If only this place can be transformed into holland village, with ang mos.... then it will be a different story...
The 2nd storey hawker now defunct, wonder any plans to rejuvenate this place...
If only this place can be transformed into holland village, with ang mos.... then it will be a different story...
The 2nd storey hawker now defunct, wonder any plans to rejuvenate this place...
Yeah, rock on....
Holland village wannabe dream dashed...........
I visited one of the restaurant here a few days back...No parking lot available at the open carpark so forced to park at the mall basement. I would say the commercial units especially the ones near to the Bedok Walk road entrance have very good potential...All shops are at the ground level and anchor tenant to pull the crowd..quite a few ang mohs around and Cold Storage was crowded too. But a lot of empty shops. Maybe the owners got holding power and don't want to negotiate rent .
even with cheap rent, the business may not work cos that place caters to residents nearby. no one will shop or go there for shopping. its a waste of time to operate a business.
Very hard to sustain la. Not enough people staying there. 1KM radius, less than 2000 households.
Supermarket still ok but other shops might be in trouble. Especially those fashion related shops. Who will go there and shop? Restaurant depends also. There are huge competitions around that area and their competitors are paying much lower rent. So rental has to be on par with those surrounding places.
This was exactly my thinking when I looked at this development about 2 years back. too ulu to make money. Gave it a miss at that time. Business like Cold Storage, Hong Kong Street etc wont select a flop location where they don't see the potential to make money.
Found this mall directory online - a very good mix of occupants..
http://www.east-village.sg/mall-directory/
Visited EastVillage two months back, phone reception is totally cut when inside the commercial area. Has this issue been soon?
True, competition is rife with giant aka cold storage own lesser sibling just opposite. They are trying to suit a different clientele base I guess but when I went a month ago, many shops were vacant but the Chinese restaurant there seems to be coping fine. Not sure how much has changed then but I'm not too optimistic as the location isn't quite there to attract enough shoppers, imho.
Thank you all for your comments...I went during the Christmas week, so possible that it felt more vibrant. Will recce this development again next week.
I got a chance to checkout East Village commercial a few days back. Quite a few empty units and a long way to go for full occupancy.
I spent time studying the development and here are my views.
The few businesses with steady stream of patrons were:
1. Cold Storage – I didn’t see shoppers buying trolley load of goods heading towards car park/ car pickup-dropoff area but the business was moving. The majority of crowd was expat, walking towards the bus stop and Casa Merah, Optima side.
2. Restaurants - facing the main road.
3. Laundry Services – Saw patrons at iPark Laundry (#01-33) which seemed to be doing well. Their brochures stated home pick-up services and also monthly packages.
4. Alteration Services – (#01-32 if I am not wrong) forgot the shop name.
5. Manicure/Pedicure – Steady flow of customers.
Also saw one of the shops beside Time Table (#01-01) conducting cookery lessons for kids which was interesting.
Spoke to few agents there to hear their marketing pitch. Some shops moved business from Bedok Shopping Complex and they expect more customers once the condos near Tanah Merah mrt is completed. One also mentioned Bedok Shopping Complex lease nearing end. Human traffic-wise, shops near the first entrance towards Bedok Walk were doing well. They expect the business to pick up pace as there is no other new shopping/dining options walkable for the tenants renting in nearby condos.
Not making any investment for now but I like the freehold status, new shops which is within my budget, all shops in ground floor and reputable anchor tenant. If at all I invest here, it has to be an already tenanted shop..else its going to be a long wait for tenants to bite.
I personally think MMs and mixed developments go very well. No place to hang clothes and no time to dry clothes - sub it out, especially if they collect at doorstep. No time to cook - eat anywhere nearby or downstairs. Groceries all downstairs, can even leave fridge empty.
The three laws of Kelonguni:
Where there is kelong, there is guni.
No kelong no guni.
More kelong = more guni.