No extension to end-2023 eviction date for Turf City tenants, some of whom have yet to find replacement sites

SINGAPORE — Tenants at Turf City were reminded on Friday (Sept 23) that they will not be given any further extensions on their lease and must vacate by Dec 31, 2023 to make way for residential developments and an upcoming MRT station on the Cross Island Line.

Tenants who spoke to TODAY said that they were not surprised by the reminder, but some of them have not made plans for their businesses beyond the eviction date. 

Owners of sports businesses at the site, which houses facilities such as football fields, also said that they were reluctant to move out of the location, describing their eviction as a "missed opportunity" for the authorities to continue promoting a strong sports presence on the site. 

A joint statement by the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) and the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) on Friday stated that the tenants at Turf City were "reminded again today that no further extensions beyond Dec 31, 2023 will be granted as the Turf City site is required for future residential development". 

The site has been safeguarded for future residential use since the 1998 Master Plan, the authorities added.

On Tuesday, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced that six more stations on the Cross Island Line are expected to be completed by 2032, one of which is Turf City station. 

The station will "improve public transport accessibility and connectivity for the area", SLA and URA said on Friday. 

"The redevelopment of brownfield sites such as Turf City will allow the Government to make optimal use of the land and transport infrastructure." 

SLA has been managing Turf City since 1999, and the site has been leased for lifestyle and recreational uses including retail, food and beverage, sports and recreation, childcare centres and motor vehicle showrooms.

The original tenancies for these interim uses were for periods up to Dec 31, 2020, and since 2019, the tenants have been reminded of the need to vacate the site due to future development plans for Turf City.

"(They) were given two successive 18-month tenancy extensions up to Dec 31, 2023 to allow more time for tenants to firm up their transition and winding down plans... This provided most Turf City tenants with around a four-year lead time to plan their transition," SLA and URA said. 

The two already announced in September last year that the existing tenancies on the site would be granted a final 18-month extension until Dec 31, 2023.

The final eviction date takes into consideration the lead time agencies require to prepare for future residential developments at the site, SLA and URA said.

'REAL WASTE' TO MOVE OUT OF TURF CITY SITE

Most Turf City tenants interviewed by TODAY said they had expected that no more extensions would be granted. 

However, some sports businesses on the site said that the upcoming evictions are a loss for the sports community who had just been returning in droves to Turf City for its various sports offerings after infection controls for the Covid-19 pandemic were eased.

Mr Rajesh Mulani, co-owner of The Cage, which has both football and futsal pitches at Turf City, said that it is "a real waste" that the business had to move out of the site in due time. 

"Sport was in the wilderness for two years, but since early this year, it has come back very strongly," he observed. 

He estimated that The Cage at Turf City now hosts about 100,000 people every month. 

"We were hopeful, if not for anything else, that we could at least get back those years we lost to Covid." 

Agreeing, Mr Tim Lambert, chief executive officer and founder of Centaurs Group, which is a sports complex at Turf City comprising rugby and netball facilities, among others, said that it will be a missed opportunity for sports here in general once this site is redeveloped. 

"(Centaurs Group) has built up an incredible following of sport enthusiasts, participating in team and individual sports... with thousands of kids and adults coming to Turf City on a regular basis to play a multitude of sports," Mr Lambert added. His company has been operating on the site since 2003. 

"If Turf City disappears as a sporting venue, Singapore will be losing at least 10 full-sized sports fields, used for football, rugby, lacrosse American football and cricket, to name a few." 

He hopes that the authorities and the sports businesses can come to a compromise, and have a smaller parcel of land on the site to be set aside for sports facilities, to complement the residential space.

"What we are doing is helping the development of sports among Singaporeans... Let’s discuss what Singapore has to do to ensure the continuity of regular access to sports facilities is maintained," Mr Lambert added.

Some businesses have also not found replacement sites for their businesses. 

Mr Elton Chan, co-owner of car showroom Automobile Gallery, said that he will only start planning for a replacement site when the eviction date draws near. 

He had just shifted four months ago from another location within Turf City to his current spot, which takes up 15 parking lots.

Mr Rajesh has also been unable to find a replacement site where he can operate at the same scale. The area of the football pitches he owns at Turf City spans 90,000 sqm, or about the size of 16 football fields.

"It would be tragic if our customers' active sporting lifestyles have to stop if we are not able to build new facilities to cater to the sporting demand that we have grown at The Cage," he said. 

In Friday's statement, SLA and URA said: "Agencies have already been engaging tenants to assist them in firming up their transition plans and will continue to engage them closely and share information on available sites for open tender."

All tenants may consider taking part in open tenders for state land or properties, taking into account the Dec 31, 2023 deadline in making their transition plans, the authorities added.