Tanglin Village, things appear to be heating up for businesses there.

VILLAGE life can be factious and territorial.

With new developments popping up in Tanglin Village, things appear to be heating up for businesses there.

Six new food, education and apparel shops are opening in stages in the buildings previously occupied by the Civil Service Club, now called Dempsey Hill Green.

This follows hot on the heels of the 16 restaurant and retail stores that opened in Dempsey Hill in July. Both are managed by Country City Investment.

Bids have also poured in for two more plots of land in Tanglin Village, released recently by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), which manages the area.

The winning bidders will add even more competition to the once-sleepy area. Currently, the biggest leaseholders are Country City Investment and Tanglin Warehouse. The latter sublets to several furniture shops and The Wine Company wine bar. Other establishments in the Village, such as Oosh and PS Cafe, rent direct from the SLA.

With restaurants and shops opening one after another, the old army barracks dotting the Village are now more than 70 per cent occupied.

And not everyone is happy with how this latest lifestyle magnet is pulling in all-day traffic and crowds on weekends. Ironically, some of the unhappy ones are the very customers who are bringing buzz to the place.

Ms Sally Kong, 51, a senior manager at the National Organ Transplant Unit, says she likes the idea of having more options but adds that ’service at some outlets is not as friendly’ now.

For Ms Ida Li, 27, an executive assistant, the place has lost its ‘quaint, laid-back village feel’.

She says: ‘The high flow of cars into Tanglin Village often leaves me scrambling for parking lots.’

In fact, not enough carpark lots is a common complaint. Housewife Marianna Fossick, 40, who dines at the Village weekly, says ‘more needs to be done about the parking congestion, which can be a downer’.

There are some 160 parking lots in Dempsey Hill and more than 20 in Dempsey Hill Green.

Mr Nicholas Ng, 28, general manager of Country City, which manages both clusters, says the company is liaising with the authorities in hopes of increasing the number of parking spaces in Dempsey Hill Green.

But things are not just heating up for visitors to the Village, who have to jostle for everything from parking space to seats at restaurant tables and space along grocery aisles.

With more businesses opening up there, things are also getting competitive among operators of food and retail outlets who were there previously, and the newcomers.

Existing operators say the influx of activities has not brought better business.

Owner of furniture store Pasardina Bob Hoe, 42, says visitors are mostly there to eat and to chill out, so his business has not benefited significantly from the increase in traffic.

Mr Mohammad Ali, 41, store manager of the carpet shop Jehan Gallery, chimes in: ‘The place has become so crowded on weekends that my customers now can’t park their cars nearby to load the carpets they’ve bought.’

For owners of the newer food and beverage outlets, the increase in players has been greeted with caution.

Owner of Mexican restaurant Margarita’s, Mr Andy Yap, 47, which opened in July, says his business has remained consistent. He does not see the increase in F&B players as a bad thing.

He says: ‘Should customers not be able to secure seats at another restaurant and if we have vacant tables, there’s a chance they might come over.’

Older players are not so sanguine.

Mr Thomas Teo, in his 60s, managing director of the five-year-old Wine Network, says his business has ‘reached a plateau in the last 12 months’ due to competition. To stay ahead of the game, he has expanded the wine list by some 30 per cent to around 200 labels.

He says: ‘We were one of the pioneers who started the new range of F&B activities here. People soon caught on to the Village as an ideal place for an F&B hub and now, there’s a hive of activity.’

He says the challenge for existing operators would be ‘reinvention to stay relevant to customer needs’.

Over at Oosh, for example, which opened last year, a new brunch menu is being launched today.

Its marketing manager, Mr Lee Kian Seng, 30, says part of the restaurant’s business development plan has always been to introduce new offerings at different stages of its growth.

The new kids on the block, however, believe in the lasting allure of Tanglin Village as a hip hot spot.

Mr Ernest Ng, 52, owner of the new microbrewery Red Dot BrewHouse, slated to open in Dempsey Hill Green at the end of next month, says: ‘Unlike Holland Village, which is largely a nightlife establishment, Tanglin Village has a good mix of tenants that draw all-day traffic to the area. This makes it a lifestyle destination.’

