Tanjong Pagar Plaza filled with beauty & massage parlours, MP suggests MND & HDB buy back leases from shop owners to rejig tenant mix

Tanjong Pagar residents are complaining that there are too many massage parlours and beauty salons in Tanjong Pagar Plaza (TPP) and are worried that some operators are engaged in illegal activities.

This was revealed by Foo Cexiang, Member of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar GRC.

In his Sep. 20 Facebook post, Foo wrote that "parents are uneasy whenever their children go past these shops" given that there are several pre-schools in the plaza.

"The majority of these businesses operate legitimately, but a few are casting a bad light on TPP and turning away residents, customers and potential businesses," he added.

This in turn affects the "overall business viability of the other tenants", which affects residents who patronise the shops, he said.

HDB has limited regulatory levers over these shops

Foo explained in his post that the retail mix in TPP stemmed from the sale of a "significant number of shops" with about 80-year leases in the plaza by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) in the 1990s.

As a result, "HDB has limited regulatory levers over these shops", Foo wrote.

He added that given the current relatively low footfall in the plaza, "only a small range of businesses" can afford to pay higher rental – massage establishments and beauty salons, in this instance.

Police raids on vice activities see action taken against the masseurs and business owners if they are complicit, "but the shop owners typically are not implicated as they are much less likely to be complicit", Foo wrote.

He added: "The shop owners may then find new business owners of similar trade to let their shops to."

Not straightforward

Given this arrangement, it is not "so straightforward to address the issue", Foo wrote.

However, he also revealed that he has met with several stakeholders from the police, HDB, the TPP Traders Association and town council to discuss the strategy on how to refresh the retail mix.

Action has been taken against those businesses found guilty of breaches and conducting vice activities, Foo wrote, adding that he has asked the Ministry of Home Affairs and the police to consider increasing their upfront regulatory levers over such establishments.

Consider buying back leases

He added that he has also asked the Ministry of National Development and HDB to consider buying back leases from owners of shops that had been sold so that HDB is better able to "curate the trade mix of shops and respond to resident needs".

"I have raised this as a Parliamentary Question in the upcoming sitting of Parliament," Foo wrote.

The businesses he said he hopes to attract are "potentially some lighter F&B outfits".

"This transformation will take several years – but we are determined to do it with the support of all stakeholders and our residents," he added.

Top photos via Google Maps