Woodhaven (Review)

Project Name:   Woodhaven
Tenure:   99-year leasehold wef from 7th Feb 2011
Location:   Woodgrove Avenue
District:   25
Site Area:   225,573sqft
TOP (estimated):   2015
Total Units:   337
No. of Blocks:   14
Developer:   Far East Organization

The wife and I decided to venture further up North over the weekend and found ourselves at the sales gallery of Woodhaven – a 99-year leasehold project by Far East Organization.

Woodhaven is located on a plot of about 225,600sqft at the intersection of Woodlands Ave 1 and Rosewood Drive. The sales gallery is located on the actual site itself.

Woodhaven is a low-rise development consisting of 14 blocks in total – 8 blocks of 5-Storey apartments/SOHO units and 6 blocks of 4-storey (basement + 1st + 2nd + roof terrace) townhouses. The main entrance to Woodhaven is via Woodgrove Avenue, a new access road that will be built specially for the development. There will also be a pedestrian access gate leading out to Woodlands Ave 1.

Woodhaven offers a mix of condo apartments, SOHO units and townhouses:
• 1-Bedroom Condo/SOHO (134 units):   614 – 663sqft
• 2-Bedroom Compact SOHO (45 units):   717 – 760sqft
• 2-Bedroom Condo (59 units):   878 – 1000sqft
• 3-Bedroom compact Condo (20 units):   1131 – 1191sqft
• 3-Bedroom “typical” Condo (40 units):   1179 – 1239sqft
• 4-Bedroom Townhouses (39 units):   3268 – 3314sqft

Facilities wise, you get the usual assortments of swimming pools, gym and even a tennis court located on the rooftop of one of the blocks (Block C). However, what is conspicuously missing is the clubhouse (together with the indoor function room).

Parking lots are all located in the basement - we were told that there will be at least one lot per Condo/SOHO unit, while each townhouse will get 2 private parking lots.

There are 3 showflat types being featured in the sales gallery:
• 1-Bedroom SOHO
• 2-Bedroom SOHO
• 2-Bedroom Condo

For the purpose of this review, we shall look at the 878qft, 2-bedder condo (Type B1)

Once you step through the main door, the home shelter is right in front of you. This is a narrow rectangular strip of an area and is totally enclosed – so if you choose to house your domestic helper here, she will definitely have to leave the (home shelter) door open when she is inside her “room” to avoid suffocation.

The kitchen is the next area you see. It not only houses the hob/hood, sink, fridge and oven, but also the washing machine as there is no yard space within the apartment. A small dining table that sits four is also incoporated into the kitchen area.

The living area is rectangular and quite spacious for an apartment of this size. The ceiling height is 3.6m (3.85m for ground floor units), which is quite generous. However, you only get 60cm x 60cm homogenous-tile floors (for both living & kitchen area), which is rather disappointing.

The balcony is a small rectangular space that will probably fit a small table plus 2 chairs so as to allow you to sit, relax and enjoy the view outside. However, we suspect many residents will utilize the balcony to dry clothes.

The common bathroom is decent sized and comes with homogenous-tile floors and ceramic walls. The wife and I are not particularly impressed with the bathroom (Hansa) and toilet (Ideal Standard) fittings that are provided.  

The common bedroom is quite small and definitely requires some creative use of space. Consolation is that there are no bay windows to deal with in all the bedrooms.

The master bedroom has decent space if you can make do with a Queen bed. It comes with small timber-strip floors (similar for all bedrooms) and a glass partition wall that separates the bedroom area from the attached bathroom.

The master bathroom is fairly good-sized and comes with marble floors/walls. And instead of the normal standing shower, you get a sunken bath with “rain shower”. However, we are again unimpressed with the quality of bathroom/toilet fitting provided.

Pricing wise, the average price of the condo units are $1,000psf, whereas you can expect to pay an average of $1,030psf for the SOHO units. The townhouses are going at around $800psf.

The sales gallery of Woodhaven was only opened about one and half month ago and almost 83% of the units have already found buyers:
• All the 2-Bedroom SOHO units have been sold
• Majority of the 2-Bedroom apartments have been snapped up

What we like:
• The wife and I like the layouts of the SOHO units as well as 2-bedroom condo, which make the respective units feel more spacious than what we originally expect.

