The Duxton Reserve went on the market in October last year (Image: JLL)
Upscale hotels fashioned from conserved Singapore shophouses continue to attract Asia’s ultra-wealthy, with a Nepali tycoon picking up a hostelry in the Tanjong Pagar area for S$80 million ($61.8 million)
Lotus One Investment, a private company controlled by Chandra P Khetan, son of the late Nepali industrialist Mohan G Khetan, acquired Duxton Reserve, a 49-key boutique property near the central business district from local hospitality investment firm Garcha Group, with the companies pointing to opportunities for future deals in Singapore.
“This acquisition is not only a strategic investment, but also a meaningful step in supporting the continued vitality of Singapore’s unique built environment,” Lotus One director Nirmal Singh said in a statement. “We also see this as the beginning of a long-term partnership strategy with the Garcha Group, built around shared values and a commitment to distinctive hospitality.”
The transaction has closed less than two months after an Indonesian billionaire bought a shophouse hotel in Singapore’s Boat Quay area for S$100 million, with acquisitions by private investors continuing to dominate commercial real estate activity in the city-state.
Renovation Rewarded
Lotus One is paying the equivalent of about $1.63 million per key or or S$2,355 per square foot for the property at 80 and 83 Duxton Road, with JLL’s hotels and hospitality division having brokered the sale while Singapore-based asset manager Lighthouse Canton acted as Lotus One Investment’s portfolio advisor.
Satinder Garcha may have future opportunities to work with his Nepali partners
Located a few minutes’ walk from the Maxwell and Tanjong Pagar MRT stations, the Garcha Group started marketing Duxton Reserve last October, with the sale reflecting an 11 percent discount to the group’s initial guide price.
Formed from the amalgamation of eight three-storey conservation shophouses, the 3,156 square metre (33,971 square foot) hotel occupies a site with a 99-year leasehold which commenced in 1988.
Garcha Group founder Satinder Garcha, a Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur turned property developer and hotelier, purchased the property formerly known as the Berjaya Hotel from Malaysian conglomerate Berjaya Group (now Berjaya Corporation) for S$50 million or just over $1.02 million per key in 2013.
Garcha subsequently gave the hotel an overhaul, enlisting British designer Anouska Hempel to transform the interiors with the hotel now operated as part of Marriott International’s Autograph Collection of upscale independent hostelries.
“Duxton Reserve has been a defining project for us, and we’re incredibly proud of what we built,” Garcha and his partner Harpreet Kaur Bedi said. “With the asset now in strong hands, we are shifting our focus to new ventures and expanding the Garcha brand into new markets through exciting partnerships and projects that continue to celebrate heritage with modern relevance and curated luxury experiences.”
Strength in Conservation
While purchases of Singapore conservation shophouses were subdued last year compared with the more than S$1 billion in annual sales of the properties achieved from 2021 through 2023, the limited supply of the heritage buildings, and the relatively modest capital required for purchasing en-bloc assets, continue to make them a target for wealthy buyers.
Last month Indonesian-born, Ivy League-educated billionaire Leo KoGuan acquired 21 Carpenter, a 48-room hotel fashioned from four conservation shophouses in the Boat Quay area near Singapore’s banking district from local player 8M Real Estate.
That deal came after Zhang Ying, wife of Alibaba founder Jack Ma, purchased a row of shophouses at 70, 71 and 72 Duxton Road – 70 metres away from Duxton Reserve – for a reported S$45 million to S$50 million in January 2024.
