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Church buys 19,000 sq ft of space on 4th floor of Orchard Towers

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January 31, 2025, 06:55 PM

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A church in Singapore has bought about 19,000 sq ft of retail space in Orchard Towers, which it intends to use as a "permanent home" for its services.

The 19,289 sq ft property was sold two weeks ago to Cornerstone Heritage, reported The Business Times (BT).

The entity counts among its shareholders pastors Yang Tuck Yoong, Daphne Yip, and Timothy Chong, all of Cornerstone Community Church.

Located on the fourth floor of the building, the retail space was sold for S$54.5 million, or about S$2,825 per square foot, BT said.

Seedy reputation of Orchard Towers?

The independent church currently holds services at Odeon Katong at East Coast Road, as well as at a few Golden Village halls at Bugis+.

It also owns some space at the former.

In a note on its website, Yang — one of the founding pastors — said that the church has been looking for additional space to accommodate its growing congregation, particularly at its Bugis+ location.

He noted Orchard Towers' freehold status, low en-bloc potential, and surrounding retail units, which would offer space for future expansion.

Yang also acknowledged the building's so-called "seedy reputation".

"For over 40 years now, Orchard Towers has been known for all the wrong reasons," he wrote.

But "redeeming a place from its dark past and reviving it for a brighter future" would be a move not unfamiliar to the church, he said.

He added that it would be a "significant, generational investment".

The acquisition

In total, the deal involves the purchase of six units on the fourth level of Orchard Towers.

This includes a disco pub originally converted from a cinema, and a stretch of retail units.

Photo from Cornerstone Community Church's website

Photo from Cornerstone Community Church's website

Infamous for its questionable retail mix and abundance of illegal activity, Orchard Towers was once known among locals and tourists by the moniker, "Four Floors of Whores".

It also has a violent history.

In 2019, seven people were charged with murder after a man, 31-year-old Satheesh Noel s/o Gobidass, was stabbed to death on the mall's ground floor.

The last of the accused, Tan Sen Yang, was sentenced to life imprisonment in April 2024.

In 2023, the building management set out on a two-year venture to reinvent its image.

It shut down all but one of its public entertainment outlets and announced that it would not grant or renew licences.

The mass closure was part of efforts to "manage the law-and-order situation and disamenities in the area", said the police.

A police spokesperson earlier said that the "law and order situation in Orchard Towers remains as of concern and has not improved over the years".

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Top image from Google Maps and Cornerstone Community Church

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