Renewal at New Tech Park’s niche lifestyle mall NTP+
By Cecilia Chow
/ EdgeProp Singapore |
Exterior of NTP+ mall and New Tech Park industrial building after asset enhancements (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - Donald Han, CEO of Sabana REIT, whose office is at New Tech Park on Lorong Chuan, makes it a point to lunch at the F&B outlets in the lifestyle mall NTP+. It is also where he entertains business associates and visitors. “We should support our tenants,” he says. “I tell all my staff to do the same.”
Sabana REIT’s annual general meeting last month was held at the auditorium of New Tech Park, with catering done by the F&B tenants of NTP+. “We must support our ecosystem,” says Han.
On weekends, the auditorium becomes the venue for the congregation of Hope Church.
Han: Besides the tenants in New Tech Park, NTP+ serves the community – the residents in the neighbourhood and the student population (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
NTP+ at New Tech Park in Lorong Chuan opened in mid-2021. The two-storey mall has 43,000 sq ft of gross floor area and is almost fully leased. “However, unlike an industrial warehouse, retail space needs to be refreshed,” says Han.
Two new tenants moved in last month. Family restaurant Fish & Co took over the space previously occupied by The Social Alley café. Chef Wai’s Noodle Bar took over the space vacated by Yam’s Signature Chinese restaurant which closed on March 31.
A popular outlet among students in the neighbouring schools was Novo Acai & Granola. However, it closed last month. A German kebab stall with a new takeaway concept will soon be taking its pace.
Fish & Co family restaurant moved in last April, taking the space previously occupied by The Social Alley café (Photo: Sabana REIT)
Two other kiosk spaces have remained vacant since last December. “We have had a growing number of enquiries for restaurant space at NTP+,” says Han. “We are exploring converting these F&B takeaway kiosks into restaurant units with dine-in seating.”
However, Han notes that such conversions are subject to regulatory approval, with tenants having to procure permits for structural changes or ventilation modifications.
Before NTP+ mall, the space was just a void, with a driveway ramp to the second floor, relates Han. There was a waterfall feature facing Lorong Chuan and limited F&B amenities: a Coffee Bean outlet in front and a canteen at the rear. The two-storey commercial extension and asset enhancement of New Tech Park came with a bonus floor area. It is now a lush, landscaped deck for tenants and the community. It was nominated for the Singapore Landscape Awards in 2022, says Han.
The bonus gross floor area has been turned into a landscaped deck on the second level (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
“Retail and F&B are important components for New Tech Park, our crown jewel,” he adds. A six-storey industrial building with a two-storey retail extension (the NTP+ mall), New Tech Park has a total gross floor area of 866,140 sq ft. It is the biggest asset among the 18 buildings in Sabana REIT’s portfolio. Last valued at $362.7 million as at Dec 31, 2022, New Tech Park accounts for 41% of Sabana REIT’s total portfolio value.
There are 25 retail and F&B units on the first level of NTP+ and a food court on the second level. About two-thirds of the space is occupied by F&B tenants, with the remaining one-third by retail tenants such as Ace Signature supermarket, Anytime Fitness gym, and Tree Art, an art school.
Wine Connection opened a retail shop and restaurant concept at NTP+ two years ago. Dutch Colony coffee bar and café opened over a year ago. Indonesian fast food outlet D’Penyetz opened at NTP+ two years ago. Today, it has 13 outlets across Singapore.
Wine Connection opened its store and bistro at NTP+ two years ago (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
The anchor tenant taking up one-third of the space at NTP+ is SF Group, which opened five F&B outlets there two years ago: its signature Collin’s restaurant, Kopi Clan cafe, Saveur Thai restaurant, Clan 7 Chinese restaurant and Foodies’ Clan food court. “NTP+ was the springboard for SF Group to create a multi-concept F&B destination and to test new concepts that it could launch elsewhere,” notes Han.
Ace Signature supermarket opened its first outlet at NTP+ and has since opened outlets at Woodlands Square, Serangoon North Avenue 2, and a 24-hour supermarket at Liv@Changi on Upper Changi Road.
Condos near NTP+ include the 452-unit Chuan Park, the 390-unit Goldenhill Park, the 372-unit The Springbloom and the 500-unit Chiltern Park. Private housing estates nearby include Mei Huan Drive, Tai Hwan Park, Golden Hill Estate and Serangoon Garden. Schools in the vicinity include Australian International School, St Gabriel’s Primary School and Nanyang Junior College.
Ace Signature supermarket at NTP+ was the supermarket operator’s flagship outlet (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
“Besides the tenants in New Tech Park, NTP+ serves the community — the residents in the neighbourhood and the student population,” says Han. “The sweet spot is around 4pm on weekdays, when you see the students coming, mainly from the Australian International School. Typically, 2pm to 5pm on weekdays is the quietest time for most malls. But now, some tenants offer promotions to attract students.”
