SINGAPORE: A once-busy retail stretch at Tanjong Pagar MRT station has fallen quiet, with the majority of its units now shuttered after tenants moved out amid lease uncertainties.
When CNA visited the station's basement 1 level on Mar 9 and Mar 20, only 15 of the 45 units appeared to be occupied. Among them, the Singapore Red Cross Academy occupies six units. The rest comprise six food and beverage stalls, a convenience store, a mobile repair shop and a nail salon.
The remaining units were closed, with only a handful of people passing through.
Transport operator SMRT's advertising and retail arm Stellar Lifestyle said that factors such as its current operational licence over the station, which will expire in September 2031, have led to difficulty in attracting new tenants. The 2031 expiration of SMRT’s current rail licence was announced in 2016.
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Besides competition from newer developments, such as Guoco Tower, Stellar Lifestyle said several structural and regulatory factors limit the ability to undertake long-term leasing or major upgrading works.
Business analysts said that SMRT could have ramped up efforts to attract tenants earlier, such as by revitalising the space to better compete with the surrounding developments.
Tenants who have stayed at the station said footfall has fallen sharply, with several reporting revenue declines of between 30 and 50 per cent over the past year.
“Every day, customers ask me if the entire retail area is closing down. This is worse than during COVID,” said food stall Crunch Salad's owner, who only wanted to be known as Ms Wu.
“I hope SMRT can do more to tell the public that there are still shops here.”
Retail premises at SMRT-operated MRT stations, such as Tanjong Pagar, are managed by Stellar Lifestyle. At stations operated by SBS Transit, including those on the Downtown Line, retail spaces are managed directly by SBS Transit.
Although the respective transport operators run the stations and oversee retail operations, the station and rail assets are owned by the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
Crunch Salad sits amid shuttered stalls on Mar 20, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Justin Ong)
Ms Wu said the uncertainty began when she received conflicting information from SMRT about how long her lease would run.
Between 2024 and last year, lease extensions of between three months and a year were offered to her on different occasions.
In August last year, she was offered an extension to February this year. In February, she was told that she could stay until 2028.
Ms Wu showed CNA the email correspondence between her and Stellar Lifestyle over the extension of her lease. In the end, she declined to take up the offer – given the poor business – and instead signed a shorter contract that expires this year. CNA was shown a copy of the contract.
She added that she is uncertain whether her 12-year-old business can survive the damage already done – her revenue has fallen by 50 per cent as more shops move out.
“In that period, two to three shops nearby could not take the uncertainty, and so they moved out,” she said. Tenants that left in the past year included a shoe shop, a laundromat and a dim sum stall.
Mostly vacant units at Tanjong Pagar MRT station's basement 1 level on Mar 9, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Justin Ong)
Mr Timothy Ng, store manager of coffee stall Jing Ying Corner, near the exit to Guoco Tower, shared the same concerns.
While he signed a contract to operate until 2028, a copy of which was shown to CNA, he said there remained some uncertainty.
“We don’t know when we are going to be chased away, because they (SMRT) keep telling us there are plans to renovate the station. But they don’t give us a confirmed timeline,” he said.
Mr Ng recalled that the area was thriving when his stall opened in 2020, even during the pandemic. “You could see people walking around at any point of time. But nowadays, when you come here after 2pm, it’s dead.”
Over the past year, the family business has seen sales fall by about 30 per cent.
Mr Ng said his family may eventually close the stall when his father, who helps run it, decides to retire. "We're just waiting to see what happens."
F&B stall Jia Yuan Creamy Salted Egg Rice also reported a 30 per cent dip in revenue. Operations manager Stanley Andrew pointed to broader changes in the area, such as offices relocating and more workers opting to work from home, as contributing factors alongside the vacant shops.
Mr Timothy Ng, store manager of Jing Ying Corner. The shop is one of the few that remain open at Tanjong Pagar MRT station. (Photo: CNA/Justin Ong)
Stellar Lifestyle said that the current rail licence for it to operate the North-South Line, East-West Line and Circle Line under the New Rail Financing Framework will expire on Sep 30, 2031.
