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Construction of Audi’s new showroom here will be ‘challenging’ because of its proximity to the East West MRT Line. But distributor Premium Automobiles is confident the project can be completed as early as 18 months from now.

‘The timing is also good for calling a tender because we expect prices to be lower during this downturn,’ says Hadi Tanaga, owner of Premium Automobiles.

He expects the tender for the Audi Terminal to be awarded soon and work to start in July. The flagship showroom will be at 281 Alexandra Road, at the junction with Leng Kee Road.

A two-storey building occupied by Mitsuoka distributor Advance Automobile now sits on the land. Premium will take over the service and warranty of Mitsuoka cars as part of the deal.

An overhead MRT track runs along the western edge of the property and its fence skirts the massive concrete columns.

‘The plan is to build a four-storey showroom building according to Audi corporate identity standards, with two or three basements,’ Mr Tanaga said.

The number of basements has not been determined yet because of proximity to the rail track foundations, he said. ‘After digging one basement we will have to stop and get approval before we can continue digging another one. So we have to wait and see how many basement levels we can get.’

Excavation work will have to be carried out very cautiously because of the sensitive nature of the site. But Mr Tanaga is confident about construction because of the architect’s experience and expertise.

Award-winning architectural firm Ong & Ong has been hired to design the Audi Terminal. The building is expected to cost up to $40 million. The site, with 47 years of a 99-year lease remaining, costs $12 million.

The building’s striking curved glass and aluminium facade will house three floors of showroom space and one workshop floor. Buildings in the vicinity of the MRT track are restricted to a maximum of four storeys. The building will have a relatively low-rise neighbour – Kah Motor’s two-storey Honda showroom next door – and will sit at a traffic junction, so it should stand out.

Last year, Premium Automobiles sold 1,317 Audi cars in Singapore, up 37 per cent from the previous year. Because of the recession and reduced COE quota, it won’t reveal its 2009 target, but says that it hopes to increase market share to 11-12 per cent from 2008’s 10.4 per cent.

Premium Automobiles has been the authorised Audi dealer here since 2000. It already has a large building in the Ubi motor belt – the $15 million Audi Centre on Ubi Road 1 opened in March 2004.

Last year, the company spent $5 million renovating its showroom at 9 Leng Kee Road. It will decide what to do with this building closer to completion of the Audi Terminal in 2011.

Premium also owns another property in the prime Leng Kee motor belt. It bought the former Wywy building at 17 Leng Kee Road in 2007, but has not redeveloped it so far.

Source : Business Times – 8 Apr 2009