• Woodhaven is located fairly close to amenities – there is an ESSO petrol station right next to development and it is also a 5-minute walk to The Woodgrove Shopping Centre, where you can find numerous F&B outlets and NTUC supermarket.

• The American School and Singapore Sports School are within 5 – 10 minutes’ drive away, which may increase the rental prospects of Woodhaven especially with American expat families.

• Several choices of primary school within 1-km of Woodhaven – Si Ling, Fu Chun, Woodgrove and Innova Primary.

What we dislike:
• The wife and I are not particularly impressed with the quality of furnishing and fittings as seen in the showflats - this is probably the worse Far East project (in terms of quality) that we have seen since we started our blog.

• Because there are so many blocks (14 in total) within Woodhaven, the development seems rather “built up” and somewhat claustrophobic.

• The facility offering is rather “run of the mill”, unless you are a big fan of swimming pools. And the absence of a clubhouse/function room, especially in a project consisting of mainly small apartments, is particularly disappointing.

• We also find it a bit strange to have the tennis court on the rooftop of an apartment block. Hopefully, the people living on the 5th floor of Block C will find the sound of bouncing tennis balls… therapeutic.

• Although we were told that Woodhaven is within walking distance to the MRT station, we reckon it is at least a 15-minute walk to the nearest station (Woodlands MRT). This can be quite laborious on a hot (or worse, stormy) day.


Our Verdict: Other than the spacious layouts, Woodhaven does little else for the two of us. So it is absolutely mind blogging to think that there are so many buyers who are willing to fork out an average of $1,000psf for units in a 99-year leasehold project located in Woodlands, which is not particularly close to an MRT station and (in our opinion at least)  far below the quality that one comes to expect with Far East projects.

As a comparison, below are the recent average transacted prices for the other condo projects next-door to Woodhaven:
• Woodgrove Condominium (TOP: 1999; 248 units):   $700+psf
• Casablanca (TOP: 2006; 478 units):   $800+psf
• Rosewood Suites (TOP: 2012; 200 units):   $700+psf

However, if SOHO unit is what you are looking for, the unit type is unavailable in the three neighboring developments.

And we leave you to decide on whether it is really value for money to pay some $200+psf more for Woodhaven over the existing (older) projects, SOHO notwithstanding...


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Woodhaven: Photos of the 2-Bedroom SOHO unit

The wife and I were at the sales gallery of Woodhaven over the weekend. This is a new project by Far East Organization located in Woodland.

Here are photos of the 2-Bedroom SOHO unit that we quite liked. It is only about 750sqft but felt much larger than its actual size.

There is a small problem though - all the 2-Bedroom SOHO are fully sold, so you will have to look at the resale market... or hope for buyer who decides to back out.

We will post our review of Woodhaven in the next day (or two).

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Sales status: Canberra Residences

MCC Land’s 320-unit Canberra Residences in Sembawang has sold 160 of the 200 preview units. The average prices of typical units range from $830 to $860psf with sizes varying between 614sqft and 2,250sqft. The project will be officially launched tomorrow.



Project Details
Project Name: Canberra Residences
Location: Canberra Drive, Sembawang (District 27)
Developer: MCC Land (Singapore) Pte Ltd
Tenure: 99-years Leasehold
Site Area: Approx. 242,920 sq ft 
Total No. of Units: 320
No. of Carpark Lots: 320
Estimated TOP: November 2015
Description: Proposed Condominium Housing Development comprising 13 blocks of 5-storey residential buildings with Attic, basement carpark, swimming pool and clubhouse facilities.



More details and floor-plans can be found at the following website:
http://www.canberra-residences.com.sg/

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THE GREENWICH (Review... finally!)

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District:   28
Location:   Seletar Road/ Yio Chu Kang Road
Tenure:   99-years wef 21 December 2009
Developer:   Far East Organization
Site Area:   226,044sqft
Development Type:   Condominium consisting of 12 towers of 5-storey each, with commercial component
No. of Units:   319
No. of Parking Lots:   324
Expected TOP:   31 December 2013

This one is long overdue, as the wife and I have visited the sales gallery of THE GREENWICH two Sundays ago. However, we were unable to post our review till now – due to a combination of the rigorous demand of our “day” jobs and some vacation time we have decided to take this week.

