Refreshed tenant mix, new communal spaces: How City Square Mall’s $50 million revamp aims to draw more S’poreans

CITY Square Mall is repositioning itself as a lifestyle and dining destination anchored by experiential retail, with a refresh that reconfigures significant portions of the Little India-adjacent property.

The centrepiece is Gastro Square, a 24,000 sq ft dining precinct on Level 4 that replaces what was once a conventional food court. Its headline tenant is Kok Sen Restaurant, the Michelin Bib Gourmand institution that built a cult following on Keong Saik Road – this is its first shopping mall outlet. 

As Singapore’s first eco-mall, sustainability was also made structural, with upcycled bamboo chopsticks and PET bottle wall claddings found throughout, and handrails repurposed as benches and feature walls.

The mall was officially relaunched on March 10 by Eric Chua, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Law and the Ministry of Social and Family Development, alongside Sherman Kwek, group chief executive officer of City Developments Limited (CDL), which owns the property.

The occasion made history twice too. Home-grown artist Imran Mohamed Ishak’s mural claimed the Singapore Book of Records for the Largest Display of Sequin Art, while a separate installation made with recycled milk bottles donated by shoppers set another record for Largest Art Display of Recycled Milk Bottles.

From food court to dining precinct

A refreshed tenant mix balances established names with independent, local and new-to-market concepts.

The reconfiguration of existing spaces and the extension of atrium slabs from Levels 2 to 4 creates an open-dining experience that makes the most of the new spatial flow, with Sanook Kitchen (#02-33) bringing modern Thai cooking to the lower floors.

Aside from Kok Sen, the new Gastro Square on Level 4 also houses Chef Vo Quoc Vietnamese Cuisines and Sichuan restaurant Xiao Jiao Tian. Events, workshops and live performances are programmed regularly, making this new precinct as much a third place for families and friends as it is a dining destination.

Elsewhere in the mall, independent dining names fill out a tenant mix that rewards exploration. Super Dario Lasagne Cafe (#04-17), Lai Lai Taiwan Casual Dining (#03-39) and Hankang Pocha (#B1-04), between them, cover enough ground to keep regular visitors cycling through options.

Familiar names Canton Paradise (#02-51) and LeNu (#02-53) continue serving up comforting favourites.

For families, the experiential offering has expanded considerably. Giggle Jungle by Yooland (#04-38) brings a jungle-themed indoor playground to Level 4; Airzone (#02-K4) is the world’s first indoor atrium net playground; and Inmers’ indoor digital games (#05-04) offer older kids and groups a more immersive challenge.

Those who prefer crafts to climbing and bouncing can head over to Home Baking Day (#04-11), a Taiwanese baking studio, or browse art store Umistrong (#04-19) for supplies and inspiration. Rounding out the mix is Photoism (#04-23), a self-shoot studio that understands its audience as a generation that documents as much as it experiences.

The community dividend

CONNECT @ City Square Mall, developed with the National Council of Social Service, consolidates five social service agencies on Level 4 and Basement 2 – offering complimentary mental health talks, early childhood support and private counselling for families with fewer means.

The broader programming strategy is equally deliberate. Green Square on Basement 1 continues to host pop-ups, live performances and school programmes, while Gastro Square runs regular workshops and more live performances designed to keep visitors on-site well beyond mealtimes.

The activation calendar runs through April and beyond. Uncle Ringo’s Nostalgic Carnival occupies City Green park till April 12, drawing families with classic rides.

A Hidden Heritage trail, running till May 10 in partnership with Hidden Heritage Singapore, traces the neighbourhood’s New World Amusement Park history through maps, artefacts and on-site finds. Singaporeans can use their SG Culture Pass to sign up for the tour.

For shoppers, there is a tiered spending promotion: They get to redeem a floral thermal flask if they spend $150, and $10 in CDL and merchant e-vouchers if they spend $230 and more. Till April 30, a separate promotion offers a $10 merchant dining e-voucher with a minimum $30 single-receipt spend, alongside a $9.90 weekday lunch deal.

Complimentary one-hour weekday lunchtime parking is available till June 30 – a practical incentive for the weekday commuter crowd the mall is also looking to capture.

In a retail landscape where convenience is no longer a differentiator, City Square Mall’s $50 million investment is proof that community runs deeper than footfall. The logic is circular by design: a mall that invests in its neighbourhood earns the kind of attachment that keeps shoppers returning and gives retailers a reason to stay. 

Find out more about City Square Mall’s new offerings here.