Freelance F&B consultant, Mr Vincent Gabriel, 66, says the area has built for itself a reputation as an F&B enclave with good food and ambience and its proximity to the city is a definite plus.

‘But it needs to watch out for the traffic congestion in the area. Insufficient parking can really put people off and cause the Village to become a victim of its own success.’

Source : Sunday Times - 18 Nov 2007

Tanglin Village proves hot property for businesses

TANGLIN Village, the latest lifestyle hot spot in town, is drawing massive crowds to its range of newly opened shops and restaurants.

And where consumers and foodies flock, so do business people. They have descended on the prime Dempsey Road enclave in a bid to clinch the remaining pieces of land.

Tanglin Village’s short-term leases - usually for three years, as the land is slated for residential use after 2015 - have not deterred tenants, said the Singapore Land Authority (SLA). It said businesses are confident of reaping most of their investments in the first three years.

Offers have poured in for two Tanglin Village plots released recently, said the SLA, which is managing the development.

A former chapel site at 39C Harding Road drew a record 23 bids when its tender closed last month. The top rental offer was $56,000 a month - five times the guide rent, SLA said.

It was put in by Ponte & Partners, the Singapore-based firm that brought in German brewery Paulaner Brauhaus at Millenia Walk.

The Harding Road property, which has a gross floor area of 4,456 sq ft, is safeguarded for conservation. It sits on a 43,172 sq ft plot.

Most of the other bidders for the site were also from the food and beverage industry, including Da Paolo Ristorante Italiano, Palm Beach Seafood and Select Catering Services.

A second site, at 45 Minden Road, was similarly popular with 15 bidders lodging offers. The highest was $51,000 a month, or more than double the $22,000 guide rent.

It came from the Siam Silk Company, a unit of Thailand’s Thai Silk Company, which was founded by the renowned Jim Thompson.

If it is awarded the 30,631 sq ft property - which has 10,156 sq ft of gross floor area - the firm plans to open a Jim Thompson Thai restaurant and wine bar, said Mr Steve Benhar, corporate counsel for the Thai Silk Company. The eatery will feature private indoor dining and a garden bar.

The strong response to the two sites is testament to how hot Tanglin Village has become in recent months.

A year ago, a building with 13,000 sq ft of gross floor area drew only 11 rental bids - the highest just $23,000 a month. Oosh, an alfresco bar and restaurant, is now operating at the site.

Earlier this year, some 27 sub-tenant businesses faced the prospect of being evicted when their master tenant, Tanglin Warehouse, fell behind in its rental payments to the SLA.

This was averted after Tanglin Warehouse settled the arrears in full.

And things have picked up quickly since then. In the last six months, 25 firms have set up shop in the area, according to the SLA.

Their offerings run a wide gamut, from restaurants and shops to education and entertainment centres. Some tenants even use the space for offices.

The burst of activity has brought occupancy at Tanglin Village to more than 70 per cent, said the SLA’s chief executive, Brigadier-General (NS) Lam Joon Khoi.

‘Tanglin Village tenders so far have attracted a number of entrepreneurs to build their dream businesses,’ he told The Straits Times.

To better serve these tenants and their customers, the SLA intends to review ‘basic infrastructural improvements’, such as road paving, lighting and utilities, BG Lam added.

More tenants, including an international school, are also expected to make their homes in the area soon.

It is also understood that a brewery will open, as well as an Italian restaurant and an outlet for the Long Beach Seafood restaurant chain.

Tanglin Village’s success has spurred the SLA to examine uses for other enclaves such as Keat Hong camp in Choa Chu Kang - a former Singapore Armed Forces camp - and Phoenix Park in Tanglin Road, the former headquarters of the Home Affairs Ministry.

Tanglin Village

Source: The Straits Times 13 Oct 07

TANGLIN Village, the latest lifestyle hot spot in town, is drawing massive crowds to its range of newly opened shops and restaurants.

TANGLIN Village, the latest lifestyle hot spot in town, is drawing massive crowds to its range of newly opened shops and restaurants.

And where consumers and foodies flock, so do business people. They have descended on the prime Dempsey Road enclave in a bid to clinch the remaining pieces of land.

