Geylang is being reshaped by millennial placemakers

As Sebestian Soh’s dad, a housing developer David Soh began investing in shophouses as of 2018 Sebestian Soh was a keen participant. According to Sebestian Geylang was one of the areas which offered the most exciting opportunities.

A notable one of Geylang’s first purchases in Geylang was three adjoining shophouses ranging from 483-487 Geylang Road. The shophouses are located at the intersection with Geylang Road and Lorong 27 Geylang.

Bukit Batok offers a variety of classes, workshops, activities, and events to residents of Lumina Grand EC.

In the past three years, a massage salon was located on the first floor of 483 as did the KTV bar was situated at 485 and a café that had “beer women” in 487. A dormitory for illegal workers was located on the second floor. “The shophouses were filthy and dingy,” Sebestian recounts.

A few hundred meters away is a block of shops located at 465 and 467 Geylang Road on an island lot that faces Geylang Road and flanked by Geylang Lorong 25. The Sohs bought the pair of shops for $7.15 million in October 2020. The site had its own difficulties in terms of the road reserve and usage restrictions Sebestian says. “The price of the purchase does not reflect the enormous risks that were required to secure the site to the level it is now,” he says.

The two floors above the shophouses on 465 and 467 Geylang Road were formerly a workers dormitory for workers. The first floor was home to a restaurant Skewer Bar, which was co-founded by Singaporean chefs and their friends Tan Jun Ann and Vincent Low that operated there for four years prior to changing its location to a shophouse located at Lorong 25 Geylang.

The third purchase located in Geylang was also situated on an island plot. It was a Block of shophouses located at 213 and 211 Geylang Road. The tenant that was the anchor of the block was New Shanghai KTV Nightclub, that was in operation for more than a decade and was “very well-liked by national servicemen” Sebestian claims.

The seven shophouses located in Geylang make up thirty% of 23 shops valued at more than $500 million which David Soh accumulated in the four years between 2018 and 2022. The shophouse portfolio is managed by Meir Investment, an investment company. Meir Investment.

The shophouses that comprise the Meir Investment portfolio have commercial zoned. The majority of them, 40% are situated in the CBD while the remaining are located in the urban fringe neighborhoods of Jalan Besar, Geylang and Little India. They’re also located on an island or corner plot. “These are the most difficult to find,” adds Sebestian.

The new wave
Sebestian’s perspective is that Geylang is the most promising location for establishing a new place. “The first wave of change was pre-Covid” Sebestian explains. “We have many expatriates from Geylang and a large French population there.”

The pandemic also has helped Geylang get rid of its image as an area with a lot of red light, according to Sebestian. A majority of KTV restaurants and spas are been shut down. But, Geylang remains popular with the crowds for supper. The long-standing restaurants are Tan Ser Seng Herbs Restaurant (famous for its soup made of turtles) G7’s seafood eatery (popular for its porridge made of frogs) as well as Geylang Famous Beef Kway Teow. Geylang Famous Beef Kway Teow.

“Geylang’s most natural market is people who live in eastern Asia,” Says Sebestian. “Hence, Geylang has a large breakfast, dinner and the supper crowd.”

When some expatriates left the country during Covid-19, a new generation of expatriates moved into Geylang: “These are the young Singaporeans born between 1981 and 1996who considered Geylang as a flagship for begin a new enterprise,” says Sebestian, who, at the age of 34, considers himself among them.

Sebestian asked his father for permission to manage and shift the portfolio of Meir Investment. The result was the launching of Meir Collective as an asset manager and placemaking platform and with Sebestian as its co-founder and the chief spotmaker.

In his efforts to create a place for people in Geylang, Sebestian collaborated with The Afternaut Group, a placemaking design firm supported by Formwerkz Architects. Established seven years ago, Afternaut’s projects are The OCBC area in Wisma Atria as well as The City Energy Experience Store in Plaza Singapura, and the Choa Chu Kang Public Library overhaul.

“Placemaking provides a sense identity and creates a sense of community,” says Chew Kok Yong cofounder and founder of Afternaut. “We are rethinking the way we use the old spaces. It’s all about value creation, too.”

