Eleven @Holland (Review)

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Project Name:   Eleven @Holland
Tenure:   99-year Leasehold
Location:   11 Holland Link (off Old Holland Road)
District:   10
Site Area: approx.   130,000sqft
TOP (estimated):   4Q 2014
Total Units:   82 exclusive semi-detached cluster units
Car Park Lots:   2 dedicated parking lots per unit
Developer:   Clydesbuilt

It has been awhile since we last seen a cluster housing development. So the wife and I decided to visit the sales gallery of Eleven @Holland last weekend.

Eleven @Holland is a 99-year leasehold project by Clydesbuilt, a boutique developer whose other projects include Clydesview Condominium, Clydes Residence and Lornie 18.

The actual site of Eleven @Holland is along Holland Link, next to Fong Yun Thai Association Columbarium. The sales gallery is located directly across the road from the site.

Eleven @Holland consists of 82 semi-detached units and you have a choice of 3 different unit types:
• Type A (5-bedroom) – Basement + 3 storeys + attic (12 units):   4,129 – 4,348sqft
• Type B (5-bedroom) – Basement + 3 storeys + attic (62 units):   3,681 – 4,241sqft
• Type C (4-bedroom) – Basement + 2 storeys + attic (8 units):   3,692 – 3,885sqft

In terms of orientation, the Type A units face Holland Link, while the Type C units line the back of the development.

Facility wise, the developer has stuck to the bare essentials:
• Swimming pool
• Gym
• BBQ corner
• Children’s playground

Each unit comes with 2 dedicated parking lots whereas guests will have to find their own parking spaces outside of the development.

There is no showflat per se in the sales gallery. Instead, you get “mock up” of each of the living areas.

The living/dining rooms and kitchen are on the 1st floor of each unit. The first thing that struck the wife and I is that there is no main door – you get sliding glass panels at the front of the living room that acts as the main door.

The living and dining rooms are separate and distinct from each other and both are very spacious. It comes with 60cm x 60cm marble floors and 3.1m ceiling.
  

The kitchen is of open-concept format and you get "Smeg" oven/hob/hood/fridge and "Hansgrohe" kitchen faucets. However, we were a tad disappointed with the kitchen cabinets, which do not have "anti-slam" mechanisms. Also, the choice of colours for the cabinets is somewhat dull. 

Each unit comes with its own private lift, which can take up to 320kg (i.e. 4 – 5 pax). 

All the common bedrooms are en-suite and again very spacious. The rooms come with solid timber-strip floors, but again we find the colour scheme (especially the wardrobe) too dull and dated.

The master bedroom is in the attic and huge. However, the amount of wardrobe provided is pathetic. If you can afford a house like this, you and your other half will most likely have more clothing than what a standard 2-panel wardrobe can hold.

The master bathroom is similar in design to the other bathrooms within the house. This is right down to the homogenous-tile floors/ceramic-tile walls, the “Hansgrohe” bathroom fittings and standing shower stall (which only comes with the standard wall-mounted shower set). We were told that the developer has deliberately omitted long-bath in all the bathrooms, as most owners these days prefer standing shower. However, we tend to think that buyers will at least expect a long bath AND a standing shower in the master bathroom when buying a house of such size and status. The other thing that we dislike about the bathrooms is the colour scheme, which makes them look dull and dark.

Price wise, the developer has decided to charge the same $1,050psf for all the units within Eleven @Holland. So each house will cost between $3.865 to $4.565 million.

Monthly maintenance charge is around $550 but this excludes the maintenance cost for the private lift in each house, which will set you back another $120/month.

As of last weekend, 16 of the 82 units have been sold.

What we like:
• Location – It is District 10 after all (albeit a slightly remote part), which is one of the most sought after address in Singapore.

• Living in Eleven @Holland is like staying in a landed home with condo facilities. This should appeal to expatriates with families, which may translate to good rental yields.

What we dislike:
• The quality of furnishing and fittings at Eleven @Holland are hardly impressive, or is this because we have set our expectations too high?

• The wife and I also dislike the colour scheme used around the house (i.e. colour of kitchen cabinets, wardrobe, bathroom walls and floors etc), which can only be described as dull, dated and somewhat depressing.

• Units at Eleven @ Holland are sold based on “strata area” - the developer takes all common area, i.e. the walkways and open grounds within the development, the land that the swimming pools and other facilities take up, and apportions these to each of the unit owners. So the 4,000sqft house that you buy includes a portion of the common area, which means the actual "built-in" area of the house is less than 4,000sqft. We understand that not all cluster housing projects are sold based on strata area.

• Although Eleven @Holland is supposedly located near to amenities and within walking distance to the upcoming King Albert Park MRT station, one can probably work up a fair bit of sweat walking to these places.

• We can only identify one primary school that is within 1-km of Eleven @Holland – Methodist Girls’ School.

• Maybe we are the only ones that's "pantang", but the wife and I are not real keen in staying next to a Columbarium. Should you think the same like us, you may want to avoid units #49 - 52, 67 - 69 (Type B) and units #81 - 82 (Type C). 

Our Verdict:  Assuming the wife and I have $3 – 4 million to spend, we will rather take our money to The Greenwood (a cluster-house project by Far East off Dunearn Road). Sure, we are no big fans of Far East projects (given that they are generally very expensive), while The Greenwood is not in District 10. However, it is far more appealing (both in quality and aesthetics) compared to what we have seen at Eleven @Holland. And The Greenwood may actually be cheaper in price, as we were told that the units there are sold based on "built-in" rather than "strata" area.

And no, we weren't paid by Far East to say this...
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