Tanglin Village’s short-term leases - usually for three years, as the land is slated for residential use after 2015 - have not deterred tenants, said the Singapore Land Authority (SLA). It said businesses are confident of reaping most of their investments in the first three years.

Offers have poured in for two Tanglin Village plots released recently, said the SLA, which is managing the development.

A former chapel site at 39C Harding Road drew a record 23 bids when its tender closed last month. The top rental offer was $56,000 a month - five times the guide rent, SLA said.

It was put in by Ponte & Partners, the Singapore-based firm that brought in German brewery Paulaner Brauhaus at Millenia Walk.

The Harding Road property, which has a gross floor area of 4,456 sq ft, is safeguarded for conservation. It sits on a 43,172 sq ft plot.

Most of the other bidders for the site were also from the food and beverage industry, including Da Paolo Ristorante Italiano, Palm Beach Seafood and Select Catering Services.

A second site, at 45 Minden Road, was similarly popular with 15 bidders lodging offers. The highest was $51,000 a month, or more than double the $22,000 guide rent.

It came from the Siam Silk Company, a unit of Thailand’s Thai Silk Company, which was founded by the renowned Jim Thompson.

If it is awarded the 30,631 sq ft property - which has 10,156 sq ft of gross floor area - the firm plans to open a Jim Thompson Thai restaurant and wine bar, said Mr Steve Benhar, corporate counsel for the Thai Silk Company. The eatery will feature private indoor dining and a garden bar.

The strong response to the two sites is testament to how hot Tanglin Village has become in recent months.

A year ago, a building with 13,000 sq ft of gross floor area drew only 11 rental bids - the highest just $23,000 a month. Oosh, an alfresco bar and restaurant, is now operating at the site.

Earlier this year, some 27 sub-tenant businesses faced the prospect of being evicted when their master tenant, Tanglin Warehouse, fell behind in its rental payments to the SLA.

This was averted after Tanglin Warehouse settled the arrears in full.

And things have picked up quickly since then. In the last six months, 25 firms have set up shop in the area, according to the SLA.

Their offerings run a wide gamut, from restaurants and shops to education and entertainment centres. Some tenants even use the space for offices.

The burst of activity has brought occupancy at Tanglin Village to more than 70 per cent, said the SLA’s chief executive, Brigadier-General (NS) Lam Joon Khoi.

‘Tanglin Village tenders so far have attracted a number of entrepreneurs to build their dream businesses,’ he told The Straits Times.

To better serve these tenants and their customers, the SLA intends to review ‘basic infrastructural improvements’, such as road paving, lighting and utilities, BG Lam added.

More tenants, including an international school, are also expected to make their homes in the area soon.

It is also understood that a brewery will open, as well as an Italian restaurant and an outlet for the Long Beach Seafood restaurant chain.

Tanglin Village’s success has spurred the SLA to examine uses for other enclaves such as Keat Hong camp in Choa Chu Kang - a former Singapore Armed Forces camp - and Phoenix Park in Tanglin Road, the former headquarters of the Home Affairs Ministry.

Source : Straits Times - 13 Oct 2007

Watch out Holland Village, Tanglin Village is gaining ground as the new lifestyle hotspot.

Watch out Holland Village, Tanglin Village is gaining ground as the new lifestyle hotspot.

Dempsey Hill, a cluster comprising 14 food and beverage outlets, a spa and an Australian gourmet shop has been opening in stages there.

Even more dining options are on the cards, when the old Civil Service Club, which houses the popular Samy’s Curry Restaurant, gets a spruce-up.

The company behind these two developments is Country City Investment, a property investment firm formed last year to handle the two projects.

By the middle of this month, all the outlets in Dempsey Hill will be open. New restaurants and retail outlets will also be opening up at the former Civil Service Club.

Just six years ago, the 40ha area, which used to house British army barracks in the colonial days, was a sleepy place, with a few furniture shops and Samy’s Curry Restaurant.

Things started picking up in 2003 when two wine bars, Wine Network and The Wine Company, opened and attracted a following. Then came organic food store L’Organic and the trendy PS Cafe in 2005.