This licence includes the rights to operate commercial spaces within the train stations on these lines. This includes the retail space at Tanjong Pagar.
"Under the current regulatory framework, commercial leases are not allowed to be extended beyond the rail licence tenure.
"As such, the remaining licence period limits the ability to offer longer-term leases or undertake major capital investments that require a longer recovery period," said Stellar Lifestyle.
When asked why some units had to sign leases ending in 2028 instead of 2031, Stellar Lifestyle did not respond to the question.
But it said that other factors, such as increased competition from nearby developments like Guoco Tower, and declining footfall across the central business district since the COVID-19 pandemic, have led to the space being less competitive.
The retail units at Tanjong Pagar station are located on a mezzanine level that is not along the natural commuter flow, it added. This makes them less visible and accessible compared to retail spaces in nearby developments.
"Taken together, these factors make it more difficult to attract tenants that require longer leases to amortise their capital investment.
"For instance, larger F&B concepts such as food halls may require investments of around S$5 million, which would typically require a significantly longer lease tenure," said Stellar Lifestyle.
Stellar Lifestyle's general manager of transit properties Raymond Ng said his team managed to find an interested anchor tenant in 2025 who could take on the entire basement 1 retail area at Tanjong Pagar station.
"From experience, we know this works, especially after we successfully refreshed the retail mix at Orchard station, led by a popular flagship brand," he said.
CNA understands that the deal did not proceed due to uncertainties over the lease beyond 2031.
Mr Ng said SMRT will continue exploring ways to find new tenants to keep the retail space active and vibrant. Stellar Lifestyle is also in discussions with LTA on plans for the Tanjong Pagar station retail space.
Options such as novation arrangements have been explored, which could allow longer-term sub-tenancies, and to review possible approaches for stations affected.
Novation is a legal process in which an existing contract is replaced by a new one.
CNA has contacted LTA for more information on whether it is open to exploring such novation agreements, or if it is reviewing an option to allow tenancy extensions beyond 2031.
SMRT could have revitalised the retail area earlier to attract and retain tenants, in view that it could only lease shops out until 2031, said analysts.
"But clearly, it is an issue now, in terms of when tenants see that the lease ends very soon, it just puts them off," said Mr Song Seng Wun, economic advisor at local fintech firm SDAX. Mr Song is also a Tanjong Pagar resident, and had observed the decline of the retail stretch.
"If SMRT had done something during the COVID period or just after, maybe they could have got more tenants."
He added that many tenants would have also seen developments in the surrounding area putting in more capital to revitalise their spaces.
"If potential tenants don't see any efforts put in by the landlord to spruce up the place, they have lots of other options around them," he said. "Simply put, there's no 'vibes'."
Professor Lawrence Loh from the National University of Singapore's Business School said that in general, retail spaces in MRT stations are a hard sell.
"These MRT retail spaces are limited by size, they have no ambience ... the unique selling point is not there, it's not a place that people usually hang around and make purchases," said Prof Loh.
On SMRT’s efforts to attract an anchor tenant, Prof Loh said such tenants typically need more than a five-year timeline.
But the same cannot be said for smaller units. “Usually their leases are one to two years,” he said.
He added that while LTA is the owner of the premises, its "mission" is in transportation, and not retail.
"It has to be on the MRT company to make any deal attractive," he said.
He added that a continuity of leases could be explored by both LTA and SMRT beyond 2031, should there be a switch in transport operators.
"A new broom cannot sweep clean just like that, there could be a continuity of leases," he said.
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Shopowners said the vacant units may be difficult to fill even if SMRT tried, given the additional costs and requirements involved.
Because the units sit above a live railway line, tenants must install their own water piping and obtain extra regulatory approvals before opening. Mr Ng said this meant he spent roughly twice as much on renovations as he would have at a typical retail location, and setup still took more than three months – despite SMRT granting a two-month rental waiver.
Tenants are also required to restore units to their original condition when vacating, adding to the financial burden.
