Source : Business Times – 24 Jul 2009
THE entertainment arm of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) has put the brakes on a $45 million resort project on Sentosa.
NTUC Club unveiled plans for the Palawan Beach resort in 2005, and the 200-unit development was to be ready in 2008. But by September last year, the project was still under review.
A joint statement yesterday by NTUC and Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC), which manages and promotes Sentosa Island, put an end to the wait.
‘Due to the rising land premium and construction costs, NTUC Club Investments (NCI) has reviewed the initial plans and concluded that it is no longer viable to continue with the project,’ the statement said.
Both parties have a ‘good understanding about the decision’, it said. SDC will review the site for future development.
As the integrated resort edges towards completion, visitor-number projections may have increased, leading to a higher land premium, property consultant Nicholas Mak suggested.
SDC could consider raising the commercial component of the site to make it more attractive to bidders, he added.
Earlier reports cited surging construction costs as a factor delaying the project’s progress. In September last year, NTUC Club that said it was ‘reviewing the concept and plans of the resort’.
NTUC Club had hoped to offer union members an affordable holiday spot – the resort would have had facilities such as a spa, an infinity pool and free wireless broadband Internet access. It would also have been near the upcoming integrated resort.
No comments:
Post a Comment