The Singapura Forum Hotel, located near the Tanglin end of the Orchard Road tourist and shopping belt, was the first hotel venture of Far East Organization – a property development company founded by businessman Ng Teng Fong in 1960. Built at a cost of $5.5 million in 1963, the hotel was the first in Singapore to be managed by an international hotel chain – the Intercontinental Hotels group. It was also the first hotel to operate a 24-hour coffee shop. The pioneering hotel along Orchard Road was eventually sold to A. W. Galadari Investments for $178 million in 1982. The Dubai-based company, which later developed the nearby Wisma Atria shopping complex, was subsequently taken over by Al-Khaleej Investments. The new owners had the old hotel demolished to make way for the Forum Galleria shopping and office complex, which officially opened in July 1986.