The retail sector is going through “a tough time” this year, with the higher GST kicking in and the withdrawal of Covid-related government support schemes. “Since the start of the year, labour and material costs have also increased,” notes Han.
However, he is confident that prospective tenants will “recognise the opportunities that NTP+ mall will provide their businesses”.
The Foodies’ Clan food court on the second level of NTP+ has nine stalls and a seating capacity of 200 (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
NTP+ mall: The launchpad for SF Group’s new-to-market brands
In the middle of 2021, SF Group opened its first multi-concept F&B destination with five different offerings at the new lifestyle mall NTP+ on Lorong Chuan. Four of the five are on the mall’s first level: Collin’s, Kopi Clan café, Saveur Thai restaurant and Clan 7 Chinese restaurant. The fifth is the food court, Foodies’ Clan, on the second level. The food court has nine food stalls and a seating capacity of 200.
According to Jonathan Lim, chief development officer of SF Group, the five F&B outlets combined occupy about a third of the total gross floor area of 43,000 sq ft at NTP+. This makes it the anchor tenant of the two-storey mall, part of the New Tech Park industrial building.
SF Group has rolled out three new-to-market F&B concepts at NTP+: Clan 7 Chinese restaurant, Kopi Clan café and Foodies’ Clan food court.
Saveur Thai’s first full-fledged restaurant at NTP+ (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Lim says that Saveur Thai had operated as a food stall in the Food Loft coffee shops until it opened its first “full-fledged restaurant” at NTP+.
“Before we take on a new place, we always do a feasibility study,” says Lim. “Even though most people were still working from home during Covid, NTP+ still saw traffic from the residents in the neighbouring private condos and Serangoon Gardens housing estate and the schools nearby.”
Now that most people have returned to work, the office lunch crowd has returned, adds Lim. “Business at NTP+ has stabilised.”
Lunchtime on weekdays is the busiest as it caters to “the office crowd”, primarily those working at New Tech Park, says Edmund Ng, COO of SF Group.
Clan 7 Chinese restaurant is one of the new-to-market F&B offerings by SF Group at NTP+ (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Students and teachers from nearby Australian International School, Nanyang Junior College and St Gabriel’s Primary School also patronise the F&B outlets in the afternoons.
“The Australian International School students start streaming in at around 3pm to 4pm,” notes Ng. “Parents may stop by for lunch or coffee before picking up their children at St Gabriel’s Primary School. At other times, you may see the parents bringing the children here for meals after school. Alternatively, you see the helpers picking up the children after school and buying food home.”
SF Group was co-founded in 2011 by executive chairman Alex Chia and executive director Michelle Leow. A decade earlier, Chia and Leow co-founded the Food Loft coffee shop chain, which formed the foundation of the F&B group.
Jonathan Lim, chief development officer of SF Group (left) and Edmund Ng, COO of SF Group (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Another critical pillar of SF Group is Collin Ho. He initially launched his eponymous Collin’s Western cuisine as a one-man operator in a Food Loft coffee shop in Geylang before expanding along with the Food Loft chain. Ho joined the co-founders of SF Group as executive chef and CEO in 2012.
While Collin’s and Food Loft remain signature brands in the SF portfolio, the group now has at least 15 F&B brands. “These are all concepts created in-house by our chefs and culinary experts according to the opportunities in the marketplace,” says Lim.
The group has more than 900 staff, mainly operational staff. SF Group’s headquarters at New Tech Park industrial building houses mainly the support staff, notes Lim.
The first Kopi Clan café opened at NTP+ two years ago (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Since opening five different F&B concepts at NTP+ two years ago, SF Group has opened two new restaurants at the refurbished Shaw Plaza on Balestier Road in March: Collin’s and Japanese restaurant Ontama Don.
Besides Shaw Plaza, the group has expanded further by opening Collin’s restaurants at the newly opened Sengkang Grand Mall and Woodleigh Mall. Next month, Collin’s will open at the new Bird Park in Mandai.
SF Group now operates the Grab canteen, Makan@Grab, at its one-north headquarters; the staff canteen at Changi Terminal 2 as a Foodies’ Clan food court; and a FoodLoft @ Space at Tampines, a B2 industrial building. SF Group opened its biggest food court, Foodies’ Garden, at Hougang Mall last year.
“The Singapore market is small, and it’s easy to reach saturation point,” Lim observes. “Having more brands is essential for growing market share in the industry.”
Check out the latest listings near New Tech Park, Chuan Park, Goldenhill Park, The Springbloom, Chiltern Park, St Gabriel’s Primary School, Nanyang Junior College
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