Chinatown Business Association wins tender to manage iconic Smith Street in Chinatown
The Chinatown Business Association (CBA) has won the tender for a row of famous shophouses along Smith Road in Chinatown. CBA consists of stakeholders running in Chinatown, including business leaders, grassroots leaders, Chinese clan organizations, hoteliers, hawkers and stores.
The tender was reviewed based on price and the high quality of each provided approach. It attracted five different bidders the minute the tender closed in March, involving CBA which sent the winning offer of $123,000. As the master occupant, CBA will manage the buildings for 5 years plus a 2nd term of four years.
She includes that CBA will introduce “uniquely Singaporean F&B offerings and worldwide food offerings for both locals and vacationers to experience at Smith Street”.
The master tenant are going to embark on the integrated management of the shophouses and a surrounding State land story, which have an overall land area of 34,066 sq ft and an approximated gross flooring area of 33,065 sq ft.
“Visitors to Chinatown Singapore can anticipate more curated offerings and experiences for both residents and visitors upon the completion of the Smith Street rejuvenation project. We are looking to generate much more engaging and experiential community programmes, along with even more different offerings just like innovative way of living, retail industry and co-living/co-working approaches, whilst preserving and commemorating the area’s ethnic and architectural ancestry,” claims Lim Yick Suan, executive director, Chinatown Business Association.
The tender to assign an one master renter to oversee the historical 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 in 2023.
“This experience is unique to CBA, and we hope to utilize on our relationships in the area and understanding of Chinatown Singapore’s heritage and way of life to inject even more vibrancy to Smith Road and Chinatown Singapore,” claims Lim.
Noontalk Media sent the highest possible bid of $180,000, followed by runner-up CBA. Other quotes ranged from $108,174 from Benlo Ventures to $68,177 from ABR Holdings and a $53,000 quote from IGYM Fitness.
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Lim states that the tender movement was “extremely tough” however CBA gained from its energetic visibility in the district for over 20 years. “Over the two decades, we have constructed and sustained connections, and this has actually afforded us an ingrained link to the ground,” she states. The organisation has indeed organised past occasion such as wide-scale festival parties such as Five Footway Celebration and Dumpling Event, to motif markets, street activities, occasions and workshops.
According to SLA, the revitalised Smith Street will see a new line-up of way of living concepts and dining experiences. It says that CBA’s proposition of “set apart lifestyle concepts, complementary programmes and improvements to the general public scope intends to further promote local Chinese heritage and build up the identification of the area”.