The stricter setup and reinstatement requirements, coupled with uncertainty over lease duration, make the units difficult to market, Mr Ng said.
Stellar Lifestyle said that the lack of tenants is further compounded by the ageing infrastructure at Tanjong Pagar station.
F&B operators form a significant proportion of potential tenants, but they will usually require substantial upgrades, such as increased electrical capacity and kitchen exhaust systems.
“Given the limited tenure available, both operators and the landlord face challenges in justifying the scale of investment required,” said Stellar Lifestyle.
Despite these constraints, Stellar Lifestyle said it has continued efforts to keep the retail spaces active and viable through various means, such as:
Stellar Lifestyle added that the challenges faced at Tanjong Pagar are not unique. For instance, retail spaces at Raffles Place MRT station faced similar post-COVID challenges, but occupancy has since recovered to about 97 per cent.
When CNA visited retail spaces at other MRT stations in central areas, they did not appear to face the same issues as Tanjong Pagar.
At Orchard station, the retail space on basement 1 was mostly occupied by arcade chain Timezone. There was at least one vacancy among the remaining units, which comprised F&B and wellness businesses.
At Raffles Place station, the retail space in the basement had no visible vacancies, with a mix of F&B, fashion and pharmaceutical businesses. It has multiple entrances and exits to other nearby malls, and saw sizable footfall.
At Dhoby Ghaut station, the basement 1 retail space also had no noticeable vacancies, with F&B businesses and a co-working space amongst the tenants.
A more secluded corner of the premises, closer to the North East Line, was also tenanted by two dance studios.
"The mezzanine layout at Tanjong Pagar presents additional structural limitations that make revitalisation more challenging," said Stellar Lifestyle.
“Stellar Lifestyle will continue working with tenants, partners and relevant agencies to keep these spaces active, while recognising that longer-term solutions will depend on the broader regulatory and licensing framework governing the rail network."
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When CNA visited the station's basement 1 level on Mar 9 and Mar 20, only 15 of the 45 units appeared to be occupied. Among them, the Singapore Red Cross Academy occupies six units. The rest comprise six food and beverage stalls, a convenience store, a mobile repair shop and a nail salon.
The remaining units were closed, with only a handful of people passing through.
Transport operator SMRT's advertising and retail arm Stellar Lifestyle said that factors such as its current operational licence over the station, which will expire in September 2031, have led to difficulty in attracting new tenants. The 2031 expiration of SMRT’s current rail licence was announced in 2016.
CNA Games
Show More Show Less
Besides competition from newer developments, such as Guoco Tower, Stellar Lifestyle said several structural and regulatory factors limit the ability to undertake long-term leasing or major upgrading works.
Business analysts said that SMRT could have ramped up efforts to attract tenants earlier, such as by revitalising the space to better compete with the surrounding developments.
Tenants who have stayed at the station said footfall has fallen sharply, with several reporting revenue declines of between 30 and 50 per cent over the past year.
“Every day, customers ask me if the entire retail area is closing down. This is worse than during COVID,” said food stall Crunch Salad's owner, who only wanted to be known as Ms Wu.
“I hope SMRT can do more to tell the public that there are still shops here.”
Retail premises at SMRT-operated MRT stations, such as Tanjong Pagar, are managed by Stellar Lifestyle. At stations operated by SBS Transit, including those on the Downtown Line, retail spaces are managed directly by SBS Transit.
Although the respective transport operators run the stations and oversee retail operations, the station and rail assets are owned by the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
Crunch Salad sits amid shuttered stalls on Mar 20, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Justin Ong)
CONFLICTING SIGNALS ON LEASES
Ms Wu said the uncertainty began when she received conflicting information from SMRT about how long her lease would run.
Between 2024 and last year, lease extensions of between three months and a year were offered to her on different occasions.
In August last year, she was offered an extension to February this year. In February, she was told that she could stay until 2028.
Ms Wu showed CNA the email correspondence between her and Stellar Lifestyle over the extension of her lease. In the end, she declined to take up the offer – given the poor business – and instead signed a shorter contract that expires this year. CNA was shown a copy of the contract.
