Lavender food court and longhouse at upper thomson closing for good.

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http://www.soshiok.com/print/content...haunt-lavender


SINGAPORE - Five months after the famous Longhouse food centre in Upper Thomson Road closed, it is time to bid farewell to another hawker institution.
Lavender Food Square's last day of operations is on Sept 30, a week longer than the original Sept 23 date. The extension was made because of customer demand.
The iconic food centre and neighbouring Eminent Plaza, both built in the 1980s, will make way for a 16-storey freehold development called ARC 380, which is slated to be ready by 2018.
Located at the junction of Lavender Street and Jalan Besar, the hawker centre - which houses 35 stalls - used to be called Bugis Square. It closed for renovations in 1990 due to drainage problems, and reopened in 1992 as Lavender Food Square.
Unlike the closure of Longhouse, where the hawkers moved to two locations - Balestier Market and Broadway Coffee Shop, next to Jalan Besar Stadium - the Lavender Food Square hawkers are moving to several coffee shops and food centres.
Old-timers lament the closure of the food centre, saying they regard one another as friends, even family.
With the deadline to move looming, many stalls are still undecided about their future. Hawkers say high rentals and smaller shop spaces are among the problems they face in looking for new premises.
The Straits Times understands that hawkers currently pay rental of $4,000 to $6,000 a month at Lavender Food Square, and will pay at least $8,000 a month at their new locations.
Popular stalls such as Kok Kee Wanton Noodle, Whitley Road Fishball Noodle and Eminent Frog Porridge are still uncertain about where they will move to.
And, if they cannot find a suitable location, both Albert Street Prawn Noodle and Pei Yun Hong Kong Tim Sum are likely to close for good.
In the meantime, Somboon Thai Food is looking to move to a coffee shop in Bedok.
Other locations in Lavender include a coffee shop in King George's Avenue, Broadway Coffee Shop, and a former restaurant now being renovated into a coffee shop at Hoa Nam Building, next to Lavender Food Square.
Tan Beng Yen, who has been at Lavender Food Square since it opened and sells char kway teow and Hokkien mee, wants to stay in the area for her regular customers.
She will be moving to Broadway Coffee Shop.
She says in Mandarin: "Business at Lavender Food Square has always been good and all of us have been working very hard all these years. Just because the hawker centre is closing doesn't mean we stop cooking for our customers. I hope they will look for me."
Other stalls, which are branches of their main outlets, are moving resources back to the flagship.
These include 98 Bread at Block 19, Toa Payoh Lorong 7 and Kin Turtle Soup, whose flagship outlet is in Geylang Lorong 35. Kin Turtle Soup at Lavender Food Square closes next Monday.
Two stalls - Macpherson Barbeque Seafood and Miow Sin Popiah - will move to Balestier Market.
Ong Chin Quay, 60, of Miow Sin Popiah, will reunite with fellow Longhouse hawkers at Balestier Market.
The hawker, affectionately known as Ah Kai, has been making popiah for 34 years, first in Boon Keng Road in 1980, then at Longhouse food centre from 1985 to 1999.
He says in Mandarin: "It is definitely a pity because after all these years, everyone has become friends. But I also have friends in Balestier, since they are also from Longhouse."
Diners, too, lament the loss of their foodie haunt.
Logistics officer Ian Ferroa, 30, dines at Lavender Food Square two to three times a week.
He says: "Some of my favourite foods are popiah, fried carrot cake and prawn noodles. I come on weekdays when it's not so crowded and there's lots of seating available."
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Longhouse at upper thomson



Long House site: Bought for $678,000, sold for $45.2m

The Straits Times
Published 2014

LARGER than usual crowds thronged the popular Long House Food Centre yesterday after news emerged that the site had been sold for redevelopment. Many visitors were sorry to see the well-loved place go, but the family which has just sold the site in Upper Thomson Road is now sitting on a handsome profit.

This was all thanks to a shrewd move by the late Ng Aun Khim to buy the site more than 30 years ago.

The Ng family sold the 1,575.6 sq m site for $45.2 million – or $888 per sq ft (psf) per plot ratio – to listed developer TEE Land on Tuesday. The property had been owned by the family’s firm Sin Hin Lee Investment.

The site was bought in 1980, said Mr Ng Choon Gim, 62, who oversees the business. His father had acquired it for just $678,000. That means its value has shot up 66-fold over 33 years.

TEE Land plans to redevelop it into a mixed-use project. It can house 30 to 38 residential units, averaging 1,000 sq ft each. About five to 10 commercial units measuring about 1,600 sq ft each can also be built, said deal broker Knight Frank. Residential units are expected to sell for about $1,500 psf, while commercial units should go for about $4,000 to $6,000 psf.

The site is about 500m from the Marymount MRT Station, and about 350m from the upcoming Upper Thomson Station. The site was owned earlier by oil giant Shell, which had a petrol station there in 1961. The late Mr Ng was the dealer who ran the petrol station for more than 20 years. “I still remember sleeping in there when I was in primary four, and I grew up there till I was 18 years old,” said his son. He recalled that it was surrounded by “kampung houses” with tombstones scattered about.

Shell scaled down its operations in 1979, downsizing the kiosk, which still stands at 183A Upper Thomson Road today.

The property has been home to many food establishments over the years. After the Ng family bought it, fast-food chain A&W asked to lease the site in 1980. It moved out after operating there for eight years. Then food court operator Kopitiam Group leased the premises for another two years. Long House moved there from Jalan Besar about 12 years ago, said Mr Ng junior. The food centre is famous for its prawn noodles, duck rice and goreng pisang. Hawkers said business has declined since parking fees were imposed a year ago.

News of the looming closure drew plenty of extra visitors. Mr Tan Ah Hui, 68, who runs Ah Hui Big Prawn Noodles at the centre, estimated that he had sold at least 100 bowls by 2.30pm, when The Straits Times visited. He has been serving the dish since 1963, and now plans to move to a coffee shop in Block 280, Bishan Street 24.

Ms Rose Le, 35, owner of Boon Pisang Goreng, said she has not looked for a new place but is not too worried about whether business will be hurt by a move. “Customers have been asking me not to move too far away,” she said. The stall sells about 500 pieces of goreng pisang a day.

The Ng family has other property investments in the Thomson area. Mr Ng junior said his brother owns the unit housing restaurant Liquid Kitchen at Yew Lian Park, while his cousins own three shops in the area.
“I have my father to thank for his foresight to buy the site at a historically low price,” he said.


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