# Tan Boon Liat tenants brace for break-up of furniture hub after en bloc sale

- **Source:** Channel NewsAsia
- **Published:** 2026-07-21T12:51:00.000Z
- **Author:** Koh Wan Ting
- **Original:** https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/tan-boon-liat-furniture-hub-tenants-en-bloc-6268106
- **Topics:** Commercial & Industrial, Government & Policy, Transactions & Deals

## Featured rationale

The displacement could fragment an established retail cluster, while rising rents and requirements for large premises may complicate tenants’ relocation and survival decisions.

## AI summary

Tan Boon Liat Building’s S$950 million en bloc sale prompted 13 furniture brands to express interest in relocating collectively from the 15-storey hub.

## Original article

SINGAPORE: For decades, Tan Boon Liat Building has been where furniture retailers did something unusual: they sent customers to one another. If a shop did not have what a customer was looking for, it would direct them to a neighbouring retailer most likely to have it. Tenants at the furniture and home decor hub also organised block parties and created a directory to help customers navigate the 15-storey building on Outram Road - a rare initiative in a competitive industry. When news of the building's S$950 million (US$756 million) en bloc sale to Kingsford Group emerged on Tuesday (Jul 21) morning, some tenants took to a WhatsApp chat group to discuss their next moves, with a collective move mooted as a possibility. "My first port of call would be to band the community together and try to see whether we can do something together," said Mr Saurabh Mangla, who owns Ipse Ipsa Ipsum, a bespoke furniture brand that also provides interior design services. "If we can find a way to house people together, even if it's not the whole ecosystem but some parts of it, then slowly, it (may) build over time."

For most tenants, the uncertainty was not whether they would eventually have to leave, but when, where they could relocate to and whether Singapore's best-known furniture enclave could survive elsewhere. Built in 1976, the commercial mixed-use development comprises a 15-storey building at 315 Outram Road and a smaller two-storey building across the car park. The main building has 150 units that are mostly showrooms and warehouses for home decor, furnishings and carpets, with a smaller proportion of offices. It began gaining a reputation as a furniture hub in the late 2000s, when furniture retailers started moving in. One of the pioneers, Journey East, which has occupied the third floor since 2009 after relocating from Dempsey, remembers when there were only a handful of furniture retailers in the building.

"When we first moved in, there were only three (furniture shops)," said managing director Anita Sam. General manager Terence Teh said the building had photography studios, shipping companies and logistics businesses at the time. Over time, the furniture cluster grew into one of Singapore's go-to home decor destinations. But the business is taking things in its stride. "It was just a matter of when it was going to happen," Ms Sam said. "This presents us an opportunity to further refine and present a better spatial experience to our customer base," Mr Teh said, adding that the business had already been scouting potential new sites. Still, Mr Teh acknowledged that there was a "deep sense of nostalgia" attached to the building.

Years ago, anticipating that redevelopment might eventually happen, Journey East commissioned a series of photographs documenting Tan Boon Liat Building. "We knew that one day this building would be no more," Ms Sam said. Another long-time tenant, Japanese knife specialist Razorsharp, has not decided on its next steps and is in no rush to do so. Its owner David Lim has operated the ground-floor store for more than 20 years. "I am 71 years old, I'm not going to work until the day I die. And it's going to cost a lot of money to restart - I may lose 40 to 50 per cent of my present business, so it can be challenging," Mr Lim said. "I'm waiting until D-Day, when I must vacate the place. I will stay until the last day." Mr Mangla renovated his showroom just six months ago. "I thought it wouldn't go through," he said, referring to previous collective sale attempts over the years. "I thought there was nobody in the market to pay S$1 billion. Looks like I was wrong." Tan Boon Liat Building was first launched for sale in February 2025, at a reserve price of S$1.15 billion but did not attract a buyer, according to The Business Times. But Tuesday's announcement turned speculation into a reality that businesses now have to prepare for, even those that have barely settled in.

Furniture retailer Cancan opened one showroom in the building less than a year ago before expanding into a second unit four months ago. The company knew the collective sale remained a possibility but decided the location was still worth the risk. "Change is constant for business," said business development manager Jonathan Yung. "That's why we were okay to take up this possible challenge." Even so, Mr Yung said the timing came as a surprise. "We thought that it would not be so soon."

