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Tenants on ITE campus losing money
Many owe rent due to poor business and have been told to vacate
By Jessica Lim
The Thai Cuisine stall in Matrix Cafeteria has closed down and next to go is the Indian Cuisine stall. Twenty out of 39 stallholders were handed lawyer's letters last week ordering them to settle their rental debts or hand over their stalls by today. -- ST PHOTO: ASHLEIGH SIM
PRIVATE businesses at the Institute of Technical Education's (ITE) mega campus in the west are struggling to keep afloat.
The corridors outside the shops are quiet, and walk-in customers are rare - a stark contrast to what they were expecting, said tenants.
The situation seems particularly bad for stallholders in the two cafeterias on the 9.54ha campus in Choa Chu Kang, the first educational institution here to be built under a private-public partnership.
Out of the 39 stallholders, 20 - each with rental arrears of five months or more - were handed lawyer's letters last week ordering them to either settle the debt or hand over their stalls by today.
Other retailers, such as flower shop Puffin Flowers N Gifts and IT shop Mercury Technologies, said they are bleeding money too.
Only a few shops seem to be keeping their heads above water. One is the 7-Eleven outlet, which sells fast food such as fried chicken. It was packed with students yesterday afternoon, and retail assistants there said business is booming.
A $323.7 million contract to build and run the campus for 25 years was awarded to the Gammon Capital consortium in 2008. Its role was to do so under the private-public partnership model, leaving ITE free to focus on academic areas.
The plan was for the campus to house restaurants, shops, a convention centre and even functioning hotel rooms - all open to the public - so students would have hands-on training for future careers in tourism.
But Madam Loh Mei Lin, who owns a wonton noodles stall at Eco Cafeteria on the third floor, said she gets few customers. Since July, five tenants there have called it quits.
The 57-year-old, who signed a three-year contract in July, will be closing down her stall today. She owes more than $17,000 in rental arrears over the past five months.
Mr Xu Guo Chang, 33, who owns the economical rice stall next door, said he is losing $2,000 a month. To cut costs, he fired four of his workers in August. 'We are not getting what the building management promised us in terms of crowds. We feel cheated.'
It is the same story at Matrix Cafeteria downstairs, as well as for 13 other tenants The Straits Times spoke to yesterday.
The owner of an Indian food stall there, Madam Kumai Paramaswari, 43, has not paid a cent in rent since September. 'I am so angry. I took out all my pocket money to try to tide me over this period. Now, they are asking us to move out,' she said, adding that she spent $40,000 to renovate the stall when she moved in last June.
Florist Sylvia Koh, 58, who owns Puffin Flowers N Gifts on the second floor, has been losing $3,000 a month since opening in July.
Discussions are under way with Gammon, said Mr Jack Tan, executive director of Select Food Management. The company pays rent to the consortium and manages the two foodcourts. The other tenants pay rental directly to the consortium.
'We understand (the stallholders') difficulties and we have allowed some delays. But, we also need to pay our landlord,' said Mr Tan, 41, who added that nine stallholders who received letters have repaid some of their debt.
Gammon did not respond by press time.
An ITE spokesman said: 'The college has no influence in the commercial deals between the private operator and stallholders.' However, it has nonetheless conveyed its concerns to Gammon. 'It is envisaged that as the public becomes more aware of the new college and as more community events are organised there, patronage of outlets will improve eventually.'
[email protected]
WE EMPATHISE, BUT...
'We understand (the stallholders') difficulties and we have allowed some delays. But, we also need to pay our landlord... Everyone has to work together to see how we can survive.'
Mr Jack Tan, executive director of Select Food Management, which manages the two foodcourts
Many owe rent due to poor business and have been told to vacate
By Jessica Lim
The Thai Cuisine stall in Matrix Cafeteria has closed down and next to go is the Indian Cuisine stall. Twenty out of 39 stallholders were handed lawyer's letters last week ordering them to settle their rental debts or hand over their stalls by today. -- ST PHOTO: ASHLEIGH SIM
PRIVATE businesses at the Institute of Technical Education's (ITE) mega campus in the west are struggling to keep afloat.
The corridors outside the shops are quiet, and walk-in customers are rare - a stark contrast to what they were expecting, said tenants.
The situation seems particularly bad for stallholders in the two cafeterias on the 9.54ha campus in Choa Chu Kang, the first educational institution here to be built under a private-public partnership.
Out of the 39 stallholders, 20 - each with rental arrears of five months or more - were handed lawyer's letters last week ordering them to either settle the debt or hand over their stalls by today.
Other retailers, such as flower shop Puffin Flowers N Gifts and IT shop Mercury Technologies, said they are bleeding money too.
Only a few shops seem to be keeping their heads above water. One is the 7-Eleven outlet, which sells fast food such as fried chicken. It was packed with students yesterday afternoon, and retail assistants there said business is booming.
A $323.7 million contract to build and run the campus for 25 years was awarded to the Gammon Capital consortium in 2008. Its role was to do so under the private-public partnership model, leaving ITE free to focus on academic areas.
The plan was for the campus to house restaurants, shops, a convention centre and even functioning hotel rooms - all open to the public - so students would have hands-on training for future careers in tourism.
But Madam Loh Mei Lin, who owns a wonton noodles stall at Eco Cafeteria on the third floor, said she gets few customers. Since July, five tenants there have called it quits.
The 57-year-old, who signed a three-year contract in July, will be closing down her stall today. She owes more than $17,000 in rental arrears over the past five months.
Mr Xu Guo Chang, 33, who owns the economical rice stall next door, said he is losing $2,000 a month. To cut costs, he fired four of his workers in August. 'We are not getting what the building management promised us in terms of crowds. We feel cheated.'
It is the same story at Matrix Cafeteria downstairs, as well as for 13 other tenants The Straits Times spoke to yesterday.
The owner of an Indian food stall there, Madam Kumai Paramaswari, 43, has not paid a cent in rent since September. 'I am so angry. I took out all my pocket money to try to tide me over this period. Now, they are asking us to move out,' she said, adding that she spent $40,000 to renovate the stall when she moved in last June.
Florist Sylvia Koh, 58, who owns Puffin Flowers N Gifts on the second floor, has been losing $3,000 a month since opening in July.
Discussions are under way with Gammon, said Mr Jack Tan, executive director of Select Food Management. The company pays rent to the consortium and manages the two foodcourts. The other tenants pay rental directly to the consortium.
'We understand (the stallholders') difficulties and we have allowed some delays. But, we also need to pay our landlord,' said Mr Tan, 41, who added that nine stallholders who received letters have repaid some of their debt.
Gammon did not respond by press time.
An ITE spokesman said: 'The college has no influence in the commercial deals between the private operator and stallholders.' However, it has nonetheless conveyed its concerns to Gammon. 'It is envisaged that as the public becomes more aware of the new college and as more community events are organised there, patronage of outlets will improve eventually.'
[email protected]
WE EMPATHISE, BUT...
'We understand (the stallholders') difficulties and we have allowed some delays. But, we also need to pay our landlord... Everyone has to work together to see how we can survive.'
Mr Jack Tan, executive director of Select Food Management, which manages the two foodcourts
