Another private member's club expands: Mandala Club invests S$2m to grow square footage by almost 50%
[SINGAPORE] Private members' club, Mandala Club, has taken over a building next door on Bukit Pasoh Road and will spend S$2 million to expand its floor space by almost 50 per cent.
Slated to open in the fourth quarter of this year, the 9,000-square foot, four-storey property will be connected internally to the club's current clubhouse, which occupies four shophouses.
Mandala Club's current clubhouse (right) and its upcoming extension next door. PHOTO: CORINNE KERK
The extension will feature a ballroom to host up to 250 people, an all-day dining restaurant called Popi's Penthouse, and other facilities. The building formerly housed a clan association and the Singapore First Aid Training Centre.
Mandala Club is also building a beach front property in Bali, which is slated to open some time this year. The Indonesian venue will have a 35-key hotel component.
The club's expansion follows The Business Times' report last week of 67 Pall Mall's plans to open next year in Shanghai, its first Chinese outpost, as well as the collapse of another private members' club, 1880.
Ben Jones, chief executive and founder of The Mandala Group told BT: 'The expansion has been in the works since late last year, and was driven by both momentum and necessity.
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'Our membership has grown steadily, and with it, the appetite for deeper, more diverse experiences. We reached a natural inflection point where the physical footprint of the club needed to grow in order to support the scale of our community and our programming ambitions.'
Mandala Club's current clubhouse spreads across four floors and includes a gym, three restaurants, three bars, a cigar lounge, wine cellar, entertainment and music hub, co-working spaces and event spaces.
Mandala Club's current clubhouse on Bukit Pasoh Road. PHOTO: MANDALA CLUB
Its expansion follows the club's entry into the ICON1C Group, which has given it 'access to deeper resources'. The ICON1C Group is a luxury hospitality collective co-founded with tech entrepreneur Patrick Grove's Kuala Lumpur-based Internet company, Catcha Group.
'As part of ICON1C, we've been able to make a confident, long-term investment into our flagship location,' says Jones, adding the club's being part of ICON1C sets the foundation for the future.
The other brand under ICON1C Group is Amber Lounge, which is known for holding after-parties that follow Formula 1 Grand Prix races.
The expansion of both Mandala Club and 67 Pall Mall – a private club focused on fine wines – follow the sudden closure of 1880 on Jun 17, with its holding and operating companies placed under provisional liquidation. 1880, which had a 22,000-square-foot space in Robertson Quay, also abruptly closed its Hong Kong branch on May 30 – just seven months after opening in the territory.
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