By Noelle LimThe fifth-wealthiest family in Singapore made a rare appearance in the international press this fall with a report that the low-profile Kwee brothers were buying into a Manhattan skyscraper project. Usually the four men are content with matters closer to home, where their wealth, concentrated in the firm Pontiac Land, was an estimated $5.2 billion this summer.
The business was founded by their father, Henry Kwee, an Indonesian textile businessman and real estate developer who moved to Singapore in 1958. The clan built upmarket condominiums and owns five-star hotels under brands such as Ritz Carlton and Regent and two prime office buildings. It has a piece of a super- luxury hotel chain, Capella, and as third-generation Kwees are being groomed to take over the reins, it is 36-year-old Evan who has been entrusted with this franchise.
He is the only son of Pontiac's chairman, Kwee Liong Tek, and Donna Kwee, the daughter of Japanese-American George Aratani, founder of Kenwood Electronics. Evan, a Babson College graduate (he always wanted to become an entrepreneur, which the school specializes in), is executive director of Capella Hotel Group Asia, in which Liong Tek and his brother Liong Phing hold a 50% stake, partnered with Horst Schulze of Ritz Carlton fame and other investors, who created Capella and its sister brand Solis hotels. The Capella Asia unit has the hotels in Asia Pacific.
Evan, also a director of Pontiac, was conscripted into the family business immediately after graduation. He says, 'I only had a one-and-a-half-month break after school, and my dad wanted me to come back. My cousins [four of whom are in Pontiac positions], on the other hand, had worked in investment banks like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.'
His perspective was nonfinancial: 'I always knew I wanted to join the family business. I was fascinated by construction and design. I still remember peering over our balcony at the old Westwood apartment [in Singapore] every night watching them construct the Regent as a young boy. Hotels are in my blood.'
Evan's first major project was setting up Capella on a 13-hectare site in Sentosa Island, Singapore, the chain's crown jewel hotel in Asia. He was involved in every stage from negotiating with the government to leasing the site, designing, building and managing the hotel. He says, 'This was my baby. I was there on site with the contractor, with the hard hat and boots every day.' It was the first time in Singapore that a project of this size did not undergo a tender. The hotel opened in 2009.
Finding suitable sites for the brand outside Singapore, however, has not been easy. After some delays Capella expects to launch properties in Bangkok and Niseko, the Japanese ski area famous for its soft powder snow, by next year. Pipeline projects are mainly in China for Solis. Evan is also scouting for opportunities in the Philippines and Vietnam, and spends time sweet-talking property owners.
Although Capella Asia is separate from Pontiac, Evan's responsibilities with both can blur distinctions. He is often brought in to conceptualize design of new or refurbished properties by Pontiac, where his older sister Melissa is also a director and handles h.r.
He says, 'I am very passionate about design. We are about architecture and art, and try to bring hotel living to our residential development in Singapore. Fine living is like staying in a hotel.' Pontiac's latest undertaking is the S$750 million redevelopment of Capitol, a 1.43-hectare area comprising heritage properties in Singapore that will add a 200-room luxury hotel and retail stores. One of the cousins, Leland Kwee, is leading that project.
'We take pride in what we do,' Evan says. 'We take our time, we find a great project, one that is superprime, and we invest time and money into it. We don't have to do a project every year, unlike other developers.' As part of the succession plan, Evan's generation has to immerse themselves in the business. As he says, 'You have to roll up your sleeves and know all aspects of development before you can contribute.'
That still leaves time for his bicycling enthusiasm, including pedaling to work. He says, 'I enjoy cycling. It allows me to clear my mind. Business can be somewhat challenging because you have to work with your family.' Evan is expanding the clan with a Nov. 23 wedding to Claudia, daughter of Peter Sondakh, who is the eighth-richest man in Indonesia.
No wonder a Capella property for Jakarta is in the pipeline.
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