Here are some things that you may have already heard about THE GREENWICH:
• Over 65% of the units are already sold to date.

• Phase 2 was officially launched to the public last weekend. It had sold out 174 units in its Phase 1 launch previously.

• The average transacted price for the Phase 2 units sold so far is around $1,065psf.

• There are a total of 150 “SOHO” apartments available within this project – these are basically 1-bedroom Loft units.

• One of the main selling features of THE GREENWICH is the extremely high ceiling height for each unit – these ranges from the standard 3.35-metre up to a whopping 4.75-metre for units on the ground level.

• The commercial component, Greenwich V, is a 45,000sqft retail podium that will offer amenities like supermarket, F&B outlets and even clinics and hair salons. The development is slated to become the next “Holland Village” of the North.

The sales gallery is on the actual site of the project, which is located at the junction of Seletar and Yio Chu Kang Road. But the future “main entrance” into THE GREENWICH is via Seletar Road. The plot that houses the “condominium” portion of this mixed project is actually rather small (approx. 180,000sqft) and forms an L-shaped that wraps around the commercial plot (Greenwich V).

In terms of unit types, THE GREENWICH offers a combination of 1- to 3-bedrooms. The sizes available for each unit type are:
• 1-Bedroom:  603 – 731sqft
• 2-Bedroom:  900 – 1152sqft
• 3-Bedroom (Compact):  1076 – 1323sqft
• 3-Bedroom (Standard):  1225 – 1509sqft

The typical 3-bedroom (compact) is 1076sqft while the 3-bedroom (standard) unit is 1225sqft. So for those seeking bigger-sized or 4-bedroom units, THE GREENWICH is probably not for you.

Facilities wise, one can expect to find in THE GREENWICH all the “bells and whistles” associated with a full-facility condominium. There is quite a lot of “water” (i.e. swimming pools/Jacuzzi) within the project, which covers most of the space on the ground level not occupied by the tower blocks. Of notable interests are the rooftop tennis court (above Tower D1 & D2) and floating dining pavilion.


There are a total of 324 parking lots (inclusive of handicapped lots) available for the 319 units, which is rather typical of new projects these days.

The 2 showflats on display are
• 1076sqft, 3-Bedroom (Compact)
• 624sqft, 1-bedroom Loft

1076sqft, 3-Bedroom (Compact)


As you enter the main door, a short walkway leads you into the living/dining room. This is a rather small rectangular area, so you probably need small furniture should you decide to put both a dining table and sofa set in here. The area comes with 60cm x 30cm marble-slab floors and either 4.25m (ground level) or 3.35m (2nd – 5th levels) ceiling height.

The unit comes with a dry kitchen, which the wife and I felt it can ill afford given the small unit size. The dry kitchen has its own sink and many owners will probably use the solid-surfaced worktop as a dining table. Full height storage cabinets are found behind the worktop, which also houses the “Ariston” microwave/coffee machine and “Samsung” fridge – these come standard with the unit.

And if still prefer a separate dining table but find the living/dining room too small, another option is to move the dining table out into the balcony. The space here is so big (especially relative to the living/dining area) that you can easily fit a rectangular dining table that sits 6.

The wet kitchen is a rectangular strip, with an L-shaped kitchen worktop. It comes with “De Lizia” hob/hood/oven and top/bottom storage cabinets.

The “yard area” is actually just a small extension from the wet kitchen, so forget about hanging your laundry up to dry here. But we liked the idea of a dedicated (separate) sink that is build on top of the washing-machine. There is also a tiny home shelter/maid’s room, but no bathroom.

The common bathroom is good sized and comes with marble floors and ceramic-tile walls.

For the common bedrooms, one is pretty decent sized and this is probably because of the fact that there are no bay windows to content with.

The other so-called “Compact” bedroom is almost square-shaped and small (thus the name). However, the developer is quite clever with its design in here by building a “bunk-bed” on top of the wardrobe – this comes standard with each unit and is possible because of the 3.35m ceiling height. Both bedrooms have timber-strip flooring.

