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SINGAPORE: A visit to Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre always felt like a treat for Cubbert Dooa when he was young.<\/p>\n
With air-conditioned shopping centres being a novelty in the 1980s, the six-storey building was the area\u2019s first, delighting residents like Mr Dooa and his family.<\/p>\n
Crowds were a common sight, especially at Oriental Emporium \u2013 then Singapore\u2019s largest department store chain \u2013 located on the fourth floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn those days, it was rare that your parents took you out to go shopping and this is shopping in a building with air-con,\u201d the 58-year-old recalled.<\/p>\n
Today, Mr Dooa still frequents Upper Serangoon Shopping Centre but no longer as a curious kid. For the past 29 years, he has been running a computer repair shop there, occupying a front-row seat to the freehold strata-titled development\u2019s change through time.<\/p>\n
A quick Google search now throws up search results that include a video describing the place as \u201cSingapore\u2019s worst mall\u201d, as well as news articles about a recent knife attack and a second attempt at a collective sale this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was announced on Nov 18 that the freehold shopping centre was back on the market at unchanged reserve price of S$260 million, after an earlier attempt ended in September with no takers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The public tender closed on Dec 3. CNA has contacted marketing agent CBRE and the development\u2019s collective sale committee for an update.<\/p>\n
When CNA visited the shopping centre over the past week, the shutters were down on many units and footfall was sparse \u2013 a sharp contrast to the bustle at nearby Nex shopping mall.<\/p>\n
Some units displayed \u201cfor rent\u201d signs, while a handful appeared to be vacant. One such vacant unit bore the faded logo of a school uniform shop that left in 2013, going by the relocation notice still taped to the glass window.<\/p>\n
For those that were open for business, it was a mix of the old and new, ranging from barbershops and hairdressers, eateries, optical shops, computer repair shops, beauty and massage parlours, ballroom-type venues specialising in weddings and a gym.<\/p>\n
Its newest addition is an indoor pickleball court, which occupies the space that was once Emporium’s, and others such as a furniture shop and an arcade.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis place has gone through so many changes,\u201d said Mr Dooa.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n