Yishun residents can look forward to a new integrated development at Chong Pang City that will have swimming pools, a gym and fitness studios, as well as an upgraded hawker centre and community club.
The construction of the 0.9ha development at Yishun New Town's first neighbourhood town centre is slated to be completed in 2027.
The multi-storey development, which will be tentatively named Chill @ Chong Pang, will be located at the site of Chong Pang Community Club (CC) in Yishun Ring Road and Block 102 Yishun Avenue 5. The CC will be redeveloped and the block acquired.
The new development will also have space for commercial shops, and will provide more parking space.
Hawkers and stallholders from the existing Chong Pang Market and Food Centre, which was built in 1984, can relocate to the new integrated development when it is ready, said the Singapore Land Authority (SLA), the People's Association, the National Environment Agency and Sport Singapore in a joint media statement yesterday.
The existing hawker centre, which is near the CC, when vacated, will be redeveloped into a community plaza by 2028. There are currently 179 stalls in the market and hawker centre, comprising 56 cooked food stalls and 123 market stalls.
Construction of the new integrated development is expected to start in the second half of 2022. Chong Pang CC will close in the first half of 2022 to make way for construction works, and reopen as part of the integrated development.
Speaking at a virtual media conference yesterday, Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam, who is an MP for Nee Soon GRC, said the new development will be a more efficient use of land space that can cater to the needs of residents in Yishun and the northern region.
The authorities also said that more interesting programmes will be rolled out for residents at the development.
Mr Shanmugam said that all existing hawkers at Chong Pang Market will be offered replacement stalls. Those currently receiving subsidies on rental will continue to receive subsidies at the upgraded hawker centre, while others paying the market rate will continue to do so.
Hawkers can operate as usual at the current hawker centre until the integrated development is ready, he added.
However, shop owners and tenants at Block 102, a four-storey Housing Board commercial block, will be affected, as the block will be acquired by SLA for the new development. It comprises 17 shops on the first floor that had been sold to storeholders, and 51 shops rented out by the HDB.
The block has no residential units.
SLA said that it will work closely with the affected shop owners and tenants at the block, and assist them through the acquisition process. They will have to move out by Dec 31 next year.
In response to queries, an SLA spokesman said the owners of the 17 shops on the first floor will be paid market value for the acquired property as at the date of the acquisition.
In addition to the market value of the acquired shop, they will also be compensated for reasonable expenses such as relocation fees and stamp and legal fees for the replacement property, if applicable.
A professional private valuer will also be appointed to assist in determining the market value of the acquired shops. SLA said it will consider the claims, if any, submitted by the affected shop owners.
Some owners of the affected shops hope the deadline given for them to move out can be extended. An owner of a barbecued meat store at Block 102, who wanted to be known only as Mr Lim, asked to be given one or two more years to do so.
"Because we own our current store, we do not have to worry about paying rent amid the uncertain Covid-19 situation. But there will be more financial uncertainty for us if we have to move before the crisis has blown over," he said.
Mr David Lim, 56, who owns a sundry goods store at the Chong Pang market, said he is looking forward to moving to the new development. "The new place will be cleaner and have more facilities, and it is good that it will remain at this central location. We'll probably continue to see many customers at the new facility."