For now, the company plans to stay until it receives formal instructions from the landlord. "The challenge for us to change to a new location is that we need to find a location that is convenient for customers, and easy for them to find us," he said. "Most of them liked to come to Tan Boon Liat to take a look because there's many retail furniture stores, including kitchenware and mattresses." That concentration of businesses helped attract not only local homeowners, but architects, interior designers and expatriates searching for furniture in Singapore, he said. The collective sale also came as a surprise to William Liew, manager of Herman Furniture, a solid wood slabs specialist that moved into the building in 2022. "I heard that the bidding didn't go through in the first place, so I thought we were here to stay," Mr Liew said. However, he noted that foot traffic has thinned compared to when he worked part-time at another business in the building in the mid-2010s.

COLLECTIVE MOVE Now, many tenants worry less about moving than about losing the ecosystem they spent years building. Owner of Gabbeh Carpet, Mr Esmaeil Molazadeh said he had been the one to break the news to the tenant chat group on Tuesday morning. "There is an MRT just recently opened, we didn't even have much chance to enjoy that benefit," Mr Molazadeh said. Mr Molazadeh, who is also the honorary secretary of the Singapore Furniture Association, said the association could help tenants relocate collectively. By Tuesday afternoon, 13 members of the chat group from various brands had expressed their interest in a collective move, according to Mr Molazadeh.

He described a "kampung" culture, where tenants would drop by and chat with each other, unlike in malls, where tenants often operate in silos. Likewise, Muhammad Haziq Suip, general manager of furniture brand Rooma, said most tenants want to keep that community alive. "All our neighbours are friends, and they do different stuff, and it's a very nice combination of brands. "So when we move up from this building, also we want to still have that flavor, we still have that variety. Wherever we move, we want to move as a unit." Rooma's seven units across two floors occupy a combined 15,000 sq ft, with inventory worth millions. When the time comes to move, Rooma will likely hold a moving-out sale.

"There's a lot of memories. Even the contractors who work here, the maintenance guy is like family to us," Mr Haziq said. For now, most businesses remain in limbo. Many have leases that still have time to run, but there is no certainty on when they will need to vacate. Meanwhile, Mr Mangla said Singapore's furniture industry is already facing growing pressure from overseas competition, while others noted rising rents elsewhere, making relocation an additional burden for businesses that need large premises. He hopes shoppers will continue visiting the building despite the collective sale. "My wish to Singaporeans and residents is they continue to support the building. "My request is that they all keep coming in. We are all very stable businesses with a long history in Singapore and we would like to continue to enjoy their support."

## Chinese translation

> Translation model: grok

### 陈文烈大厦集体出售后，租户为家具集散地拆散做准备

随着陈文烈大厦易手，家具零售商面临不确定未来，部分人希望共同搬迁以保留社群。

新加坡：数十年来，陈文烈大厦（Tan Boon Liat Building）的家具零售商做了一件不寻常的事：他们会把顾客介绍给彼此。若自家没有顾客要找的货，就会把对方引到最可能有货的邻近商家。这座位于欧南路（Outram Road）的15层家具与家居装饰集散地的租户，还组织过楼宇派对，并编制目录帮助顾客导航——在竞争激烈的行业中实属罕见。当大厦以9.5亿新元（约7.56亿美元）集体出售给金福集团（Kingsford Group）的消息于周二（7月21日）上午传出时，部分租户在WhatsApp群组讨论下一步，并有人提出集体搬迁的可能。

“我的第一步是把社群凝聚起来，看看能否一起做点什么，”Ipse Ipsa Ipsum业主Saurabh Mangla说。该品牌提供定制家具与室内设计服务。“如果能找到办法让大家仍住在一起，哪怕不是整个生态、只是一部分，慢慢地，它（或许）会再壮大。”

对多数租户而言，不确定的不是最终是否得离开，而是何时离开、能搬去哪里，以及新加坡最知名的家具聚落能否在别处延续。这座1976年建成的商业综合发展项目，包括欧南路315号的15层主楼，以及停车场对面一栋较小的两层建筑。主楼有150个单位，多为家居装饰、家具与地毯的展厅与仓库，办公占比较小。2000年代末，家具零售商陆续迁入，大厦开始以家具集散地闻名。先驱之一Journey East自2009年从登普西（Dempsey）迁入后一直占据三楼，还记得当时大厦内家具店寥寥无几。