The master bedroom actually felt quite spacious, but the master bathroom is rather small. However, it is the design of the master bathroom that takes the cake:
• You have an option of either a full wall (for the more modest/conservative) or “bottom-half wall/top-half glass” partition between the bathroom and bedroom

• Marbled floors and walls with handsome looking bathroom furnishings and fittings

• A sunken bath with overhead “rain-shower”

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the master bathroom is really the centrepiece of the whole apartment unit. You will probably look forward to take that daily shower (or two).


624sqft, 1-Bedroom Loft
This is one of those SOHO units that the marketing agents for THE GREENWICH have been raving about. And the wife and I cannot help but agree with them this time around - we actually quite liked the unit layout.

Everything is self-contained within the 600+sqf of space and yet the unit does not feel as tiny as we have expected. Maybe the high ceiling has something to do with this.

The home shelter is located right next to the main door as you enter the unit, while the bathroom (only one) is across from the shelter. The bathroom comes with the same sort of furnishing/fittings (sunken bath and rain shower inclusive) as the master bathroom of the 3-bedder unit.

A kitchenette is found beneath the bedroom loft platform – this is equipped with all the kitchen appliances as per the 3-bedder, minus the yard area. The wife and I reckon that one would not be expected to do much heavy-duty cooking here.

The living (or work) area actually felt quite spacious and a set of well-designed stairs (with some functional storage spaces incorporated) lead you up to the bedroom loft. However, we do have one reservation with the loft platform – the floor to ceiling height is only 1.35 metres. This means that most people will not be able to stand upright in your own “bedroom” of your loft unit. But other than this, there is really little else we can find fault with the loft unit.

Pricing wise, here are the selling prices (after discount) for units that were available 2 weeks ago:
• #03-23, 603sqft 1-Bedroom Loft (Pool facing) -  $829,000 or $1375psf
• #04-20, 603sqft 1-Bedroom Loft (Greenwich V facing) -  $811,000 or $1345psf
• #02-53, 1076sqft 3-Bedroom Compact (Pool facing) -  $1,260,000 or $1171psf

The monthly maintenance for the 1- and 2-bedders is expected to be around $268, while for the 3-bedder is about $313.

The wife and I were told that we can expect a rental return of about 4% for units in THE GREENWICH, while the Loft units can be rented out for at least $3.3K a month. How the agents can come up with such rental projections for a development that will only be ready for occupation in 2014, we will never know.

What we like:
• It is quite obvious that Far East has put in quite a fair bit of thoughts to the design of the units in THE GREENWICH. And we were rather impressed with the quality of the furnishings and fittings provided. Then again, you would expect good quality since you are putting good money on it... $1100 - $1300+ sqft for a leasehold project in the North?

• Did we tell you that we really liked the Loft unit? But alas, it will be quite a stretch trying to fit a family of three into a 600+sqft unit.

• THE GREENWICH is located within the vicinity of the upcoming Seletar Aerospace Park and near to the Ang Mo Kio business cluster. And if the idea of the area around THE GREENWICH/Greenwich V becoming the “Holland Village of the North” does really takes off, one can expect good rental demand and returns – and the 4% return projected may not be that far-fetched. However, this is still a big IF… at the moment.

What we dislike:
• The units in THE GREENWICH are too small for our liking, and probably so for those with a family and looking to buy for “own-stay”. So the development is more suited as a bachelor/bachelorette’s pad or for DINKs, but mostly for rental investments.

• The wife has pointed out a slight design flaw in the wet kitchen of the 3-bedder showflat – the oven is positioned only inches above the kitchen floor and is too low for comfort for most users.

• Main access to the City/CDB area is via the CTE, which by now some of you may already know that it is a dirty word in our 3-letter vocabulary. Although we been told that the traffic situation along the CTE is already greatly improved – thanks to the numerous ERP gantries – but our personal experiences so far have indicated otherwise.

In summary, the wife and I cannot deny that THE GREENWICH looks to be a quality project. However, we believe that it is again an “acquired” taste, i.e. buyers will probably be those who are (a) used to living in or (b) with workplace around the Northern part of Singapore. But to the rest of us (yours truly included), the location is just … far. The point is probably exemplified by the fact that during our brief 30 minutes or so visit to the sales gallery that day, we came across two sets of buyers

• One retired couple who wants to sell off their landed property in the Yio Chu Kang area and move into a smaller condo unit in THE GREENWICH

• Another couple currently living around the vicinity who has bought a Loft unit in THE GREENWICH for their son, as they want him to have his own pad but nearby to where the rest of the family is staying.
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THE GREENWICH (Review... sorta!)

