[SINGAPORE] Taste Orchard landlord OG has terminated its 7.5-year lease agreement with master tenant Hao Mart, less than two years after the food-focused mall opened, The Business Times has learnt.
Hao Mart and its tenants must now vacate and hand over the premises by Dec 31.
The lease agreement covered all five levels of the former OG Orchard Point building, located at 160 Orchard Road.
The building reopened as Taste Orchard in February 2024, with anchor tenant and supermarket chain Eccellente by Hao Mart occupying three levels.
Touted as a culinary and shopping haven, the mall’s first two levels featured food and beverage (F&B) offerings, while the next two floors comprised mostly service providers such as education centres, salons, aesthetics clinics and a spin studio.
Five Taste Orchard tenants – who spoke to BT on the condition of anonymity – said they were informed of the news through letters from Hao Mart’s management, dated Sep 12 and delivered that same day.
According to one letter seen by BT, Hao Mart said it was notified by OG that its lease agreement for Taste Orchard had been discontinued. It did not explain why OG was terminating the lease.
As a result, Hao Mart must return the vacant premises by no later than Dec 31, 2025, said the letter.
Tenants were requested to vacate and hand their units over “in the same condition and state” as at the start of their tenancy; and to return all locks and keys, together with Hao Mart’s fixtures and fittings, “in good and substantial repair order and condition”, by Dec 31.
Hao Mart said its management team will reach out to tenants “in the coming week” for further discussions. The letters were personally addressed to tenants and signed off by Jupri Suep, Hao Mart’s senior vice-president of operations.
In response to BT queries, a spokesperson for OG confirmed that the company had issued Hao Mart notices of re-entry and termination of its 7.5-year master lease for Taste Orchard.
“The retail and F&B industries are undergoing a period of profound transformation, shaped by a confluence of economic headwinds, shifting consumer expectations, and a complex regulatory environment,” said the spokesperson. “Hao Mart has not been immune from such challenges.”
OG is working with Hao Mart “to ensure the smooth and orderly vacation” of the premises by year-end, the spokesperson added.
Tenants left in the lurch
In July, BT reported on the poor business and low footfall experienced by smaller Taste Orchard tenants, with several vacant units also spotted – some having been empty since the mall’s reopening.
In April, Eccellente downsized, moving out of the mall’s basement. Other initial highlights at the premises, such as a live seafood station and butchery, as well as a community space for cooking classes, did not take off.
Said one tenant: “Even so, I didn’t see this coming. I thought the mall might switch the tenant mix up, not close completely.”
Other tenants, who had up to two years left on their leases, said they were similarly blindsided by the news. Some have formed a WhatsApp group chat, with plans to engage lawyers to figure out their legal rights.
One tenant said he had not yet recouped renovation costs of “a few hundreds of thousands of dollars”.
“With the basement shut and the number of vacant units, I had a bad feeling that the mall might not be able to survive,” he said. “My employees are all very worried now.”
Another tenant noted that some businesses had only just entered, such as an Asian minimart that opened on the third floor “just a few days ago”.
“If (the management) knew business was not good and that there was the possibility of early lease termination, why did they still lease out empty units?” he said. “It’s very unreasonable.”
He hopes to get his rental deposit back and be compensated for renovation and relocation costs, on top of the loss of income from business disruption.
From Jun 25, five units at Taste Orchard were listed on real estate website CommercialGuru. This included the 20,000-square-foot basement, which had a rental rate of S$180,000 a month.
But as at Monday (Sep 15), there were no listings of Taste Orchard units online.
BT understands that some F&B brands operated by Hao Mart have already ceased their operations at Taste Orchard.
Hao Mart, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Hao Corp, runs a chain of convenience stores and supermarkets.
BHC Chicken, for which Hao Mart holds the master franchise rights, shut its Taste Orchard outlet on Sunday.
Employees at Wine Mansion – which Hao Mart also operates – and Killiney Kopitiam told BT that their outlets’ last day of operations will be Sep 17.
Noting these immediate closures, one tenant was concerned that the mall might cut off the utilities ahead of the Dec 31 deadline.
“If the mall can open until December, why did (the management) shut BHC Chicken prematurely? I am afraid that they will cut off the air-conditioning, water and electricity. Can our businesses even run until Dec 31?”
Still, when BT visited Taste Orchard over the weekend, it appeared to be business as usual. Eateries on the first floor were packed with diners, with patrons spilling over from an ad hoc trading card and collectibles event in the basement.
But at Eccellente, some chest freezers contained frozen goods that were packed into plastic bags. Baskets that once held fresh produce, along with several shelves and chillers, stood empty.
Hao Mart has been operating at a loss for two years, based on regulatory filings. It had a net loss of S$32.8 million for the financial year ended March 2024, widening from its S$23.2 million loss in 2023. Revenue for the year dipped to S$55.7 million, from S$84.2 million before.