Half of Turf City’s tenants have moved out or made arrangements to do so by year-end
Tenants have known since 2019 that the land is being redeveloped for future housing.
The Cage Sports Park occupies about 100,000 square metres in Turf City, which allows it to host many recreational sports such as football, cricket and paintball. However, their new site in Dempsey is only 12,000 sqm, or one-eighth of their current size.
SINGAPORE: About half of Turf City's tenants have moved out or made arrangements to do so, ahead of the year-end deadline to vacate their premises.
The remaining are still considering their options, said the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), which has been managing Turf City since 1999. It has been engaging with tenants to advise them to make the necessary transition plans in advance.
Since 2019, tenants have been reminded of the need to vacate the site due to future development plans. They were given two successive 18-month tenancy extensions up to Dec 31 this year to allow more time for tenants to move out.
Still, some have chosen to stay on for as long as possible.
ENSURING LITTLE DISRUPTION
For the Swallows and Amazons Kindergarten, it took about a year to find a new home that would also have lush greenery and plenty of space for the children to run around in.
“We have a really big play area, outdoor space, and that's quite difficult to find in Singapore,” said its founder and director Jackie Barkham, who wanted the new location to be near Turf City, so as to retain most of her students who live around the area.
Ms Barkham said that while the kindergarten was fortunate to take over the property of an existing school – a corner house that comes with some garden space – the site is not as spacious as its current location.
But even with the new premises in Linden Drive, Ms Barkham is planning to stay put until the end of the year. The kindergarten has been operating at Turf City since 2007.
“We plan to stick it out here till the end of our term, which is around the 13th of December, pack up everything and then we open at our new premises not too far away from the beginning of January,” she said.
“We want to make sure that it's the least disruptive to our students and our parents. Also, the new premises came about just recently. We need to renovate first. So the timing worked out."
Turf City was leased out for lifestyle and recreational uses including retail, food and beverage, sports and recreation and childcare centres, among other purposes.
SOME STILL LOOKING FOR SITES TO MOVE TO
Meanwhile, for The Cage Sports Park, land space is a problem when looking for a new home
The sports park occupies about 100,000 sq m in Turf City, which allows it to host many recreational sports such as football, cricket and paintball.
However, their new site in Dempsey is only 12,000 sq m, or one-eighth of their current size.
“So we have an appetite for a lot more. So we've got to just keep looking,” said Mr Rajesh Mulani, director of The Cage Sports Park.
The company is still looking out for more sites to move to, so that it can keep offering a wide variety of sports.
But Mr Mulani noted that the anxiety is starting to build, including for long-time patrons.
“On a daily basis, I've got customers asking my staff where they are going to play and my staff can't answer that,” he said.
“These are guys who have been coming to The Cage and Turf City for over 11 years now. So that's a problem.”
Agencies have been helping tenants in firming up their transition plans by informing them about sites available for bidding. Tenants can also choose to rent other premises from the open market.
SLA said it will continue to work closely with tenants on the return of state land and properties at the Turf City site ahead of the deadline.
