Tag Archives: Retail

Prime retail rents on Orchard Road drop 2.8% to S$38.17 psf in Q3

Prime retail rents on Orchard Road declined by 2.8 per cent to S$38.17 per square foot in the third quarter from the previous three months.

That is smaller than the 3.7 per cent fall in the second quarter and the 4.4 per cent drop in the first, according to a report by Colliers International.

Meanwhile, the average monthly retail rents in prime malls in the Tampines, Woodlands and Jurong areas posted an on-quarter increase of 1.3 per cent to S$32.75 per square foot per month, ending two straight quarters of decline.

Moving ahead, Colliers said while the worst may be over, the retail industry is not completely out of the woods yet.

The property consultancy said amidst mixed views on global and local economic prospects, there is also underlying caution.

With some four million square feet of retail space anticipated over the next three years, it expects landlords to remain flexible during rental negotiations and tenants to remain rental-sensitive. Continue reading

HDB spaces: No subletting rule observed in the breach

THE Housing Board’s reply, ‘HDB shop corridor area cannot be sublet’ (July 21), stated that HDB corridor areas should not be sublet by shop owners to third parties.

This may be the rule, but in my experience, it is often breached.

We operate shops dealing in mobile phones in Clementi and Bedok Central. A 100 sq ft ‘hole in the wall’ in these locations costs up to $7,000 a month to rent.

However, there are many fly-by-night mobile phone operators who set up shop in the yellow boxes in these areas and pay about $2,000 a month to rent the space. In Bedok Central, town council officers periodically patrol the neighbourhood to check on illegal peddlers. However, enforcement of the rule has been inconsistent. Continue reading