Tender for historic Moulmein site awarded to Dempsey Hill developer

Firm submits highest offer; analyst says it has track record in transforming heritage assets

- Grace Leong

Country City Investment was awarded a tender on Dec 8 to redevelop 2 Moulmein Road, a sprawling estate of more than 40 heritage buildings near Novena.

Put up for tender in May by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), the state property had attracted 13 bids for master tenancy of 44 buildings on the 91,000 sq m estate.

Country City, which is known for transforming the former Tanglin Barracks into lifestyle enclave Dempsey Hill, submitted the highest offer of $388,800 a month, followed by Cherrylofts Resorts and Hotels at $382,000. An offer of $290,000 came from SA31, an entity linked to IndoChine Group’s chief executive officer Michael Ma.

Mr Chris Archibold, Colliers managing director of office services in Southeast Asia, said the difference between the highest and second-highest bids was marginal.

“Country City Investment’s strong track record in transforming similar heritage assets into vibrant F&B and retail enclaves... may have provided them with the slight edge as 60 per cent of the evaluation weightage is on the quality of developers’ concept,” he noted.