A key thing Afternaut did was help to rebrand Meir Collective “as a platform for people with similar interests to work together” with regard to its placemaking efforts in Geylang according to Chew and is 34.

Operator of co-living Cove is among the first partners together with Meir Collective. Cove recently opened 17 mezzanine-style studios located on the second level of three shophouses from 483 to 487 Geylang. The shophouses were constructed in the 1950s. Meir Collective had them restored and renovated, including the interiors.

Ji Xiang Ang Ku Kueh and The Hare
Another partner with Geylang includes Kelvin Toh who is the child to Toh Poh Seek, and Toh Bong Yeo. They established Ji Xiang Ang Ku Kueh. Their first store in Everton Park opened in 1988.

Kelvin has launched 8 Ji XIang Ang Ku Kueh outlets throughout Singapore and is in charge of the company. He plans to open another Ji Xiang Ang Ku Kueh outlet as well as a brand new tapas-style cafe concept called ‘And The Hare’, at the 483 level, which will be upgraded to 487 Geylang in the coming month. Kelvin claims that the cafe’s name comes from a play on Aesop’s tale of the tortoise as well as the Hare.

Ji Xiang specialises in the traditional Chinese pastry Ang Ku Kueh, which refers to “Red Tortoise” Cake” within the Hokkien dialect. It symbolizes wealth, longevity and prosperity. Thus, ‘And the Hare’ is an innovative F&B concept.

“We love the demographics in Geylang as well as the temples and associations that are in Geylang, it could provide a perfect opportunity to promote the production of our Ang Ku Kueh,” Kelvin says. Kelvin.

The idea of ‘New meets Old’
Kelvin is convinced his belief that Geylang is likely to evolve over the next few decades particularly with the younger generation who are moving into Geylang. With Geylang’s culture of supper Kelvin plans to run And The Hare as a 24/7 business. “There isn’t an F&B establishment that is like ours located in Geylang,” he says. “We have a fully functioning restaurant where guests are able to enjoy their food and beverages in a comfortable air-conditioned setting.”

Sebestian is of the opinion that Ji Xiang and And The Hare are in sync to his “new-meets-old” idea for the property and the neighborhood around it. “We are looking to attract new players, and then put them in the same league as the current players, a few of whom are operating within Geylang for 50-60 years.”

Nearby to 483 is the shophouse located at 481 Geylang Road, occupied by the motorcycle dealer CSTK that was established in 1967. In 479 is the Catalyst Gym located on the ground floor, which has the cat boarding facility and daycare center above. Chong Tuck Tong Chinese Temple is located on the corner of 477 Geylang Road. Other businesses that are located in the shops in the row include a boutique pottery shop Terra & Ember at 473 and Ah Beng Aquarium at 471.

Just across the street at 440 Geylang Road is FellasCube located at 440 Geylang Road, a hipster café in the day, and a bistro bar in the evening. It was opened in the month of December 2022 and is managed by the 35-year-old ex-banker Terry Neo, who founded KopiFellas in 2017 with the intention of preserving Singapore’s traditional “kopi” tradition.

Just a few doors away just a few doors away from FellasCube there is a family-owned No Signboard Seafood Restaurant at 414 Geylang Road, which opened in the late 1990s. No Signboard was also one of the first restaurants in a neighborhood of shops to offer valet parking at the time.

“I was a kid who ate there at No Signboard,” says Sebestian. “Almost every month we’d be at No Signboard for a family celebration or when someone won the lottery. This part of Geylang will bring back memories.”

‘Organic contamination’
The appeal lies in neighborhood shops like Geylang According to Afternaut’s Chew. “There are everyday, normal businesses that make a profit in Geylang and many of them have been around before we,” he says. “When we get on the spot with the wave of placemaking we’d like to connect with other potential partners and integrate them to join the ecosystem. We refer to this as ‘organic contamination’. We don’t attempt to arrange the tenant mix as at a mall.”

