http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/...pment-20140326

Eunos Industrial Estate tenants to be relocated ahead of redevelopment

Published on Mar 26, 2014


HUNDREDS of tenants in 26 blocks at Eunos Industrial Estate will be relocated to Ang Mo Kio as the Housing Board plans for the redevelopment of the estate.

HDB will offer tenants of the 399 affected units replacement space in a new high-rise industrial complex in Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 3.

The 4.7ha complex in Ang Mo Kio is due for completion in mid-2018. The tenants will stay at Eunos until then.

Eligible tenants will get a goodwill payment of $48,000 per relocated unit to defray relocation costs.

They will also be offered a rent-free fitting-up period of two to six months. Rents for the replacement units will be set at the market rate as when the tenant selects the new unit, or as of the date the new tenancy starts, whichever is lower.

The relocation is part of HDB's industrial redevelopment programme (IRP), launched in 1997 to "recycle, redevelop and intensify" existing HDB-managed industrial land and to relocate pollutive businesses, HDB said.

This will mark the 14th batch of relocations under the IRP. To date, HDB has relocated about 3,000 industrial units islandwide to new high-rise industrial complexes.

Completed in 1981, the Eunos Industrial Estate originally housed 1,089 units.

Four batches of its tenants have been relocated so far, including the current batch of 399 units.

HDB aims to announce more redevelopment plans for the remaining part of the industrial estate in the next five years.

However, existing tenancies in Eunos Industrial Estate unaffected by redevelopment plans will continue to be renewed for up to three years.

In a separate announcement, two industrial land sites at Tuas South Street 9 were released for sale by government landlord JTC yesterday.

The plots can be used for light industry, general industry and warehousing.

Each site comes with a lease of 21 years and two months, with a land area and total floor area of about 90,000 sq ft.

Interested industrialists can put in a bid for the sites before their tenders close on May 6.

IVAN TEO