Katong Plaza and Novotel on Kitchener Rd to be redeveloped

Straits Times

2 days ago

Katong Plaza and Novotel Singapore on Kitchener hotel were in the past two years sold to new owners. ST PHOTOS: AZMI ATHNI, ARIFFIN JAMAR
New hotels to replace Katong Plaza and Novotel hotel in Kitchener Road
SINGAPORE – The Novotel Singapore on Kitchener hotel and Katong Plaza are set to be replaced by new hotels.
Both properties date back to around 1981, with the Kitchener Road hotel branded with different names along the way. They were in the past two years sold, and the new owners have recently secured at least provisional planning approvals from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
Worldwide Hotels subsidiary Midtown Development has permission to redevelop the Kitchener Road property into a hotel with 1,625 rooms and 1,214 sq m of retail space.
The hotel opened in 1981 as President Merlin Hotel – a part of the President Hotel and Shopping Complex that also included the President Shopping Centre which opened in 1970.
The hotel was later rebranded as New Park Hotel in 1990 after a $30 million facelift. In 2007, it became Parkroyal on Kitchener Road, while the shopping centre was demolished in 2017 to make way for Centrium Square.
In 2023, UOL sold Parkroyal on Kitchener Road for $525 million to Worldwide Hotels, a Singapore-based firm that owns chains such as Hotel 81 and Hotel Mi.
The hotel reopened in November that year as the 543-room Novotel Singapore on Kitchener , a brand under French multinational hospitality company Accor .
The hotel is on a freehold 7,780.1 sq m site and has a gross floor area of 37,827.71 sq m.
A spokesperson for Worldwide Hotels told The Straits Times on June 3 that it is unable to share further details about the new hotel.
Katong Plaza in Brooke Road, which opened around the start of 1981 , is set to make way for a hotel with 374 rooms and 537 sq m of retail space.
The strata-titled mixed-use development near Marine Parade MRT station with 132 retail units and 14 residential apartments was in 2024 sold to Fragrance Group for $180 million .
At the time of the sale, the building's owners had outline permission from the URA to convert it for hotel use.
The existing building is on a freehold 3,162 sq m site and has a gross floor area of 9,488 sq m.
The Fragrance Group did not respond to requests for comment.
When ST visited the building on May 30, most of the retail tenants had vacated their units. Some were packing up and said they had to leave by end-June.
A notice dated April 16, put up alongside minutes of the building's collective sale committee's meetings, stated that owners choosing to stay in the building until July 2025 will be responsible for covering all expenses such as air-conditioner and lift maintenance fees.
Traditional Chinese medicine practitioner John Ng, 70, who has operated a clinic in the mall since April 2006, said he is disappointed to leave behind neighbours of almost two decades.
'We all knew each other and were very friendly. Everyone trusted each other and I could leave my clinic unattended, knowing others would help to keep watch,' said Mr Ng. He was in the process of relocating his clinic to Kreta Ayer in Chinatown .
Items at a traditional Chinese medicine clinic being kept on May 31, ahead of the closure of Katong Plaza.
ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
Mr Alan Cheong, Savills Singapore's executive director of research and consultancy, expects that the Katong site will house a mid-tier hotel, given the planned number of rooms.
He also pointed out that the Kitchener Road hotel is likely to be an economy-tier type geared towards mass market tourism. He added that Worldwide Hotels' plan to triple the number of rooms is 'logical', as the move will help to boost its earnings.
Asked if there is sufficient demand for rooms in the Farrer Park and Marine Parade areas to justify the planned supply, analysts said Singapore's hotel market has performed strongly in the past 12 to 18 months.
Mr Edwin Loo, an associate director at real estate consultancy Cistri, said: 'Much of this growth is in the mid-market and upscale segments, reflecting Singapore's success in attracting event-focused visitors as well as visitors from emerging Asia who are willing to spend but remain price-sensitive given Singapore's relatively higher room rates when compared with other regional destinations.'
But he noted that the site of Katong Plaza, which is next to Roxy Square, is relatively long and narrow.
Mr Edwin Loo, an associate director at real estate consultancy Cistri, felt that the planned redevelopment of Katong Plaza would be boosted if neighbour Roxy Square is also roped in.
ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI
'An integrated development incorporating both of these sites would have resulted in a better outcome in terms of land optimisation and urban design, especially considering the need to accommodate the extensive pickup, drop-off and coach parking requirements at the ground level and the potential for a larger site to provide greater amenity for the community,' he said.
Ng Keng Gene is a correspondent at The Straits Times, reporting on issues relating to land use, urban planning and heritage.
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