Finalists have been announced for the Reggie Shiu Development of the Year and Single Asset Transaction of the Year Awards, to be presented at the 24th annual Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP), scheduled for 16-18 October 2013, at the InterContinental Hong Kong.
Finalists for the Reggie Shiu Development of the Year Award are:
EAST, Beijing (Beijing, China): This contemporary styled, 396-room “business hotel with a life”, was designed to provide the facilities, service and environment to deftly balance business with pleasure and serve as the focal point for the RMB 4 Billion INDIGO mixed-use (office + retail) project in East Beijing’s quickly expanding business district. The sensitive use of natural materials, texture changes and lighting creates a calming feel to the hotel experience, while state-of-the-art technology facilitates business. For unwinding, three customized “neighborhood” F&B venues are offered, along with an array of leisure/recreational facilities. Owner: Swire Properties/Sino-Ocean Land; Operator: Swire Hotels; Architect: Benoy Associates LLC; Interiors: Benoy Associates LLC/Neri & Hu Design Research Office (F&B)
Parkroyal on Pickering (Singapore): This 363-room “Hotel in a Garden” is a refreshing addition to the Singapore CBD skyline, featuring 15,000 sqm of lush 4-storey sky gardens, mixing reflective pools, waterfalls, planters and vertical greenery. This unique urban oasis incorporates an array of sustainable design features, including savvy use of solar power, rain harvesting and other conservation and recycling systems to manage utilities consumption. Adding in clever, quirky and efficient design of rooms and public areas, the hotel has performed strongly since opening as a striking and distinguished product in a crowded and competitive market. Owner: Pan Pacific Hotels Group; Operator: Pan Pacific Hotels Group; Architect: Woha Architects; Interiors: Woha Architects
Sheraton Macau Hotel Cotai Central (Macau, China): Boasting 3,896 rooms, this latest addition to Macau’s Cotai Strip takes “economies of scale” to a whole new level. Add nearly 20,000 sqm of meeting/event space and you have the makings of a mini-city and all the management challenges and opportunities that come with it! As impressive as its sheer size may be, its achieving 100% occupancy in its first weekend of operation is simply difficult to fathom – clearly a boon to accommodating pent-up demand and helping fill owner Las Vegas Sands’ gaming coffers. Owner: Las Vegas Sands; Operator: Starwood Hotels and Resorts; Architect: AEDAS; Interiors: KNA Design
Finalists for the Single Asset Transaction of the Year Award are:
Four Seasons Hotel Sydney (Sydney, Australia): In August 2013, the Korean funds manager, Mirae Asset Global Investments made its first move into the Australian hotel market with the purchase of the irreplaceable Four Seasons Hotel Sydney at a record Australian price of A$340 million or A$640,000 per key. The seller, Eureka Funds Management, succeeded in working with Four Seasons to double operating profits since acquiring the asset in 2009 and crystalizing strong returns on their earlier purchase.
Laguna Beach Resort, now Outrigger Laguna Phuket (Phuket, Thailand): In the spring of this year – Outrigger Enterprises acquired the fully renovated Laguna Beach Resort as the anchor for their growing regional platform. The 254-room resort was acquired from a subsidiary of RECAP II Fund for US$118 million or US$464,000 per key and now operates as the Outrigger Laguna Phuket Resort. The seller’s acquisition of this property was co-awarded at last year’s HICAP with a deal of the year – only to turn-around and clean up difficult and protracted issues of pre-existing litigation, land encroachment and beach squatters followed by a massive renovation, repositioning, and sale to a strategic buyer.
Park Hotel Clarke Quay (Singapore): In June 2013, Ascendas Hospitality Trust successfully acquired the leasehold Park Hotel Clarke Quay for S$300 million or about S$892,000 per key from the developer and operator, Park Hotel Group. The transaction is significant because of the relatively quick value created by the acquisition of the land rights, development, branding and operation of the hotel by the seller and the structure of the transaction as a sale-leaseback. The sale-leaseback to the Park Hotel Group was accretive to the buyer as the fixed component of the lease served to reduce the overall volatility of portfolio income while achieving the objective of increasing exposure to the Singapore market.
The Sustainable Hotel Awards will also be presented at HICAP, recognizing hotels in the Asia Pacific region demonstrating exemplary sustainable best practices.
In the category of Sustainable Project Design, the winners are:
Holiday Inn Express Hong Kong Soho (Hong Kong): By coordinating an integrated sustainable building design process amongst the entire project planning team, a total annualized energy savings of 58.5% has been realized, representing a four-year payback relative to the assessed incremental development costs. Design considerations and features include the building orientation, natural light usage, a 47.5% green ratio and adoption of a variety of green construction technologies (i.e. design stage testing/modeling, prefabrication, low VOC building materials). Energy-saving M&E systems include solar-heated water, water-cooled variable speed chiller, automated motorized window blinds interlinked with guest room key cards, rainwater and A/C condensation recycling, intelligent lifts and fan coil units and a patented headboard cooling concept. An on-line energy management and analysis system enables remote access for monitoring, managing and improving building efficiency.
Parkroyal on Pickering (Singapore): The hotel is distinguished by its innovative and sustainable “hotel-in-a-garden” concept while embodying modern comforts and authentic local connections. With 15,000 sqm of high-rise and vertical gardens and water features, the hotel’s greenery constitutes over twice its land area, a scale unprecedented in an urban setting. Solar panels power all of the sky gardens’ lamps and softscape lighting. A pioneering use of Cobiaz technology lowers concrete usage and carbon emissions to enhance the thermal performance of the building envelope, lighting power density and overall energy efficiency. Other energy-saving features include the use of light, rain and motion sensors, rain harvesting and recycled water. 51% of guestroom corridors are non-air conditioned acting as attractive garden spaces shaded by tropical trees with natural light and fresh air.
In the category of Sustainable Operations, the winners are:
Bambu Indah (Bali, Indonesia): Founded by John and Cynthia Hardy, the sustainability philosophy of this unique resort retreat was developed from its origin. Re-assembled 100-year old Javanese homes form its eleven-room inventory, while all other buildings, along with connecting walkways and stairs, are constructed from sustainable bamboo. All water is sourced from on-site wells and a hospital-grade water filtration system provides clean water for guests, employees and the neighboring village. Grey water is channeled into the gardens via a natural drainage system. Instead of chemicals, the swimming pool relies on an eco-system of lava stones and a vegetation regeneration zone to cleanse, filter and oxygenate the water and nurture beneficial bacteria. A “Zero Waste to Landfill” policy incorporates strong practices on avoiding waste production, on-site composting and recycling of inorganic materials.
Jetwing Lagoon (Negombo, Sri Lanka): This original Geoffrey Bawa-designed resort was acquired by Jetwing Hotels in 2011 and thoughtfully restored in line with Bawa’s original plan. A Green Directory measures environmental performance across ten specified key performance areas including energy, water and waste. Monthly reports and an annual independent audit regularly assess the hotel’s environmental performance. The importance placed on remaining sustainable through energy efficiency and education is heightened with a wide range of innovative initiatives including a central chilling system powered by a biomass boiler for running the entire air conditioning requirements of the hotel, 100% illumination through energy-saving LED lighting, room lighting powered by solar panels, hot water generated through biomass boilers and all waste water treated via an on-site treatment plant and re-used within the hotel gardens.
The Sustainable Hotel Awards were launched at HICAP in 2007 to recognize hotels in the Asia Pacific region demonstrating exemplary sustainable best practices.
The institution of the Awards hopes to inspire industry wide commitment to embracing and proliferating sustainable development and operations as standard practice in contribution to the preservation of our global and local environments and cultures.