Located at 48, 49 and 50 Mosque Street, the four-storey hotel has a GFA of 23,041 sq ft and features 84 rooms measuring between 8 sq m and 29 sq m. 

The Porcelain Hotel, an 84-key boutique hotel in Chinatown, has been launched for sale via expression of interest (EOI) with a guide price of $68.8 million, or around $820,000 per key or $2,986 per sq ft on the gross floor area (GFA), revealed exclusive marketing agent CBRE. 

Located at 48, 49 and 50 Mosque Street, the four-storey hotel has a GFA of 23,041 sq ft and features 84 rooms measuring between 8 sq m and 29 sq m. A spa outlet also occupies some 2,500 sq ft at Level 1.

The Porcelain Hotel enjoys a 40m road frontage along Mosque Street and is nestled on a 6,033 sq ft site that is zoned for “commercial” use under the 2019 Master Plan. The site has a leasehold tenure of 99 years.

CBRE noted that interested buyers can acquire the property either with vacant possession or on a sale-and-leaseback arrangement.

Clemence Lee, Senior Director of Capital Markets at CBRE Singapore, shared that while they received multiple offers for the earlier EOI exercise for Porcelain Hotel at 46,47,48,49 and 50 Mosque Street in March, the owner “recognized that March was when the COVID situation intensified, resulting in higher levels of uncertainty ahead and hence, decided then to withdraw the property from the market”. 

“We’ve started to notice over the past few months that shophouse assets, particularly those located in the CBD, still garner strong interest from boutique real estate funds, family offices and high net worth individuals. Prices have also proven resilient due to their limited supply,” he said. 

And with the stability and improvement of the COVID-19 situation as well as the low interest rate environment, “we feel that it is now an opportune time to relaunch The Porcelain Hotel at 48-50 Mosque Street”, added Lee. 

He revealed that the owner plans to convert the two shophouses at 46 and 47 Mosque Street into a Japanese restaurant serving hotpot and yakitori.

Teo Junrong, Associate Director for Hotels and Capital Markets at CBRE, said the success buyer can reposition and convert the property’s ground floor for food and beverage use.

Aside from hotel use, the upper floors can be converted to alternative uses like serviced apartments, offices, co-working spaces, fitness centre or commercial school, subject to approval from authorities. 

“With a leaseback arrangement in place, the buyer will have time to plan how they would like to carry out asset enhancement initiatives to refurbish and reposition the property,” said Lee. 

Located near Chinatown MRT station, the hotel is accessible via public transportation at Cross Street and New Bridge Road and connects to other parts of Singapore via the Marina Coastal Expressway, Central Expressway as well as Ayer Rajah Expressway. 

The EOI exercise for the hotel closes on 16 December.

Source: CommercialGuru, 17 Nov 2020