She added that she is uncertain whether her 12-year-old business can survive the damage already done – her revenue has fallen by 50 per cent as more shops move out.
“In that period, two to three shops nearby could not take the uncertainty, and so they moved out,” she said. Tenants that left in the past year included a shoe shop, a laundromat and a dim sum stall.
Mostly vacant units at Tanjong Pagar MRT station's basement 1 level on Mar 9, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Justin Ong)
"DON'T KNOW WHEN WE'RE GOING TO BE CHASED AWAY"
Mr Timothy Ng, store manager of coffee stall Jing Ying Corner, near the exit to Guoco Tower, shared the same concerns.
While he signed a contract to operate until 2028, a copy of which was shown to CNA, he said there remained some uncertainty.
“We don’t know when we are going to be chased away, because they (SMRT) keep telling us there are plans to renovate the station. But they don’t give us a confirmed timeline,” he said.
Mr Ng recalled that the area was thriving when his stall opened in 2020, even during the pandemic. “You could see people walking around at any point of time. But nowadays, when you come here after 2pm, it’s dead.”
Over the past year, the family business has seen sales fall by about 30 per cent.
Mr Ng said his family may eventually close the stall when his father, who helps run it, decides to retire. "We're just waiting to see what happens."
F&B stall Jia Yuan Creamy Salted Egg Rice also reported a 30 per cent dip in revenue. Operations manager Stanley Andrew pointed to broader changes in the area, such as offices relocating and more workers opting to work from home, as contributing factors alongside the vacant shops.
Mr Timothy Ng, store manager of Jing Ying Corner. The shop is one of the few that remain open at Tanjong Pagar MRT station. (Photo: CNA/Justin Ong)
STELLAR LIFESTYLE RESPONDS
Stellar Lifestyle said that the current rail licence for it to operate the North-South Line, East-West Line and Circle Line under the New Rail Financing Framework will expire on Sep 30, 2031.
This licence includes the rights to operate commercial spaces within the train stations on these lines. This includes the retail space at Tanjong Pagar.
"Under the current regulatory framework, commercial leases are not allowed to be extended beyond the rail licence tenure.
"As such, the remaining licence period limits the ability to offer longer-term leases or undertake major capital investments that require a longer recovery period," said Stellar Lifestyle.
When asked why some units had to sign leases ending in 2028 instead of 2031, Stellar Lifestyle did not respond to the question.
But it said that other factors, such as increased competition from nearby developments like Guoco Tower, and declining footfall across the central business district since the COVID-19 pandemic, have led to the space being less competitive.
The retail units at Tanjong Pagar station are located on a mezzanine level that is not along the natural commuter flow, it added. This makes them less visible and accessible compared to retail spaces in nearby developments.
"Taken together, these factors make it more difficult to attract tenants that require longer leases to amortise their capital investment.
"For instance, larger F&B concepts such as food halls may require investments of around S$5 million, which would typically require a significantly longer lease tenure," said Stellar Lifestyle.
Stellar Lifestyle's general manager of transit properties Raymond Ng said his team managed to find an interested anchor tenant in 2025 who could take on the entire basement 1 retail area at Tanjong Pagar station.
"From experience, we know this works, especially after we successfully refreshed the retail mix at Orchard station, led by a popular flagship brand," he said.
CNA understands that the deal did not proceed due to uncertainties over the lease beyond 2031.
Mr Ng said SMRT will continue exploring ways to find new tenants to keep the retail space active and vibrant. Stellar Lifestyle is also in discussions with LTA on plans for the Tanjong Pagar station retail space.
Options such as novation arrangements have been explored, which could allow longer-term sub-tenancies, and to review possible approaches for stations affected.
Novation is a legal process in which an existing contract is replaced by a new one.
CNA has contacted LTA for more information on whether it is open to exploring such novation agreements, or if it is reviewing an option to allow tenancy extensions beyond 2031.
SMRT could have acted earlier, say analysts
SMRT could have revitalised the retail area earlier to attract and retain tenants, in view that it could only lease shops out until 2031, said analysts.
