CORALIS (Review)

District: 15
Location: Marine Parade
Address: 530 Joo Chiat Road
Developer: Grovehill Pte Ltd (Tiong Aik Group of Companies)
Tenure: Freehold

The wife and I decided to drop by the sales gallery of CORALIS yesterday.

CORALIS is located along Joo Chiat Road, sandwiched between Parc Seabreeze (another new project launched mid of last year) and Katong Mall.


It consists of one 20-storey Tower with a total of 127 apartment units. The freehold site that CORALIS resides on is not particularly large – just 50,000sqft – and has a plot ratio of 2.1. The expected TOP is December 2014.

For unit size, CORALIS has a mix of primarily 1 to 3-Bedrooms. The different unit types and sizes are:
• 1-Bedroom “Typical” (34 units): 495sqft
• 1-Bedroom “w/PES”(2 units): 549sqft
• 2-Bedrooms “Typical” (51 units): 807/861/904sqft
• 2-Bedrooms “w/PES” (2 units): 1066sqft
• 3-Bedrooms (34 units): 1206/1227/1259/1281sqft
• 3-Bedroom duplex Penthouse (2 units): 2659sqft
• 4-Bedroom duplex Penthouses (2 units): 2842/3089sqft

Since CORALIS is mostly blocked by the 19-storey Parc Seabreeze, the developer has sensibly decided to “angle” the condo towards Joo Chiat Road. This ensues that at least some of the East Coast Park-facing units, i.e. the higher-floor ones that overlook the HDB flats across Marine Parade Road, will get “pocket seaview”.

The facilities in CORALIS are all located on the ground level, as illustrated below.


The wife and I were rather surprised that there is no function room (or "Dining Pavilion" as they are called these days) in this project – the closest you get is the so-called “BBQ Pavilion” but this is an open-air area. CORALIS also does not come with tennis court or sky-terrace. There are 2 levels of basement carpark, but no more than 127 lots. So visitors to the condo will probably have to find parking outside, e.g. Katong Mall next door.

The only showflat on display is an 861sqft 2-Bedroom unit (Type 2A). The living/dining room is rectangular but small – good enough for a small sofa set and 4-seater dining table but nothing much else. It comes with 60cm x 60cm compressed marble and opens out to a small balcony/plant box area of about 50sqft. The kitchen is on the left as you enter the main door – this is squarish and rather small, and comes equipped with “Brandt” hob/hood/oven and “Grohe” taps – quite basic stuff. The kitchen worktop is of solid-surface material, while the top and bottom kitchen cabinets have “anti-slam” drawers and doors. For a unit of such size, we kinda expect that there will be no utility room/toilet in the yard area. But the unit does not even come with a yard, so you have to be creative with that washing machine/dryer and even more so with your laundry (the balcony, maybe?).


The common bath comes with homogenous tiles floors/walls and “Grohe/Kalevit” bathroom and toilet fittings. You also get a standing shower stall but no rain shower.

The common bedroom is small, and by small we mean a sofa bed and small writing table taking up almost all the space in the room. It comes with surprisingly good wardrobe space though, while the timber-strip flooring and wardrobe looked rather good quality. But the wife and I both felt that the additional planter box area in this bedroom is unnecessary, since it makes the room looked even smaller.

The one thing that struck us most about the master bedroom is: It sure comes with A LOT of bay windows! These cover two of the four walls around the room, so you are assured of ample natural lighting in here. The room is also very good size for such a small unit – you can comfortably fit a ‘Queen” bed or probably a “King” too should you need more bed space. You also get a huge wardrobe, which we reckon is almost double of what you find in most other new projects.

The master bathroom has marble floors/walls and a standing shower that comes with both hand-held and rain showers. The usual “Grohe/Kalevit” fittings apply.

What we like:
• The quality of furnishings & fittings at CORALIS, judging from the showflat we have seen, is quite good.

• The good-sized master bedroom and the generous wardrobe space that comes with both bedrooms, which is a rarity for new projects these days.

• Location – it is Marine Parade after all; a stone throw away from Parkway Parade and good connections to the city/CBD that are within 15 – 20 minutes away by car via the ECP and Nicoll Highway.

What we dislike:
• CORALIS is practically surrounded by buildings on all sides. Given the small plot size, you might feel a tad claustrophobic especially if you are on a lower-floor unit.

• Although some may disagree, but CORALIS is located at the “less glamorous” part of Marine Parade, i.e. the Joo Chiat/Marine Parade HDB area. So you are not exactly comparing “apple to apple” with the likes of The Shore, Silversea or even Cote d'Azur.

• Many market agents will tell you that CORALIS is near several renowned primary schools – Tao Nan, Ngee Ann, CHIJ Katong – but none of these is within 1-km of the condo.

Here are some price indications for the 2- and 3-Bedroom units:
2-Bedroom
• #11-06 (861sqft) - $1,261,000 or $1465psf
• #16-06 (904sqft) - $1,368,000 or $1513psf

3-Bedroom
• #11-05 (1206sqft) - $1,743,000 or $1445psf
• #16-05 (1259sqft) - $1,882,000 or $1495psf

The difference between the “bigger” and “smaller” unit for both unit types is just the additional balcony found in the master bedroom for the bigger units – not something the wife and I are particularly excited about. So we probably stick to the “smaller” units, but that’s just us. All the 3-bedders are East-facing.

In summary, CORALIS does not really appeal to us other than the fact it is freehold compared to other recently launched developments like Silversea and The Shore. And all things being equal, the wife and I feel that Parc Seabreeze (freehold) is actually a better buy. We will also probably take our chances with resale unit at Cote d’Azur over CORALIS, as it seems a better value given its "primer" location and lower psf price currently. This is despite the fact that Cote d'Azur is leashold and already 5 years old.
Marine Parade Caveats (1Q2010)


Click below to view Floor Plans of CORALIS: