Tong Eng gives new life to ageing assets

Redevelopment of Serangoon Plaza to start later this year; strata office sales to start after Chinese New Year.

Kalpana Rashiwala

Published Sun, Jan 3, 2016 · 09:50 PM

TONG Eng Group faced one of its most trying moments during the mid-1980s. Shortly after the group bought Serangoon Plaza and around the time it completed the development of Eminent Plaza in Lavender Street, Singapore slipped into a recession. "The property market tanked and we went through difficult times renting out the two buildings," recalls Teo Tong Lim, group managing director at Tong Eng Brothers.

"I have gone through a few recessions. The main thing is we have been able to survive because we do not overgear and so we have been able to weather the difficult times.

"Property is cyclical and we have to be ready."

One of Singapore's oldest developers, the group is now in the midst of…