UOL bags 12 awards and seals Top Developer Award
By Cecilia Chow
/ EdgeProp Singapore |
Liam Wee Sin, group CEO of UOL Group (left) accepting the Top Developer Award from Bernard Tong, CEO of EdgeProp Singapore (Photo: Albert Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
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Singapore-listed UOL Group dominated the EdgeProp Singapore Excellence Awards 2023, clinching 12 awards for its condo projects and hotel properties, with the crowning achievement being the Top Developer of the Year Award.
“In driving for excellence and success as a developer, the key ingredients include passion, innovation, enterprise, and being socially responsible and sustainable,” said Liam Wee Sin, group CEO of UOL Group, in his acceptance speech at the awards event on Oct 6. “However, most important of all are the people — from the consortium members to consultants, designers, contractors, suppliers and real estate agencies.”
The arrival court of AMO Residence where all except two of the 372 units have been sold (Picture: UOL Group)
The project that stood out was Amo Residence, which swept seven awards for architectural design, landscape design, sustainability, innovation, marketing, and show flat design, culminating in the Top Development Award.
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The 372-unit Amo Residence at Ang Mo Kio Rise, off Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, was 98% sold on the first day of launch on July 23, 2022. Units were sold at an average price of $2,112 psf. To date, only two units are still available.
A joint development by UOL Group, Singapore Land Group (SingLand) and Kheng Leong Co, Amo Residence was the first suburban condo launch in the Outside Central Region (OCR) in 2022. Designed by P&T Consultants, Amo Residence has twin 25-storey residential towers that occupy just 40% of the 136,481 sq ft, 99-year leasehold site.
More than 60% of the site at Amp Residence is dedicated to landscape garden and facilities (Picture: UOL Group)
More than 60% of the site is dedicated to landscaped garden and facilities — seven swimming pools including a 50m lap pool, a tennis court, a clubhouse, and three function rooms with meeting-room facilities. Units facing north have unblocked views towards Shangri-la Park private landed housing estate, Lower Peirce Reservoir and Thomson Nature Park, while those facing south have views of Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park.
“Amo Residence blends harmonious architecture with reservoir-themed landscape design inspired by the surrounding greenery,” says Liam. “The visual orientation pivoting views towards Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park and Lower Peirce Reservoir was a key driving force.”
The Tre Ver has multi-tiered landscaped gardens with heritage rain trees and fronts the Kallang River (Photo: UOL Group)
Extensive river-frontage
The 729-unit The Tre Ver (redevelopment of the former Raintree Gardens en bloc site) in Potong Pasir won the Top Development Award. Designed by acclaimed Singapore-based architectural firm Woha, the project capitalises on its location along Kallang River and the greenery.
“The natural landscape surrounding The Tre Ver extends into the development,” says Liam. “We were attracted by its extensive river-frontage and the rows of mature rain trees, which we conserved. Unlike many other developments, the outcome is an architecture that is not boxed up.”
The project, jointly developed by UOL and SingLand, was launched in August 2018 and entirely sold by 2021. It obtained its temporary occupation permit (TOP) in 2022.
The units at MeyerHouse overlook the swimming pool and landscaped gardens (Photo: UOL Group)
People’s Choice
Another development that obtained TOP last year was the 56-unit MeyerHouse, developed jointly by UOL and Kheng Leong. The luxury development on Meyer Road in prime District 15 is part of UOL’s Masterpiece Collection, which marks the collaboration of three acclaimed designers: Woha as the design architect, Ramboll Studio Dreiseitl (now Henning Larsen), as the landscape architect, and Yabu Pushelberg as the interior designer.
MeyerHouse scooped up the People’s Choice Award this year. It won votes for its design, including its landscaped grounds, which the developer successfully integrated with the adjacent Meyer Road playground, which it had enhanced.
The 56-unit MeyerHouse’s landscaped grounds was integrated with the adjacent playground that the developer has also enhanced (Photo: UOL Group)
A standout feature of MeyerHouse is its dedicated private lifts, which allowed the developer to configure each unit differently and create “mansion-like designs”, says Liam.
It was not just UOL’s residential developments that scored big wins at this year’s awards, but its hotels, too. The 347-room Pan Pacific Orchard on Claymore Road was also designed by Woha and won the Hotel Development Excellence Award. The hotel opened to guests only this June.
