Redevelopment
As one of the smaller shopping centres in Orchard Road and located adjacent to vacant land used for a car park, the property was slated for redevelopment. It was reported that the shopping centre may be vacated by the middle of 2007. One of the requirements that must be overcome by receiving an exemption was the height limitation of 16 storeys for the site. The OCBC Bank, as one of the owners of the property, had restrictions in development. The Banking Amendment Regulations (2004) restricted demolition and rebuilding of structures to more than 20% larger Redevlopment plans had to include a hotel as hotel use was safeguarded by the authorities. Speculation regarding the site's redevelopment had been ongoing for several years and included connecting a redeveloped site with The Centrepoint, a shopping centre across the road and owned by the same owners as the Specialists' Shopping Centre.
On 9 July 2007, John Little closed its branch at the Specialists' Shopping Centre, after operating for more than 20 years. In 2008, the shopping centre was demolished to make way for newer developments. Part of Specialists' Shopping Centre is used for Orchard Gateway redevelopment.
Read more about this topic: Specialist's Shopping Centre