Chinatown Business Association wins tender to manage iconic Smith Street in Chinatown
According to SLA, the revitalised Smith Street will view a brand-new line-up of way of living concepts and dining experiences. It says that CBA’s proposition of “differentiated way of living principles, corresponding programs and upgrades to the general public scope aims to better promote local Chinese heritage and reinforce the identification of the location”.
The master renter will take on the combined management of the shophouses and an adjacent State land plot, which have an overall land area of 34,066 sq ft and an approximated gross flooring location of 33,065 sq ft.
“Visitors to Chinatown Singapore can look forward to even more curated offerings and experiences for both locals and visitors upon the conclusion of the Smith Street restoration project. We are looking to generate more engaging and experiential neighborhood programs, in addition to even more diverse offerings such as innovative lifestyle, retail industry and co-living/co-working strategies, while protecting and enjoying the location’s ethnic and building culture,” states Lim Yick Suan, executive head, Chinatown Business Association.
She includes that CBA is going to introduce “uniquely Singaporean F&B offerings and global food products for either locals and visitors to experience at Smith Street”.
Lim claims that the tender movement was “very tough” however CBA took advantage of its active visibility in the precinct for over two decades. “Over the two decades, we have actually built and nourished relationships, and this has actually bought us a deep-rooted connection to the ground,” she says. The organisation has indeed arranged past event such as wide-scale event events such as 5 Footway Celebration and Dumpling Festival, to motif markets, street tasks, events and workshops.
Noontalk Media submitted the highest possible bid of $180,000, followed by runner-up CBA. Other proposals stretched from $108,174 from Benlo Ventures to $68,177 from ABR Holdings and a $53,000 proposal from IGYM Fitness.
The Chinatown Business Association (CBA) has won the tender for a row of renowned shophouses around Smith Road in Chinatown. CBA consists of stakeholders operating in Chinatown, including business leaders, grassroots leaders, Chinese clan associations, hoteliers, hawkers and sellers.
The tender was reviewed based upon rate and the quality of each submitted concept. It brought in 5 different bidders when the tender closed in March, involving CBA which sent the winning bid of $123,000. As the master tenant, CBA will take care of the real estates for 5 years plus a 2nd term of 4 years.
The tender to assign a sole master renter to supervise the historic row of shophouses at 11 to 37 Smith Street was jointly launched by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) back in November last year.
“This experience is distinct to CBA, and we wish to utilize on our relationships in the community and expertise of Chinatown Singapore’s heritage and society to inject even more vibrancy to Smith Street and Chinatown Singapore,” states Lim.