This year, the 575-room Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay won the People’s Choice Award under the hotel category. Parkroyal Collection Marina Bay is a rebranding of the former Marina Mandarin and opened in December 2020 after a $45 million refurbishment.
The 347-room Pan Pacific Orchard opened in June 2023 and won the Hotel Development of the Year (Photo: UOL Group)
Riding on green journey
According to Liam, UOL has been riding on the Singapore Green Transformation journey, which has evolved over the decades from “Garden City” to “City in a Garden” and now “City in Nature”.
Likewise, UOL’s design concept for its green hotels has followed the same trajectory. PARKROYAL COLLECTION Pickering, which opened in 2013, had a “Hotel in a Garden” theme. PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay adopted the “Garden in a Hotel” concept in December 2020. The newly opened Pan Pacific Orchard has been elevated to “Gardens in the Sky”.
The 575-room PARKROYAL COLLECTION Marina Bay won the People’s Choice Award under the hotel category (Photo: UOL Group Group)
UOL’s luxury residential developments in its Masterpiece Collection chart a similar green course. “We are capitalising on what nature can offer,” says Liam.
The 100-unit Nassim Park Residences on Nassim Road, completed in 2011, emphasised “Luxury Living by Botanic Gardens” given its proximity to the Singapore Botanic Gardens. The recently completed MeyerHouse was flaunted as a “Mansion in the Park”, given its location adjacent to a public park. The upcoming 205-unit Watten House will have “Tranquillity on the Hill” as its theme.
The 100-unit Nassim Park Residences on Nassim Road, completed in 2011, emphasised “Luxury Living by Botanic Gardens” given its proximity to the Singapore Botanic Gardens (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Upcoming ‘unparalleled launch’
Watten House is a redevelopment of the former Watten Estate, which UOL and SingLand purchased en bloc for $550.8 million in December 2021. The site is located on Shelford Road in the prime Bukit Timah area in District 11.
Given its freehold tenure, coveted address, and the scarcity of such a premium product in the residential enclave, Watten House “will be another unparalleled launch”, reckons Liam. The project is expected to be launched in the next two months. Like the other two developments in its Masterpiece Collection, Watten House’s launch will be “a private and targeted event”.
Watten House is a redevelopment of the former Watten Estate, which UOL and SingLand purchased en bloc for $550.8 million in December 2021 (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
In February, UOL and SingLand purchased the freehold Meyer Park en bloc for $392.18 million. Meyer Park at 81 and 83 Meyer Road is near MeyerHouse. According to Liam, the site has the potential to be redeveloped into a luxury project with “230 to 250 units in a high-rise block to capitalise on the unblocked views”.
Meyer Park is also near the upcoming Katong Park MRT Station, recreational facilities at East Coast Park, and top schools such as Tao Nan School, Dunman High School and Victoria Junior College. The new luxury development is expected to be launched in 2024.
In February, UOL and SingLand purchased the freehold Meyer Park en bloc for $392.18 million. Meyer Park at 81 and 83 Meyer Road is near MeyerHouse (Photo: Edmund Tie)
UOL’s latest site purchase was in July. With SingLand and a 50:50 joint venture with CapitaLand Development, the consortium submitted the top bid of $1.21 billion or $885 psf per plot ratio for a mixed-use development site at Tampines Street 11 in a government land sales tender.
The 545,511 sq ft, 99-year leasehold site could yield a mixed-use development with 1,190 residential units and a retail mall directly linked to the upcoming Tampines North MRT Station and bus interchange.
On top of that, there is the requirement to incorporate a hawker centre and a community club, creating an integrated development. “The intention is to bring all these diverse activities under one roof with a value proposition as an integrated development, offering a high quality of life, in terms of convenience, connectivity and sense of community,” says Liam.
Liam: UOL has been riding on the Singapore Green Transformation journey, which has evolved over the decades from "Garden City" to "City in a Garden" and now "City in Nature (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
The new residential development at Tampines Street 11 will be launched sometime in 2H2024. The site acquisition has allowed UOL to replenish its stock in the OCR, which remains in tight supply, says Liam.
With the residential market stabilised, the pace of new project launches and sales momentum will depend primarily on “the supply-demand dynamics in the individual micro-markets and the attractiveness of the product offering”.
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