SLA extends lease on indie arts enclave 195 Pearl’s Hill Terrace to March 2028

SINGAPORE – 195 Pearl’s Hill Terrace (195PHT) – home to fledgling arts businesses and a hang-out for creatives – will get a longer stay as an independent arts cluster following the Singapore Land Authority’s (SLA) extension of its lease till March 2028, master tenant Jerry Tan tells The Straits Times.

Mr Tan, who has leased the gazetted building from the SLA since 2007, says his sub-tenants are “overjoyed and hope to continue with their art dreams here and contribute more to the community”. More than 95 per cent of his sub-tenants are start-ups, he told ST in 2024.

In response to ST’s queries, an SLA spokesperson said the tenancy was renewed “to facilitate business continuity amidst the ongoing review of detailed development plans and timelines for the area by the relevant agencies”.

In January 2024, the arts enclave’s fate seemed uncertain as the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) announced tentative plans to “revitalise the conserved former police barracks”. ST reported on

the struggles of independent arts clusters in Singapore due to rent hikes, uncertain leases and urban development

, including the worries of the community at 195PHT with its lease ending in March 2025.

Subsequently, in February 2024, Minister for Home Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam visited the Chinatown arts enclave and

asked the relevant agencies to assess the lease and find alternatives for the tenants

. Mr Shanmugam told ST that the place “makes for a better soul for Singapore”.

Over the past year, Mr Tan collated information from his more than 150 tenants about their contributions to charity and the community for the agencies to assess. 

Now that the authority’s decision has been made, Mr Tan plans to create more opportunities for the artists to collaborate and connect with the public. With unit rental starting at $500, he hopes “for emerging artists to experiment with guidance from the arts community here”.

Mr Raymond Luo, creative director of jewellery atelier Clink Clank Clunk at 195PHT, welcomes the extension. “The three-year extension gives us more time to continue to grow and gives hope to creative and artistic individuals who may feel like it is an impossible task to start an art business on your own.”

Mr Luo has been actively bringing the 195PHT community together and has created a website documenting the arts enclave.

He adds: “Even when there was less than year left (to our tenancy), we still had new tenants coming into 195PHT, which I think displayed the Singapore spirit and a willingness to take entrepreneurial risks to be part of the local art scene.”

In May 2024, the SLA told ST that the tenancy of the site had been extended for one year to March 2026 “to support transition plans”, adding that “the review of detailed development plans and timelines for the area is ongoing”.

195PHT is home to Mandopop music schools, art jam and ceramic studios, tattoo parlours and art retail stores. With the master tenant providing flexible rental arrangements to his sub-tenants, many of which are businesses, 195PHT plugs gaps in the arts housing ecosystem currently not covered under the National Arts Council’s arts housing scheme.

In the past year, the eccentric arts cluster has played host to a kids’ festival, social mixer series Stranger Conversations, as well as Mediacorp-produced reality television series #MindOurBusiness, which curates and sells pre-loved goods by celebrities.