The curious case of the empty shop units in popular lifestyle and heritage enclave Joo Chiat
A mix of high costs, planning constraints and uneven footfall may be making it harder for some parts of the popular heritage enclave to attract tenants.
A row of vacant shop units at Atlassia along Joo Chiat Place on May 5, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Jeremy Long)
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In her eight years of running a gym on Joo Chiat Place, Ms Carol R Cabal, 62, has seen neighbouring businesses come and go. But since a wave of redevelopment works ended, one particular row of units has remained empty for months.
The stretch of shuttered spaces on Joo Chiat Place – just off Joo Chiat Road – sits just two doors from her studio, standing out in a neighbourhood that has long been well-known as a popular heritage and lifestyle enclave.
Ms Cabal, who is the co-owner of Tribody Fitness, recalled that the stretch was once home to a cluster of long-time tenants that attracted consistent foot traffic, including popular eateries, a bakery and a wooden furniture store.
Today, the empty units are part of Atlassia, a redevelopment at 30 to 46 Joo Chiat Place. The site was previously occupied by a row of nine two-storey conservation shophouses dating back to 1935.
Developer K16 Development bought the properties en bloc for S$31.8 million (US$25.1 million) in 2021 and redeveloped the site to include residential units alongside the conserved shophouses.
"Construction went on for about three years, and that period was very tough," said Ms Cabal. "It was dusty, disruptive and footfall dropped significantly."
The development received its Temporary Occupation Permit in January 2025, said K16 Development. Nearby business owners told CNA TODAY that they had seen leasing signs go up shortly after.
Now, over a year after development works wrapped up, the mood in the area remains subdued, said Ms Cabal.
Some owners of businesses surrounding Atlassia said that the continuing lack of new tenants has raised concerns about a lasting impact on the area's vibrancy and footfall.
"Previously, the businesses operating along this stretch contributed to a steady flow of people. There was something for everybody," said Ms Cabal. "Now, it just looks deactivated, like something has been switched off."
Not all of Joo Chiat is facing the same issue.
The vacancies along Joo Chiat Place are made all the more pronounced by brisk turnover rates along the more popular Joo Chiat Road – where an outgoing tenant is typically quickly replaced by an incoming one, experts said.
Business owners, property agents and regular visitors to the area told CNA TODAY that a combination of factors – such as high setup costs, rent concerns and the inherent challenges of operating in quieter stretches today – may be making things harder.
WHAT'S BEHIND THE EMPTY UNITS?
The lack of tenancy take-ups in this redevelopment likely involves a mix of factors beyond the development itself, property agents said.
Several agents said the Joo Chiat Place stretch has historically been quieter, with foot traffic usually concentrated in the lower half of Joo Chiat Road, towards East Coast Road – roughly 1km from Joo Chiat Place – and closer to popular malls such as i12 Katong and Parkway Parade.
However, Mr Chee Chin Yong, a property agent of over 20 years and a Joo Chiat resident himself, disagrees with the possibility of the area being "too quiet".
"There are still people coming into the area for some long-time shops here," he said. The bigger issue, he added, is the lack of a strong anchor tenant or major draw to generate consistent footfall.
"If a well-known international or national brand, or even a major supermarket, were to open there, it would help draw crowds. Right now, there isn't that kind of pull."
On the ground, some also point to a possible discrepancy between asking rents for these units and what prospective tenants are willing or able to pay.
As at May 8, listings for some newly developed units show asking rents of about S$8 per square foot (psf) to S$11 psf, translating to roughly S$8,000 to S$10,000 a month for a unit size of 853 sq ft to 1,464 sq ft – although CNA TODAY understands that asking rents for some units are now about half of what landlords were seeking when they first entered the market.
Some agents familiar with the Joo Chiat area told CNA TODAY that such prices are reasonable and aligned with the broader trend of rising rents in the wider Joo Chiat and Katong area.
However, conversations with business owners revealed that the asking rents are seen as high for a unit situated off the main stretch of Joo Chiat Road rather than on it.
According to the property agents, Atlassia's commercial units were quickly sold at relatively high prices when they were launched in 2022.
Based on transaction data compiled by one agent, several retail units at Atlassia are estimated to have sold for about S$3.2 million to S$6 million at launch in 2022, or roughly S$3,600 psf to S$4,100 psf. Comprehensive public data on these transactions is limited.
These relatively high purchase prices, said agents, could have an impact on rental expectations today.
Ms Grace Yang, a director at K16 Development who spearheaded the Atlassia project, said the intention had been to capitalise on its location next to a large open-air car park.
The developer had hoped that this would drive footfall and offer convenience, given the longstanding notoriety of the main road among motorists for difficulties with finding ample parking.
She added that developers typically retain commercial units initially to curate the tenant mix and stabilise rental income, but in this case, strong demand seen at the launch led to the units being sold through a bidding process instead.
"If the developer is managing the units, it would typically be more structured and may be filled faster. But here, the (Atlassia) units were sold to different investors," Ms Yang said, adding that she is no longer involved in the project and does not have visibility on the owners' leasing strategies.
CNA TODAY has reached out to several property agents marketing the vacant units. Some declined to comment, while others did not respond.
At the same time, restrictions on usage for these units may be limiting the pool of potential tenants.
Most agents and businesses CNA TODAY spoke to said food and beverage (F&B) outlets that allow dine-ins would likely do well in the area.
However, tenants seeking to establish more new restaurants at this development face an additional hurdle: Getting approval from the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
The Atlassia project sits between Joo Chiat Road and Still Road. This section of Joo Chiat Place is listed by URA as a "problematic traffic area", where additional eating houses are generally not allowed due to existing traffic and parking concerns. To prevent these issues from worsening, any new proposals for restaurant or eating house use would be subject to approval, said the authority.
