SINGAPORE: It was touted as a one-stop entertainment and retail suburban mall and will open officially with much fanfare in June. But since its soft launch last December, there have been growing rumbles of discontent from some of the 262 tenants at the AMK Hub.
Low human traffic caused by renovation work and frequent power trips are among the gripes, and letters asking for rent refunds have been forwarded to the management.
Some disgruntled tenants — most of them on the second level — wanted a refund of a month's rent because of sluggish business, which they claimed was the result of renovation works on the floors above.
"The dust kept coming down on us and chased away customers," said one tenant.
Some were also unhappy that a one-month "no rent" period — for them to start renovating their units after collecting the keys — did not help. The same tenant said: "Many of us collected the keys after the Chinese New Year period and couldn't find contractors to help us start our business in time."
Responding to queries from Today, Knight Frank executive director Danny Yeo said the management had considered all the requests and would give rebates to "deserving" tenants. He declined to give details of the compensation.
The 19.3-ha mall is developed by the Singapore Labour Foundation, NTUC Income and the NTUC supermarket chain.
Many tenants Today spoke to two weeks ago also attributed the low customer traffic to the mall opening in stages.
The lower floors were opened first, starting with NTUC's hypermart FairPrice Xtra — an anchor tenant — at the basement last December, while the food court on the third floor opened two weeks ago.
Expressing her frustration, an assistant in a shop selling women's accessories said the rent was $10,000 a month but daily takings were less than $200 a day.
The mall saw a million visitors last month, and the figure is likely to rise when the cinema opens in June, as well as the just-opened air-conditioned Ang Mo Kio bus interchange linked to the mall, said Mr Yeo.
But there were other gripes: Tenants in Basement 2 are bothered by the heavy smell of oil and poor ventilation.
One tenant, who is paying about $12,000 for 280 sq ft of shop space, said: "People come here and go to NTUC FairPrice. They don't stop here. If we pay this kind of rent, we expect better sales." He also has shops in other heartland malls, including Parkway Parade in Marine Parade where he is paying $7,000 a month for a 350-sq-ft shop.
Knight Frank's Mr Yeo noted that the food kiosks and the huge number of people in the basement generate heat. When Today revisited the mall last week, the ventilation and the air-conditioning had improved.
Tenants have noticed a difference. One said: "There are more shoppers now since the bus interchange opened on Saturday."
The management will look into each tenant's sales records to see how they can be helped, said Mr Yeo.
"The first two months was tough but it will get better. Both the tenants and the mall owner are my clients, I would want to help them solve these problems as soon as possible," said Mr Yeo.
Low human traffic caused by renovation work and frequent power trips are among the gripes, and letters asking for rent refunds have been forwarded to the management.
Some disgruntled tenants — most of them on the second level — wanted a refund of a month's rent because of sluggish business, which they claimed was the result of renovation works on the floors above.
"The dust kept coming down on us and chased away customers," said one tenant.
Some were also unhappy that a one-month "no rent" period — for them to start renovating their units after collecting the keys — did not help. The same tenant said: "Many of us collected the keys after the Chinese New Year period and couldn't find contractors to help us start our business in time."
Responding to queries from Today, Knight Frank executive director Danny Yeo said the management had considered all the requests and would give rebates to "deserving" tenants. He declined to give details of the compensation.
The 19.3-ha mall is developed by the Singapore Labour Foundation, NTUC Income and the NTUC supermarket chain.
Many tenants Today spoke to two weeks ago also attributed the low customer traffic to the mall opening in stages.
The lower floors were opened first, starting with NTUC's hypermart FairPrice Xtra — an anchor tenant — at the basement last December, while the food court on the third floor opened two weeks ago.
Expressing her frustration, an assistant in a shop selling women's accessories said the rent was $10,000 a month but daily takings were less than $200 a day.
The mall saw a million visitors last month, and the figure is likely to rise when the cinema opens in June, as well as the just-opened air-conditioned Ang Mo Kio bus interchange linked to the mall, said Mr Yeo.
But there were other gripes: Tenants in Basement 2 are bothered by the heavy smell of oil and poor ventilation.
One tenant, who is paying about $12,000 for 280 sq ft of shop space, said: "People come here and go to NTUC FairPrice. They don't stop here. If we pay this kind of rent, we expect better sales." He also has shops in other heartland malls, including Parkway Parade in Marine Parade where he is paying $7,000 a month for a 350-sq-ft shop.
Knight Frank's Mr Yeo noted that the food kiosks and the huge number of people in the basement generate heat. When Today revisited the mall last week, the ventilation and the air-conditioning had improved.
Tenants have noticed a difference. One said: "There are more shoppers now since the bus interchange opened on Saturday."
The management will look into each tenant's sales records to see how they can be helped, said Mr Yeo.
"The first two months was tough but it will get better. Both the tenants and the mall owner are my clients, I would want to help them solve these problems as soon as possible," said Mr Yeo.
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