Chinatown grows in commercial appeal

Parkroyal on Pickering hotel opened
on Wednesday. Next door is the recently
opened and revamped Chinatown Point

There is a buzz in Chinatown and not just because it is the festive season.

Property has become the new talk of the town in the past few months, particularly commercial real estate.

The heritage-filled district has just received a major boost with the opening on Wednesday of the 16-storey Parkroyal on Pickering hotel and launch of the revamped Chinatown Point mall.

The 367-room hotel, which was built for $350 million, is owned and managed by Pan Pacific Hotels Group, a unit of UOL, a firm controlled by billionaire banker Wee Cho Yaw.

Right next door is Chinatown Point, which officially opened its doors barely a week ago after a $90 million facelift to revitalise the complex's 20-year-old interior and facade.

It houses 170 shops, luxury watch retailer Cortina, and anchor tenants Daiso and FairPrice across five floors.

Chinatown Point is owned by a consortium which includes Perennial Real Estate Holdings, German fund manager SEB, NTUC FairPrice and Singapore Press Holdings.

But these two big openings are just the icing on the cake.

Interest in Chinatown's commercial segment has been growing, say property analysts, especially with the shift in investor focus towards non-residential property seen last year.

Source: The Straits Times –19 January 2013