"But clearly, it is an issue now, in terms of when tenants see that the lease ends very soon, it just puts them off," said Mr Song Seng Wun, economic advisor at local fintech firm SDAX. Mr Song is also a Tanjong Pagar resident, and had observed the decline of the retail stretch.
"If SMRT had done something during the COVID period or just after, maybe they could have got more tenants."
He added that many tenants would have also seen developments in the surrounding area putting in more capital to revitalise their spaces.
"If potential tenants don't see any efforts put in by the landlord to spruce up the place, they have lots of other options around them," he said. "Simply put, there's no 'vibes'."
Professor Lawrence Loh from the National University of Singapore's Business School said that in general, retail spaces in MRT stations are a hard sell.
"These MRT retail spaces are limited by size, they have no ambience ... the unique selling point is not there, it's not a place that people usually hang around and make purchases," said Prof Loh.
On SMRT’s efforts to attract an anchor tenant, Prof Loh said such tenants typically need more than a five-year timeline.
But the same cannot be said for smaller units. “Usually their leases are one to two years,” he said.
He added that while LTA is the owner of the premises, its "mission" is in transportation, and not retail.
"It has to be on the MRT company to make any deal attractive," he said.
He added that a continuity of leases could be explored by both LTA and SMRT beyond 2031, should there be a switch in transport operators.
"A new broom cannot sweep clean just like that, there could be a continuity of leases," he said.
Collapse Expand
HARDER TO FILL THAN TYPICAL RETAIL UNITS
Shopowners said the vacant units may be difficult to fill even if SMRT tried, given the additional costs and requirements involved.
Because the units sit above a live railway line, tenants must install their own water piping and obtain extra regulatory approvals before opening. Mr Ng said this meant he spent roughly twice as much on renovations as he would have at a typical retail location, and setup still took more than three months – despite SMRT granting a two-month rental waiver.
Tenants are also required to restore units to their original condition when vacating, adding to the financial burden.
The stricter setup and reinstatement requirements, coupled with uncertainty over lease duration, make the units difficult to market, Mr Ng said.
Stellar Lifestyle said that the lack of tenants is further compounded by the ageing infrastructure at Tanjong Pagar station.
F&B operators form a significant proportion of potential tenants, but they will usually require substantial upgrades, such as increased electrical capacity and kitchen exhaust systems.
“Given the limited tenure available, both operators and the landlord face challenges in justifying the scale of investment required,” said Stellar Lifestyle.
Despite these constraints, Stellar Lifestyle said it has continued efforts to keep the retail spaces active and viable through various means, such as:
- Rental adjustments to remain competitive with newer developments nearby
- Short-term initiatives such as pop-ups
- Attracting tenants such as the Red Cross Training Centre to increase footfall
- Efforts to attract anchor tenants where feasible
Stellar Lifestyle added that the challenges faced at Tanjong Pagar are not unique. For instance, retail spaces at Raffles Place MRT station faced similar post-COVID challenges, but occupancy has since recovered to about 97 per cent.
When CNA visited retail spaces at other MRT stations in central areas, they did not appear to face the same issues as Tanjong Pagar.
At Orchard station, the retail space on basement 1 was mostly occupied by arcade chain Timezone. There was at least one vacancy among the remaining units, which comprised F&B and wellness businesses.
At Raffles Place station, the retail space in the basement had no visible vacancies, with a mix of F&B, fashion and pharmaceutical businesses. It has multiple entrances and exits to other nearby malls, and saw sizable footfall.
At Dhoby Ghaut station, the basement 1 retail space also had no noticeable vacancies, with F&B businesses and a co-working space amongst the tenants.
A more secluded corner of the premises, closer to the North East Line, was also tenanted by two dance studios.
"The mezzanine layout at Tanjong Pagar presents additional structural limitations that make revitalisation more challenging," said Stellar Lifestyle.
“Stellar Lifestyle will continue working with tenants, partners and relevant agencies to keep these spaces active, while recognising that longer-term solutions will depend on the broader regulatory and licensing framework governing the rail network."
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