Last year, some former barracks there were used as exhibition space for the Singapore Biennale. Coupled with the opening of alfresco bar Hacienda, and restaurant Oosh, the Village quickly became a new hip spot in town, offering a laid-back place to unwind.

But the area comes alive mainly at night, and Country City is looking to bring more daytime traffic into the area.

Madam Florence Tan, 49, director of the company, says: ‘With businesses in the area focusing more on nightlife, we saw the potential for Dempsey Hill to be active throughout the day.’

So early birds can have breakfast at Australian gourmet store Jones The Grocer (see other story), then indulge in a little mid-morning pampering at the 35,000 sq ft Spa Esprit.

Lunch choices include fine Indian dining at Vintage India or Japanese restaurant Rakuichi, with dessert at the Ben & Jerry’s cafe. Nightbirds can have a meal and some wine at Angel’s Share bar and restaurant, or chill out at Mexican restaurant Margarita’s.

There is also Go-Go Bambini, a children’s entertainment centre, which features a custom designed playscape.

Parents who take their children there can read the centre’s collection of international newspapers or get a manicure at the in-house nail spa.

The 16 tenants in the cluster are housed in the seven buildings that once made up the Central Manpower Base, where scores of young men enlisted in national service between 1972 and 1989.

The land area adds up to 23,838 sq m and Country City’s three-year lease is renewable up to 2015.

Madam Tan declines to say how much the company spent on the project, but adds that it is looking into adding more lighting in the parking spaces, which some customers have said are too dimly lit.

The company is in the process of selecting tenants for the former Civil Service Club, which comprises four blocks, with a total site area of about 16,300 sq m. Samy’s will remain as a sub-tenant.

Restaurateurs said that the area’s attractive location made opening there viable.

Mr Dennis Kwah, 45, director of hotpot restaurant Rain, opening in Dempsey Hill on Tuesday, says: ‘The thrill of going into Holland Village is every businessman’s dream. But that place is too small and the rental, too high.

‘Orchard Road, on the other hand, is much too busy. Dempsey Hill is the perfect median.’

Daytime businesses seem to be thriving too.

Go-Go Bambini, the only shop offering child-oriented services in Dempsey Road, opened on April 23, and had more than 7,000 customers come through its doors in May.

It also organised 94 children’s birthday parties last month. Spa Esprit, with three outlets, is opening its fourth and largest spa at Dempsey Hill. Called House, the area’s ‘gorgeous’ views and closeness to nature were definite draws, says Cynthia Chua, 35, its managing director.

The spa occupies three of the seven blocks in Dempsey Hill, and includes a restaurant and a bar.

It is sprawling enough to be a venue for social functions, corporate retreats, dinners and cocktail parties.

Existing businesses say they are unfazed by the competition.

Mr T. Nagarajan, 34, manager of Samy’s, says the new businesses have brought in more customers, some of whom are first-timers who happen to be checking out the area.

Over at Oosh, Mr Lee Kin Seng, 29, its marketing manager, says that new businesses in the area can only boost the restaurant’s takings, which have been on the ‘upward trend’ since it opened.

Consumers, however, are looking beyond the hype.

Undergraduate Ow Wei Quan, 25, who has been to Chang Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant in the village, says: ‘The big-name establishments, free parking and rustic feel of the area are clear draws. But the businesses must deliver on quality and service to win me back.’

He thinks it is worth going back.

However, administrative manager Cheong Lynn, 30, who was last at Dempsey Road’s alfresco bars some six months ago, says that food and service standards in the area were only ‘average’ and that the outlets would have to do better if they wanted to win her back.

What is true, however, is that everyone is anticipating the new developments.

‘I’m excited about new businesses opening in Dempsey Road. It’ll give me more reasons to frequent the place,’ says Mr Andy Ow, 37, regional manager of a distributing firm and regular customer at Oosh.

‘Holland Village is too small and the rental, too high. Orchard Road is much too busy. Dempsey Hill is the perfect median’ Mr Dennis Kwah, director of hotpot restaurant Rain

Source: The Sunday Times, 01 July 2007

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