The cluster of 27 businesses in Dempsey Road can heave a collective sigh of relief - the threat of eviction has evaporated.

The cluster of 27 businesses in Dempsey Road can heave a collective sigh of relief - the threat of eviction has evaporated.

Their landlord, Tanglin Warehouse, which fell behind in paying rent to the area’s land manager, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), on Wednesday settled its rental arrears in full.

The businesses in the area, called Tanglin Village - including wine bars, restaurants and an art gallery - received notice from SLA last month that they had become ‘trespassers’, whether or not they had paid their individual rent promptly.

With SLA’s termination of Tanglin Warehouse’s master lease, their contracts had become void, SLA told them.

SLA had planned to appoint a managing agent for the 27 businesses and to give them a reprieve on their leases until next March.

But now that the 12-year-old warehousing company has made good on its arrears, its tenancy contract has been reinstated to end in February 2009.

However, Tanglin Warehouse will now have to park a higher security deposit with SLA to guard against future defaults.

With the owed rent paid up, a contingency meeting that was to have been held yesterday, for the area’s businesses to work out their fate with the SLA, was called off.

The Dempsey Road area was the site of the former Central Manpower Base. Developed rapidly over the past few years and renamed Tanglin Village, it has in the last five months seen upmarket restaurants and bars joining older tenants there.

A SLA spokesman yesterday told The Straits Times: ‘We are pleased with the positive outcome for all concerned.

‘When a tenant is in arrears, SLA will work with the tenant to resolve the issues amicably and explore all efforts for rental settlement. We also pro-actively keep affected sub-tenants aware of the situation.’

When contacted, a Tanglin Warehouse employee referred queries to the SLA, saying: ‘Our bosses don’t usually talk to reporters.’

Tenants contacted said it was the first time that something like that had happened, but they were never really alarmed, said the owner of Woody Antique House, Ms W. C. Ang.

She said: ‘Most of the shops have been here for more than 10 years. I believe that since SLA is going to develop this place, they weren’t going to chase us out.’

Another shop owner, who did not want to be named, said he will be asking for assurance at his next meeting with Tanglin Warehouse.

The tone will be conciliatory rather than accusing.

He said: ‘I believe it won’t happen again. Maybe there was some mishandling, but everything’s been resolved. We’d have to support each other.’

Source: The Straits Times, 14 April 2007