Tenants await outcome of The Centrepoint’s partial collective sale effort

SINGAPORE - The first 30 years of business for Optics Premier, located in the rear block of The Centrepoint, were a boom time, as it rode the foot traffic generated by the Orchard Road mall’s then anchor tenants such as Robinsons, the department store.

“Robinsons’ sales would draw crowds. Every day, we had five to six tourists, regular customers and walk-ins to our shop,” said Ms Lim Siew Lian, a partner in the eyecare retailer, which opened in 1983.

But things gradually slowed, some tenants observed, when Robinsons moved out in 2014 after 31 years, Marks & Spencer closed its Centrepoint outlet in 2015 and Metro closed its flagship store in 2019, after five years as its anchor tenant.

The growth of suburban malls and newer Orchard Road malls also reduced the allure of older shopping centres, said Ms Lim, who joined the shop as an intern in 1996 and became a partner in 2018.

The 43-year-old mall underwent a $50 million overhaul in 2015 to refresh its tenant mix and layout but faced pressure from the rise of e-commerce, competition from suburban malls, and then the Covid-19 pandemic.

Newer tenants like Trapped, one of the largest escape rooms in Singapore, attract corporate customers, but “not the type of clientele who would come to our shop”, said Ms Lim.

However, there may be a third act yet for Optics Premier and other tenants, who are watching closely a collective sale of The Centrepoint’s rear block, comprising 66 strata retail units and 66 residential apartments.

Buzz about the redevelopment prospects of one of Orchard Road’s most prime retail areas has been growing with the recent sale efforts for the leasehold block and Cuppage Terrace, a strip of 17 conservation shophouses directly facing it.

“We are keen to carry on around this area, and will explore all options,” said Ms Lim, who noted that it was still too early to say.

Developed by Frasers Centrepoint (now Frasers Property), The Centrepoint’s rear block was put up for collective sale at $418 million on Jan 7. Two weeks later, Raj Kumar’s Royal Holdings launched an expression of interest (EOI) exercise for Cuppage Terrace valued at $250 million.

Marketing agent CBRE did not respond when asked about the results of Cuppage Terrace’s EOI exercise, which closed on Feb 12.

But Mr Clemence Lee, CBRE’s executive director of capital markets (Singapore), told The Straits Times on Jan 30 that it received “strong interest with over 50 inquiries to date from local and foreign developers, end-users, boutique real estate funds, ultra-high-net-worth family offices and corporates”.

“Given a surge in investor demand for retail assets in recent months, the owner has received multiple unsolicited approaches. In the light of this, it decided to formally launch the property for sale,” he said.

The tender for the leasehold portion of The Centrepoint closes on Feb 26. The remaining 151 retail units in a freehold front block, the majority of which are owned by Frasers, are not part of the tender.

Frasers, which also owns 52 per cent of the units in the rear block by strata area, is seen as the front runner to buy the rear block.

It is also well positioned to draw on the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s Strategic Development Incentive (SDI) scheme, which encourages owners of commercial buildings to come up with a joint redevelopment proposal with their neighbours to transform the street or precinct.

In order to apply for the SDI, Frasers would need to amalgamate two contiguous sites for redevelopment, Professor Sing Tien Foo, provost’s chair professor of real estate at NUS Business School, said.

If Frasers acquires the rear block, it will have several redevelopment options, including combining both front and rear blocks, or adding 51 Cuppage Road, a nearby 10-storey office building it owns, to create a larger plot for redevelopment into an integrated mixed-use project, Prof Sing explained.

“The Centrepoint faces competition from newer developments such as 313@Somerset and Orchard Gateway,” he added.

On why Cuppage Terrace was put up for sale within weeks of The Centrepoint’s collective sale effort, he noted that the timing of both sale efforts is “strategic”.

If the buyer of the rear block of The Centrepoint also buys Cuppage Terrace, both sites could be amalgamated and their value enhanced, providing access to Kramat Road, Cuppage Road and Orchard Road, he explained.

If Frasers does not end up buying The Centrepoint’s rear block, Prof Sing said “the rear block alone will not meet the SDI criteria, and the lack of frontage to Orchard Road could also limit the highest and best use”.

“The rear block, if not integrated with the front parcel, may be redeveloped into either residential/serviced apartments or hotel uses, where the frontage to Orchard Road will be less critical, if not used as retail,” he said.

Ms Sunita Pawa, owner of Angelique Boutique at The Centrepoint for over 30 years, believes that the collective sale of The Centrepoint, once the grande dame of Orchard Road, is a good idea and hopes that the future buyer will upgrade the mall’s tenant mix.

But she is unlikely to stay around once her lease ends in December, said the 66-year-old, who had postponed her retirement when the pandemic began. The designer and seamstresses in her customised bridal wear and cheongsam shop are now in their 70s and want to retire.

“I was supposed to retire in 2020, but there was still business and my staff were still willing to work. And during the pandemic from 2020 to 2023, Frasers gave me a lot of incentives to stay on. If I wanted a 10-month lease, they would let me renew. That was very helpful,” she said.  

The Straits Times observed there are a few vacant spaces on the first and second floors of the shopping centre, and Ollie Kitchen & Bar, a Western food joint, has also vacated its premises on the first floor.

When asked about The Centrepoint’s vacancies, Frasers said it continues to attract steady shopper traffic and has achieved an occupancy rate of about 98 per cent in its 2025 financial year from Oct 1, 2024 to Sept 30, 2025.

“We currently do not have any definite redevelopment plans and are committed to keeping tenants informed should there be any change in direction,” a Frasers spokesperson said.

When asked about its concept on what constitutes a successful tenant mix, Frasers said The Centrepoint has, among other things, brought in brands such as Carousell Luxury, the first physical store by Carousell, and Song Gye Ok, a Korean chicken-speciality charcoal grill brand, over the past year.

To attract more foot traffic, Play United, an 8,000 sq ft entertainment venue, recently held a Pokemon tradeshow.

The Centrepoint will also launch two new initiatives in March – including a tourist privilege programme – together with neighbouring Orchard Road hotels that will offer shopping privileges to international visitors from March to December.

Hopefully more tourists will shop at The Centrepoint and not just dine there, a staff member at a shoe shop who declined to be named said. She noted that some travel agencies take tourists only to dine at Din Tai Fung and other restaurants, but leave without shopping.

Optics Premier hopes to stay on at the shopping centre because of its location.

“If the front block remains as is, and if there is a vacancy, we may consider moving there. I believe Frasers does treasure our relationship over the years and will approach us to see what options are available,” Ms Lim said.

Her partner and founder of Optics Premier, Mr V.K. Foo, is also not ready to call it quits. He said: “The reason we have been here for 42 years is that there is a group of people, a more (senior) group, who love coming to Centrepoint because it is very clean, very safe and well-managed.”