“我们刚搬进来时，只有三家（家具店），”董事总经理Anita Sam说。总经理Terence Teh表示，当时大厦里有摄影工作室、船运公司与物流企业。随着时间推移，家具集群发展成新加坡重要的家居装饰目的地之一。但该店正坦然面对变化。“只是迟早的事，”Sam说。“这为我们提供了进一步打磨、为客户呈现更好空间体验的机会，”Teh说，并补充业务已在物色潜在新址。不过，Teh承认对这座大厦怀有“深深的怀旧之情”。

多年前，预见到重建终有一天会发生，Journey East委托拍摄了一系列记录陈文烈大厦的照片。“我们知道有一天这座楼会不在了，”Sam说。另一位长期租户、日本刀具专卖店Razorsharp尚未决定下一步，也不急于决定。业主David Lim在一楼经营该店逾20年。“我今年71岁，不会做到死那天。重新开始要花很多钱——我可能失去现有生意的40%到50%，所以会很有挑战，”Lim说。“我等到必须腾空的D-Day。我会待到最后一天。”Mangla六个月前才装修了展厅。“我以为不会成，”他说，指的是多年来多次集体出售尝试。“我以为市场上没人会付10亿新元。看来我错了。”据《商业时报》，陈文烈大厦于2025年2月首次挂牌，底价11.5亿新元，但未吸引买家。但周二的公告把猜测变成现实，企业——包括刚站稳脚跟的——现在必须为此做准备。

家具零售商Cancan不到一年前才在大厦开了一间展厅，四个月前又扩展到第二个单位。公司知道集体出售仍有可能，但仍认为这个地点值得一试。“对生意来说，变化是常态，”业务发展经理Jonathan Yung说。“所以我们愿意接受这个可能的挑战。”即便如此，Yung表示时间点仍令人意外。“我们以为不会这么快。”

目前，公司计划继续营业，直到收到业主正式指示。“换新址的挑战是，我们需要找一个对顾客方便、也容易找到我们的地点，”他说。“大多数人喜欢来陈文烈看看，因为这里有很多家具零售店，包括厨具与床垫。”他说，业态集中不仅吸引本地屋主，也吸引建筑师、室内设计师与在新加坡寻找家具的外籍人士。集体出售也让2022年迁入的实木板材专营商Herman Furniture经理William Liew感到意外。“我听说第一次招标没成，所以以为我们会一直待在这里，”Liew说。不过他指出，客流比他2010年代中期在大厦另一家店兼职时要稀薄。

集体搬迁

如今，许多租户更担心的不是搬家本身，而是失去他们花数年建立的生态。Gabbeh Carpet业主Esmaeil Molazadeh说，是他周二上午在租户群组里爆出消息。“地铁才刚开通不久，我们几乎还没怎么享受到这个好处，”Molazadeh说。身为新加坡家具协会名誉秘书的他表示，协会可协助租户集体搬迁。据他介绍，截至周二下午，群组中来自不同品牌的13名成员已表示有意集体搬迁。

他形容这是一种“甘榜”文化：租户会互相串门聊天，不像商场里租户往往各自为政。家具品牌Rooma总经理Muhammad Haziq Suip同样表示，多数租户希望保住这份社群。“我们的邻居都是朋友，大家做不同的事，品牌组合很棒。”“所以当我们离开这座楼，也希望仍有那种味道、仍有那种多样性。无论搬到哪里，我们都想作为一个整体搬迁。”Rooma在两层楼共有七个单位，合计15,000平方英尺，库存价值数百万。到搬迁时，Rooma很可能会举办清仓特卖。

“有很多回忆。连在这里工作的承包商、维修师傅都像家人，”Haziq说。目前，多数企业仍处于观望。许多租约尚未到期，但何时须腾空并无定论。与此同时，Mangla表示，新加坡家具业已面临海外竞争加剧的压力，也有人指出别处租金上涨，使需要大面积场地的企业搬迁负担更重。他希望即便集体出售，顾客仍继续光顾这座大厦。“我对新加坡人与居民的愿望是，继续支持这座楼。”“我的请求是大家继续来。我们都是在新加坡有悠久历史的稳定企业，希望继续得到他们的支持。”