Eunos motor workshops to move out

Source : Sunday Times – 31 May 2009

It is the end of the road after 30 years for 169 motor workshop operators in Eunos.
From next month , they will begin relocating from the Eunos Industrial Estate to AutoBay@Kaki Bukit in Kaki Bukit Avenue 6.

The move will be completed by end-September.

Another 52 workshop operators will stay put in Eunos until further notice from the landlord, the Housing and Development Board.

The new site does not have space for all and those moving in were selected via balloting.
But now that it is time to move out, 10 out of 11 tenants that The Sunday Times spoke to said they are not looking forward to it.

They cited expenses incurred in renovating the new premises, and worries over whether customers would seek them out in Kaki Bukit.

‘Even though the new rent is about the same as what we pay now, it’s hard to generate the same income in Kaki Bukit,’ said Mr Phng Hock Lee, 43, director of a spray painting shop.

Noting that the new place is not served by buses and trains, he estimated his business will suffer a 70 per cent drop.

Mr Ken Ho, 39, co-owner of a car audio workshop, agreed that the ‘new site is remote’ and expected takings to dip by half.

He owns two shops in Eunos but managed to get only one lot in Kaki Bukit. He will retain a presence in Eunos.

Tenants were invited to view the new site two months ago. It was then that they realised the designated office, on the second floor, took up a third of the floor area.

‘The office design is nice but all we need is a table and a phone which can be placed on the ground floor,’ said Mr Phng.

But Ms Patricia Kan, owner of a motor workshop, is excited that she can convert the new unit into a boutique workshop.

‘It’s a known fact that workshops are dirty and messy with no image to speak of. I hope to change that by presenting a new and nice-looking interior,’ she said.

The HDB, which held several dialogue sessions with the tenants in March and April, is planning to implement measures to cushion the impact of starting business in a new area.

These include waiving parking charges, arranging for shuttle-bus services between AutoBay and Eunos MRT station, and creating an air-conditioned waiting area for customers.

It is also waiving rental for six months.

The relocation is in line with the HDB’s move to reduce pollution within the Marina Barrage water catchment area.

Under the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s gazetted Master Plan 2008, the majority of the Eunos Industrial Estate will be zoned for business or residential use.

The HDB said there are no immediate plans to redevelop the estate. The vacated units will be rented out for light and clean trade instead, said a spokesman.

The remaining 52 tenants will move to another motor workshop complex in Kaki Bukit by 2012.