A retail development property whose land was originally acquired in October of 2007, has finally received approval for its architectural concept, and will proceed to the submission of the detailed plans to the Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau (DSSOPT), although being ‘subject to a number of minor comments’, according to an announcement by the Macau Property Opportunities Fund.
The fund is a closed-end investment fund listed on the London Stock Exchange and managed by property investment manager Sniper Capital Limited. The land in question is in the heart of Macau’s Senado Square, located behind the Macau Post Office.
The project was originally set out to be one of the fund’s first, having been acquired a year after the fund was set up, however, as revealed to Business Daily earlier this year by sources linked to the project, it is ‘sensitive’ given that it has ‘taken time to work out the design parameters’.
‘Extensive work with the Cultural Heritage Department’ was required ‘to ensure […] the best possible design’, notes the source. However, although expectations at the time were for a construction permit to be received and works to begin ‘by the end of this year’, now the project’s estimated completion date is set for the end of 2019 and the detailed plan is ‘expected to be made in the first quarter of 2017’, notes the filing and the group’s website.
‘This is the final stage of the planning process prior to the commencement of demolition and construction’ of the space, which is currently occupied by another building, reiterates the filing.
Money maker
The new development, named ‘Senado Square’, was designed by architectural consultant Arquitectonica and will be a ‘contemporary and sustainable design concept’, for a space that will provide 67,800 square feet of space divided into retail and food and beverage space.
The group notes that the property ‘is expected to attract a diversified mix of high-profile international retailers as well as food and beverage brands’. The profile of the building, based on images on the group’s website, appears similar to that of the six-storey ‘Yellow House’ building, located next to the Ruins of St. Paul’s, formerly partially occupied by retailer Forever Bright. The retailer, which rented about 20,000 square feet from Future Bright Holdings, was paying HK$18 million in rent yearly before its rental contract was cancelled.
Macau Property Opportunities Fund estimates its total portfolio’s valuation, exclusively located in the MSAR, to be worth US$393.7 million (MOP45.5 million), as of June 30, comprising four key properties divided between ‘niche and luxury residential projects’ and the Senado Square project. So far the group has developed The Waterside and The Fountainside, and is currently in the sales phase of its Estrada da Penha private home residence, occupying 12,030 square feet.
Business Daily contacted Sniper Capital regarding the recent developments but had yet to receive a response by the time this went to print.
New loan secured
The group also announced that it has secured a new loan for the project from Hang Seng Bank Limited to the amount of HK$118 million, pushing the group’s total cash balance, post-full draw of the loan, to US$20 million, while increasing it’s loan-to-value ratio to 42.3 per cent, from its current 40 per cent.
