only in February for $147 million.

Ascott in turn bought Hotel Asia in July 2005 for $108 million, including $4.3 million for the hotel management company.

Hayden Properties is a joint venture set up in October 2006 between Singapore-based KOP Capital Pte Ltd (previously known as Koh Ong & Partners Management Services) and Emirates Tarian Pte Ltd.

Hayden Properties will also redevelop Horizon View in Cairnhill. Horizon View was acquired through a collective sale for $113 million in October 2006. Details are expected soon.

There is no name yet for the Hotel Asia project, although the development could be launched as early as the end of this year.

Hayden Properties director Leny Suparman said that the project would be the world's tallest development with integral car porches. The property will have 54 condominium units and two penthouses. Units will have an average of two car porches and additional basement car park space.

The architect for the new development is Singapore firm Eco.id Architect and Design Consultancy which recently won the Best Design and Architecture Award 2007 for Starwood Group's W Retreat & Spa on Fesdu Island in the Maldives.

Emirates Tarian is a subsidiary investment company of the Emirates Investment Group (EIG) which has other real estate investments including Palazzo Versace Gold Coast, Palazzo Versace Dubai and Emirates Financial Towers.

In an interview late last year, EIG chairman Sheikh Tariq bin Faisal Al Qassimi said that it was at a 'crucial stage' of discussions to conclude an investment here, estimated to be in the region of at least $1 billion. Sources had said then that it could be an ultra-luxurious Versace hotel.

I am interested to know how are all the cars going to get out of the building? In an event of hosue fire... all the expensive cars will be gone, so i think it is a good and bad idea. Good that you can look at your car for 24h, 7 days a week, but bad because it is inside the house so you can't move it in an emergency.

I always dreamed about having a car in my room, just to look at all day, and sit in!

I didn't know this was the lastest property trend though!

In Greece,i have heard before people parking their car in ther living room.I dont know how they get their cars to the living room,probably with a lift from the garage.

yep its a dream of mine to have a Zonda in my house sourrounded by glas..so i can watch it all the time..

It will probably shatter all the glass if you rev it indoors to 8000rpm

lol probably.. gotta get some glass from MB guard then

The cars can only exit the building via a car lift. There will be two slots at the basement for your cars too, if you don't want to park it at your living room.

Apparently, this has been very popular, but this is the first time I heard about it. At 4,000psf it will be one of the most expensive property in Singapore.

Yup, you're right, it's a lift. Problem is... What about during rush hour, how is the slow lift going to cope with the traffic? What about coming back in your Zonda at 3am in the morning, wouldn't the neighbours complain? Or, is your Phantom going to fit into the room? All these are potential problems that the developer has to tackle before they build it.

I ment i am interested to see the lifts working, taking the car from each appartment block and moving it down onto the road, the entire process will be interesting. Can the lift handle multiple cars being transported at the same time? This sounds like a massive pain for the designers and the engineers to make sure everything works as designed originally

I don't think they intend you to use the living room as a garage for your car, it's more like a piece of art for your house, like a piece of art!