SLA to help Turf City tenants relocate, reiterates lease will end on Dec 31, 2023

WITH just 15 months left before the lease on Turf City’s site runs out, the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) told tenants on Friday (Sep 23) that there will be no further extensions.

The lease has been extended twice to give tenants time to prepare to move out.

SLA said government agencies will help affected tenants with their plans to move.

The confirmation was given after the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) announcement on Tuesday named Turf City as a location for 1 of the 6 MRT stations to be built in the second phase of the Cross Island Line (CRL).

The new station is expected to occupy the area currently occupied by the rugby field and netball courts at Turf City.

When operational in 2023, CRL phase 2 is expected to benefit more than 40,000 households.

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SLA has 15 tenancy contracts in Turf City. Tenants include childcare providers, motor vehicle-related businesses and food and beverage establishments. The leases are subdivided for operators in the various trades.

According to SLA, several government agencies are helping tenants work out transition plans, including sharing information on available sites for tenders, with the affected businesses.

The Straits Times understands that SLA wants to reach out to not only its direct tenants but their sub-tenants as well.

Some operators are still hoping for a further lease extension.

One of them is Joshua Goh, the owner of used car dealership New Creation Enterprise, which began operating at the Car Mall at Turf City in 2021. He said that he would start looking for a new location only after September 2023, “just in case” things change.

Other tenants have moved out. Sources said as many as 20 car dealerships shuttered a year ago, when SLA announced that the Dec 31, 2023, deadline was final.

While some of these units have been taken up by newcomers, others remain empty.

Some businesses claimed that they were not officially told about the final deadline.

Ready Let’s Go by Kaleidoscope, which provides early intervention programmes for children, sees around 250 children each week.

The centre’s spokesman said that it would not have taken up more space and invested in renovations if it knew earlier that the lease cannot be extended beyond 2023.

Turf City was initially due to be returned to the state at the end of 2020, but 2 successive 18-month extensions were granted. The final one, announced in June 2022, ends on Dec 31, 2023.

SLA said the tenancy extensions were given to “allow more time for tenants to firm up their transition and winding-down plans”.

The Turf City site was marked out for future residential use in the government’s Master Plan 1988.

Details on how the area will be developed have not been announced. But as part of the planning process, SLA said that detailed technical studies such as environmental and heritage studies are already being carried out.

“Agencies will engage relevant stakeholders to share more about the plans for the site and seek their feedback when ready.” THE STRAITS TIMES