City Developments Limited (CDL), a real estate and hotel business unit of Singapore's Hong Leong Group, is investing in hotels, residences and shopping malls in Thailand as the group sees big potential for the tourism and retail industries here.

Kwek Leng Beng, executive chairman of the Hong Leong Group, said CDL held the grand opening yesterday of its first Bangkok hotel property: The Millennium Hilton Bangkok.

The hotel was rebuilt after being abandoned during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. It was then taken over by the state-owned Thai Asset Management Corp. Three years ago, CDL and US-based real estate fund Westbrook Partners jointly made a successful bid for the property.

Located on the bank of the Chao Phya River, the 543-room, 32-storey hotel was redesigned and reconstructed into a hip five-star property and first opened its doors in March.

Also in March, Real Estate Capital Asia Partners (Recap) acquired a 95-per-cent share in the Phuket Jungceylon Project, a mega-hotel and retail complex. Recap is a private property fund in which CDL has an interest along with a US-based investment fund and other limited partners.

"This project aims to inject confidence back into both the tourism and retail industries in Phuket, following the deadly tsunami of December 2004,"said Beng.

He added that the Phuket Jungceylon Project and the Millennium Hilton Bangkok were two of several investment projects undertaken with partners in Thailand.

CDL also has holdings in the Millennium Residences Project in Bangkok, which consists of 604 condominium units in the Sukhumvit area. Millennium Residences is scheduled to be completed by end of 2008.

CDL is also involved in the commercial property sector in Bangkok - the Exchange Tower (formerly known as Pornpat Tower).

It has also entered into a joint venture with the Srichawala family to start construction of a five-star hotel, the Millennium Sukhumvit Bangkok. The 326-room hotel will be completed by end of next year and will be managed by the group's Millennium and Copthorne Hotels (M&C).

In August, the Millennium Hongqiao Shanghai hotel will be opened under M&C management.

And in Beijing, the group joint venture is scheduled to open the 520-room Millennium Beijing Hotel in the first half of 2008, in advance of the Beijing Olympics.

In the 1990s, the group started its investment in Thailand with Westbrook Partners by subscribing to preference shares of the Erawan Group.

The group will continue to seek and explore real-estate investment opportunities in Bangkok and other parts of Thailand, including Koh Samui and Pattaya.

Beng said investment through joint ventures in Thailand had reached US$200 million (Bt7.6 billion).

Suchat Sritama

The Nation