Iconic Samy’s Curry to stay in Dempsey
Some furniture retailers to move out as plans to refresh area take shape
Fans of Samy's Curry can breathe a sigh of relief. The Dempsey institution, along with a majority of businesses in the lifestyle enclave, has been told it can stay on at its current location.
This ends the uncertainty it faced over its future as its lease was due to expire in March.
Eatery Sprmrkt and pet store Singpet are among the upcoming additions to Dempsey, while some long-time furniture retailers will be moving out as plans to rejuvenate Tanglin Village take shape.
The Singapore Land Authority (SLA) has granted Dempsey master tenant Country City Investment (CCI) a two-year lease extension for nine of the 18 blocks that it currently sublets in the Dempsey cluster.
Three of the remaining nine will be put up for tender. Four more blocks housing The Wine Company and furniture store Timothy Oulton at CuriO have been awarded to Como Lifestyle for spa and wellness use.
Samy's Curry, RedDot BrewHouse, Long Beach Seafood and Morsels - in Blocks 25 and 25A - will be offered longer leases of up to nine years, the SLA said, calling the four restaurants "iconic".
Block 26 Dempsey Road, which houses Lotto Carpets Gallery, Shang Antique, Em Gallery and Tawandang Microbrewery, was put up for tender yesterday. The tender will be for food and beverage, retail and art uses.
Block 26A, which is currently vacant, and Block 26B, which formerly housed Meat-Me Steakhouse, will also be put up for tender next month, when their planned uses will be announced.
RELOCATED
Some businesses affected by the changes, such as The Wine Company, have been relocated within Dempsey by CCI, while others like Meat-Me Steakhouse are looking for new locations.
Tawandang Microbrewery closed for good at the end of December last year as it could not find a suitable location in Singapore, CCI told The Straits Times. "With the new extension, a great majority of the tenants have renewed their tenancies," a spokesman said.
CCI has about 50 tenants across the Dempsey Hill and Loewen by Dempsey Hill clusters. New and upcoming concepts include cooking school Eat at My Kitchen, Da Paolo Dempsey Restaurant and Bar and Portuguese eatery Tuga, it said.
The Straits Times reported in September last year that some businesses in the Dempsey area were facing uncertainty over their future amid plans to spruce up the area.
Ms Nagajyothi Mahendran, director of Samy's Curry, said that she was happy for the lease extension.
The family business started by her grandfather in the 1960s has been located for 40 years in the same building that once housed the Civil Service Club.
"Every day we get calls from customers asking if we are moving, so now we can confidently say that we are not," she said.
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