The 272-room Orchid Hotel in Tanjong Pagar has been sold at a price said to be about S$273 million.

The hotel occupies the top 18 floors of a 20-storey building at 1 Tras Link, a stone’s throw from Tanjong Pagar MRT station.

Included in the sale is a strata office unit of about 5,000 square feet (sq ft) on the second level. The building is on a site with a remaining land lease of about 80 years.

Both the hotel and the strata office unit are being sold by Orchid Hotel Pte Ltd, owned by the family members of the late property developer Chng Gim Huat, who founded CGH Group.

The company developed the 20-storey building on a 99-year leasehold site near the corner of Tanjong Pagar Road and Tras Link acquired at a state tender in 2007.

The buyer is understood to be a joint venture (JV) company that is majority-controlled by an entity linked to Leow Ban Leong, one of the two owners of Singapore-based construction and property group Master Contract Services.

The minority stake in the JV company is held by North America-headquartered Westmont Hospitality Group, which is expected to be the asset manager for the Singapore hotel.

According to information on Westmont’s website, the group holds an ownership interest in and operates or advises hotels around the globe.

Knight Frank is understood to have brokered the Orchid Hotel sale (including that of the strata office unit) through private treaty. The transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year.

Market watchers expect the new owners to appoint a global hotel chain to rebrand and manage the property, which was extensively refurbished a few years ago.

Orchid Hotel’s rooms are fairly large, with the smallest at 32 square metres (about 344 sq ft). Along with a rebranding, the rooms could command higher rates, said industry observers.

The rooms are on levels four to 20 of the building. The hotel’s amenities – including a 25-metre outdoor swimming pool, a gym and a restaurant – are on the third level.

On the first two levels of the building are strata retail and office units, all but one of which have been sold by the developer over the years. The exception is the sole office unit, which is part of the transaction.

Car parking space is in two basement levels.

The hotel accounts for 89.5 per cent of the total share value in the strata-titled building. The office unit that is part of the transaction has a nearly 2 per cent share value.

Master Contract Services, owned by Leow Ban Leong and Leong Suet Wah, was part of a consortium that developed the former Joo Chiat Police Station site in East Coast Road into Katong Square and two hotels – Holiday Inn Express Singapore Katong and Hotel Indigo Singapore Katong.

Singapore residential projects that Master Contract Services has jointly developed with partners include the Skies Miltonia condominium in Yishun and The Amore executive condominium in Punggol.