As a result, only a small number of units in the development are currently approved for F&B use.
This significantly narrows the pool of viable tenants and directly impacts leasing demand, said Mr Jesmond Lee, managing director of real estate agency Everton Estate.
"You're then looking at uses like offices, gyms, yoga or Pilates studios, or aesthetic clinics – and we've seen a few of these clinics pop up in the Joo Chiat area in the past six to 12 months," he said.
"But in my experience marketing these units, most business owners would still prefer the livelier stretch along Joo Chiat Road (compared to Joo Chiat Place)."
RIPPLE EFFECTS ON BUSINESSES AND NEIGHBOURHOOD
Some operators on Joo Chiat Place, further down from Atlassia, told CNA TODAY that footfall remains steady, buoyed by a mix of retail and F&B tenants that continues to attract visitors.
However, some businesses operating in the area have already seen the prolonged vacancies affecting both footfall and the overall atmosphere.
Tribody Fitness' Ms Cabal said that the drop in footfall following the exit of previous businesses has had a direct effect on her business.
"Over the years, especially for us, many customers came from simply walking past, seeing us in person, and then deciding to try (us out). That kind of organic discovery has gone down."
Mr Ken Cheong, co-owner of Filtr, a lifestyle retail store opposite Atlassia, said that with the empty shop lots, the street feels less vibrant, giving people less reason to walk further down the stretch.
"For neighbouring businesses like ours, this can make a difference because retail and F&B generally benefit from a cluster effect: the more interesting shops, cafes and concepts there are, the more likely people are to explore the area and stay longer."
Likewise, the owner of a nearby business, who wanted to be known only as Mr Bub due to the sensitivity of discussing rents and landlords, said that the current vacancy situation is somewhat of a "double-edged sword" for him.
"If all the shops were fully occupied, it would help bring in footfall, which benefits everyone. But right now, the vacancies affect surrounding businesses," he said.
"At the same time, if the area becomes fully tenanted and more vibrant, landlords may use that as a reason to push rents even higher."
Mr Bub said his rent had risen steadily over the years, and that a drastic increase of about 40 to 50 per cent was proposed at the latest lease renewal – possibly, he added, due to the launch of newer developments in the area.
While he was eventually able to negotiate it down, it was still a "shock" to him.
Ms Gaby Pereira, chief executive of Ais Sarah Pet Manor, a pet grooming business along Joo Chiat Place, agreed that while Joo Chiat is often seen as a "hot spot", footfall can be inconsistent in quieter sections such as Joo Chiat Place.
"A street can look 'famous' on a Saturday but be a ghost town on a Tuesday – yet rents remain at 'Saturday' prices," she said.
On mounting rental pressures in the area, Mr Cheong said that while Joo Chiat rents have generally remained high due to the neighbourhood's status as a tourist draw, rent expectations may not always align with actual footfall across the board.
"Joo Chiat has a strong name now, but not every street or unit gets the same traffic. For independent businesses, the rent must align with real daily footfall, not just the district's overall popularity."
RECOVERY TAKES TIME AND COORDINATION
From Joo Chiat resident and property agent Mr Chee's perspective, leasing delays are ultimately not unusual for new developments, and such negotiations will take time.
"In my experience with new developments, tenants will try to lowball and landlords will take time to respond. That's all part of the process."
At the same time, the consensus among stakeholders and experts is that a strong tenant mix is especially important in smaller offshoot areas like Joo Chiat Place, where individual businesses often rely on one another to attract customers.
A coordinated effort is needed for such areas to recover from extended periods of muted footfall or prolonged vacancies, said Dr Lee Nai Jia, who co-heads PropertyDoctors, a property media platform focused on real estate analysis.
"In smaller clusters, individual landlords may be reluctant to lower rents or invest on their own to attract footfall, as the benefits are shared across the whole stretch," he said.
A street can look 'famous' on a Saturday but be a ghost town on a Tuesday – yet rents remain at 'Saturday' prices.
Dr Lee warned against simply seeking to fill vacancies, as bringing in unsuitable tenants could weaken an area's identity and make recovery harder. Instead, the area would need a stronger mix of tenants and activities that bring people back and encapsulate a clear, cohesive identity for the neighbourhood.
"This may require someone to take on a more coordinated role to rethink the positioning of the stretch, support it with branding and marketing and attract the right mix of businesses," he said.
Lowering rental rates alone may not solve the problem, added Dr Lee, as businesses will still have to contend with renovation, manpower, utilities and marketing costs. Meanwhile, this could slow the area's recovery, as landlords hold out for suitable tenants, thus prolonging vacancies.
Likewise, Mr Edmond Wong, chairman of the Katong-Joo Chiat Business Association, said that shaping the future of the precinct will require coordination across different groups, such as merchants, government agencies and the community.
While areas like Koon Seng Road – home to a host of colourful Peranakan shophouses and wall murals – have become popular with tourists, he believes there is scope to distribute activity and interest more evenly across the wider Joo Chiat and Katong area.
For instance, he pointed to under-explored stretches and even "underused" back lanes that could be turned into more active, usable spaces.
"After mural projects in parts of Katong and Joo Chiat, these spaces could be further enlivened through events or community activities," said Mr Wong, who is also the third-generation owner of dumpling shop Kim Choo Kueh Chang.
"With the right facilitation, more of such efforts could help distribute footfall across the neighbourhood instead of concentrating it in just one area."
In some cases, the ability to stay and operate in the area may come down to the strength of the businesses themselves, said property agent Daryl Ng, who is familiar with the Joo Chiat area.
"Stronger brands tend to give landlords more confidence, especially in locations where footfall is less consistent," he said.