The shophouse building at 465/467 Geylang Road wasn’t slated for conservation. But, Sebestian as well as Chew believed it was important to preserve the façade. “It was an uphill task to save this structure” Says Sebestian. “We required a number of inspections to ensure the structure was able to be kept.” The interiors were able to be demolished and retrofitted. The idea is to convert these floors to living spaces run by Cove and the lower levels as a new restaurant or cafe.

Sebestian claims it was his intention to buy the shophouses at 465 and 467 Geylang and 483-487 Geylang and 483 to 487 Geylang, which are close each other and separated by only one Lane (Lorong 25). “We wanted to create more excitement with our efforts to create a place for people in two shophouse clusters which are located close to each other,” he says.

“We are in talks with a few people about the possibility of bringing back street soccer in back streets,” adds Chew. “There’s plenty of interest in it however, there is no confirmation. A part of placemaking is reinventing the way we use your built surroundings, which includes streets behind them.”

A little further down the lane from Lorong, 25 Geylang is the Singapore Wine & Spirit Merchants’ Association building. “It could be one day transformed to an F&B idea, similar to Chye Seng Huat on Tyrwhitt Road,” says Sebestian. “It’s not protected and has enormous possibility of redevelopment.”

In front of to Singapore Wine & Spirit Merchants’ Association building is the Skewer Bar located at 2. Lorong 25 Geylang. Nearby there is the Coronation Baptist Church, with the Buddha of Medicine Welfare Society, Kwan Yin Chan Lin Zen Meditation Centre as well as the Amitabha Buddhist Centre along the same road. “Many of the clan associations and religious establishments are in this area in Geylang,” says Sebestian.

Residential demand
The block of shophouses located at 213 and 211 Geylang Road, just off Lorong 7, will be being considered to be renovated following the demolition of 465 and 467. The plan is to include Cove co-living areas on the upper levels, as well as an entirely brand new F&B concept for the first floor on the property at 213 and 211 Geylang too.

“We would like to create co-living at the top of shophouses in Geylang since they’re similar in design to that of the Singapore shophouses,” says Sebestian.

Shophouses were constructed from the 1840s through 1960s and were initially constructed as a place of business on the ground floor, with living spaces for families on the upper levels. “We are looking to revive the original use of shophouses in our past” sebestian says. Instead of residential homes Sebestian is planning to introduce co-living.

The bulk all the need for housing homes in Geylang is from young Singaporeans who are looking to move out and reside on their own, Sebestian observes. “It’s only a 20-minute bicycle trip between Geylang up to CBD,” he says. “Geylang is also well connected and is well-served by numerous roads.”

The condominiums and apartments in Geylang is considered to be a city fringe area within the Rest of Central Region (RCR) are appealingly priced in comparison to 99-year leasehold condo is launched in the suburbs which have soared over $2,000 in the past year, according to Sebestian.

The most recent transaction that took place in Geylang consisted of a 431 square foot property in the property’s freehold Aerata. Aerata (built in the year 2012) located at Lorong 26 Geylang, which was sold for $658,000 ($1,528 per sq ft) in July in the caveat that was lodged.

The most expensive psf unit that was sold within Geylang during the month of July was in July. This was a 2141 square foot apartment located at 47 Lorong 16 that changed hands for $4.288 million ($2,003 per square foot). The property was built in 2000. Geylang’s biggest draw is its variety and connectivity according to Afternaut’s Chew.

‘Trophy assets’
His father has received a number of unsolicited offers to purchase his shophouses Sebestian views them as “trophy properties”. “We are considering keeping them in the long run because the placemaking process has just begun,” he says.

Sebestian is also in talks with many other Geylang landlords regarding managing their shophouse portfolios and helping them move their assets around.

The latest round of property cooling measures, which took effective on the 20th of July is a requirement for foreigners wanting to purchase sites that have ‘commercial and residential usage to obtain approval from authorities of the government. This has increased the attention of investors on shophouses and properties that have commercial zone.

“Given all the regulations the capital value will simply increase,” says Sebestian. “But it’s not the right time to contemplate selling at this time. I have to be a good job as a facilitator.”