Bye Bye ANA hotel.......
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ANA Hotel closing to make way for condo
Following the path of Equatorial and Marco Polo, the hotel will shut its doors next month and 200 staff will be laid off
By Leong Pik Yin and Glenys Sim
ONE more hotel down and one more new condominium on the way.
The 457-room ANA Hotel in Nassim Hill will shut down next month as owners CapitaLand plan to put up a condominium on the 11,386 sq m freehold site.
ONLY A MATTER OF TIME
IT WAS 'a matter of time' before ANA Hotel closed, said property analysts, because the Nassim Hill site had been rezoned for residential use some years ago.
Owner CapitaLand's plan to build a condominium on the 11,386 sq m freehold site would be 'definitely better for the company's bottom line', said Mr Peter Ow of property consultancy Knight Frank. 'I think they are trying to catch the property market on the uptrend. It's prime land and should fetch good prices.'
With the closure, all 200 staff members of the four-star hotel will be retrenched.
Although a notice about the closure had been put up at the staff cafeteria yesterday, not all employees knew about it. They will be officially informed today.
A staff member, who did not want to be identified, said: 'We've been hearing talk for a long time. Now it's finally happened.'
She was sad to hear the news but optimistic about finding a job at another hotel.
A hotel spokesman said the compensation paid to the staff members would be based on a 'collective agreement' signed between the management and union.
He said the help of other hotels and government institutions, such as the Singapore National Employers Federation, would be sought to find alternative jobs for staff.
The hotel, which has a cafe, a Japanese restaurant and a lounge, has been around for 25 years. It was known as Century Park Sheraton Singapore before it was renamed ANA Hotel in 1990.
It follows the path taken by the Equatorial, Marco Polo, Imperial, Cairnhill, Cockpit and Melia at Scotts - all hotels which closed down between 1997 and 1999 to make way for condominiums.
Mr Robert Khoo, chief executive officer of the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore, didn't think ANA Hotel's closure would have much of an impact on the tourism market.
'Although we are aiming for more tourists this year, we are targeting new markets like China and India,' he said.
'Traditionally, these tourists don't stay at five-star properties, choosing cheaper hotels. I think the industry needs more budget hotels.'
Property analysts said it had only been 'a matter of time' before the hotel closed, as the site was rezoned for residential use some years ago.
Mr Peter Ow, residential director of property consultancy Knight Frank, said it would be 'definitely better for the company's bottom line'.
'I think they are trying to catch the property market on the uptrend. It's prime land and should fetch good prices.'
Analysts believe the site will command better prices than Marco Polo Developments' Grange Residences, a nearby luxury condominium at the corner of Grange and Tanglin Roads. Units in this freehold property are currently going for about $1,100 to $1,200 a square foot.
The ANA site is expected to fetch at least $1,200 a sq ft.
'It's quieter as it's located on a hill. Grange Residences is near a busy junction,' said Chesterton International associate director Nicholas Mak.
In 1999, when the then-DBS Land - which subsequently merged with Pidemco to form CapitaLand - bought the ANA site, its break-even price was about $1,200 a sq ft. The land value was later written down in line with falling property values.
Mr Mak estimates that its break-even price would now be $1,050 to $1,100 a sq ft.
Experts say it will take at least 1 1/2 to two years for CapitaLand to launch its condominium project on the site. -
still remember going to ridleys in my poly days..........
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Yea...me was in my NS days...hao huai nian...now duno becom the induz3? Seems sianz...Originally posted by Qoo`~`:still remember going to ridleys in my poly days.......... -
I remember going there after school wif my cuz & fren, & we'd polish off the salmon sashimi during lunch
RPOriginally posted by Qoo`~`:ANA Hotel closing to make way for condo
Following the path of Equatorial and Marco Polo, the hotel will shut its doors next month and 200 staff will be laid off
By Leong Pik Yin and Glenys Sim
ONE more hotel down and one more new condominium on the way.
The 457-room ANA Hotel in Nassim Hill will shut down next month as owners CapitaLand plan to put up a condominium on the 11,386 sq m freehold site.
ONLY A MATTER OF TIME
IT WAS 'a matter of time' before ANA Hotel closed, said property analysts, because the Nassim Hill site had been rezoned for residential use some years ago.
Owner CapitaLand's plan to build a condominium on the 11,386 sq m freehold site would be 'definitely better for the company's bottom line', said Mr Peter Ow of property consultancy Knight Frank. 'I think they are trying to catch the property market on the uptrend. It's prime land and should fetch good prices.'
With the closure, all 200 staff members of the four-star hotel will be retrenched.
Although a notice about the closure had been put up at the staff cafeteria yesterday, not all employees knew about it. They will be officially informed today.
A staff member, who did not want to be identified, said: 'We've been hearing talk for a long time. Now it's finally happened.'
She was sad to hear the news but optimistic about finding a job at another hotel.
A hotel spokesman said the compensation paid to the staff members would be based on a 'collective agreement' signed between the management and union.
He said the help of other hotels and government institutions, such as the Singapore National Employers Federation, would be sought to find alternative jobs for staff.
The hotel, which has a cafe, a Japanese restaurant and a lounge, has been around for 25 years. It was known as Century Park Sheraton Singapore before it was renamed ANA Hotel in 1990.
It follows the path taken by the Equatorial, Marco Polo, Imperial, Cairnhill, Cockpit and Melia at Scotts - all hotels which closed down between 1997 and 1999 to make way for condominiums.
Mr Robert Khoo, chief executive officer of the National Association of Travel Agents Singapore, didn't think ANA Hotel's closure would have much of an impact on the tourism market.
'Although we are aiming for more tourists this year, we are targeting new markets like China and India,' he said.
'Traditionally, these tourists don't stay at five-star properties, choosing cheaper hotels. I think the industry needs more budget hotels.'
Property analysts said it had only been 'a matter of time' before the hotel closed, as the site was rezoned for residential use some years ago.
Mr Peter Ow, residential director of property consultancy Knight Frank, said it would be 'definitely better for the company's bottom line'.
'I think they are trying to catch the property market on the uptrend. It's prime land and should fetch good prices.'
Analysts believe the site will command better prices than Marco Polo Developments' Grange Residences, a nearby luxury condominium at the corner of Grange and Tanglin Roads. Units in this freehold property are currently going for about $1,100 to $1,200 a square foot.
The ANA site is expected to fetch at least $1,200 a sq ft.
'It's quieter as it's located on a hill. Grange Residences is near a busy junction,' said Chesterton International associate director Nicholas Mak.
In 1999, when the then-DBS Land - which subsequently merged with Pidemco to form CapitaLand - bought the ANA site, its break-even price was about $1,200 a sq ft. The land value was later written down in line with falling property values.
Mr Mak estimates that its break-even price would now be $1,050 to $1,100 a sq ft.
Experts say it will take at least 1 1/2 to two years for CapitaLand to launch its condominium project on the site.