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District:  28
Location:  Seletar Road / Yio Chu Kang Road 
Tenure:  99 years w.e.f. 21 December 2009
Site Area:  226,000sqft
Total Units:  319 (12 towers of 5-storey each)



Unit Types:
• 1 bedroom ~ 618-731 sqft
• 2 bedroom ~ 900-1152 sqft
• 3 bedroom compact ~ 1108-1323 sqft
• 3 bedroom ~ 1259-1509 sqft

Facilities:
Gymnasium • Steam Room • Two Pools - 40m & 50m • Children’s Pool • Hydrotherapy Pool • Sun Lounging Deck • Pool Deck • Dining Pavilion • Children’s Play Area

Showflat 1: 1076sqft, 3-Bedroom Compact (Type C2c)
















Showflat 2:  624sqft, 1-Bedroom Loft (Type A3p1)





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THE GREENWICH: 80 units snapped up at preview

The ST today reported that Far East has sold 80 out of the 96 units released at the 319-unit THE GREENWICH at its special preview on Monday. The showflat was opened till 2am the following morning in order to cope with the demand from buyers.



Price ranged from $650,000 to $1.25 million, with the psf at $980 on average. The psf price is supposedly a record for the area.

Singaporean accounted for almost all of the buyers at the preview. Most are from the Seletar estate area.

More than 80% of the 1- and 2-bedroom units were snapped up and all 10 of the 3-bedroom units released were sold.

THE GREENWICH, at the junction of Seletar and Yio Chu Kang roads, has residential units and retail shops. Of the 319 residential units, 160 are one-bedroom units that Far East describes as Soho-type (small office, home office) units.

Ranging in size from 603sqft to 721sqft, they offer users the flexibility to combine an efficient work environment with the comfort and privacy of a home. It has since sold 32 out of 40 such units released in the preview. The 2- to 3-bedroom units go up to 1485sqft in size.

The retail shops will be in a 45,000sqft two-storey mall called Greenwich V, which is close to 60% committed.

The wife and I understand that Greenwich V will have 35 retail units and will likely open by end of next year. Tenants secured so far include Cold Storage, which will operate a supermarket of about 10,000sqft, 7-Eleven, Guardian and food court operator Kopitiam, which will occupy 6,300sqft. About half of the mall’s net lettable area will be leased to F&B outlets such as cafes and restaurants. Other tenants are likely to include hair salons, wine shops and providers of educational and medical services.

Far East is developing THE GREENWICH/Greenwich V project on a site it clinched in an URA tender that closed in September last year. Its wining bid of $119.08 million reflected a unit land cost of $376psf of potential gross floor area. Far East’s bid was 35% above the second highest offer. 
The area around THE GREENWICH and Greenwich V is slated to become the next “Holland Village” of the North. The wife and I are hoping that it will fare much better than the other “Dempsey Hill” of Northern Singapore…
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THE ESTUARY (Review)

District: 27
Location: Yishun
Address: 87 – 99 Yishun Ave 1
Developer: MCL Land
Tenure: 99 years wef 25th June 2008

After hearing about the supposed strong sales of THE ESTUARY over the private preview last week, the wife and I decided to drop by the sales gallery last evening to check the project out.

As construction of THE ESTUARY is already in progress, the sales gallery/showflats is located at a vacant plot adjacent to the actual site. We were met by a sea of people on arrival – a mix bag of potential buyers, curious onlookers (like yours truly) and marketing agents – despite the fact that it was already way after 5pm. We were later told that yesteray was the first day of the official launch of this project.

THE ESTUARY is a 608-unit mass market project developed by MCL Land, who is also the developer responsible for projects like The Esta, Hillcrest Villas, Waterfall Gardens and not forgetting our favorite (still) – Parvis. This 99-years Leasehold condo is made up of 7 blocks of between 15 to 17-storeys, and is sited on about 209,000sqft of land – supposedly the largest private residential plot in the Yishun area – at the junction of Yishun Ave 1 and 2. The expected TOP of THE ESTUARY is by mid-2013.

THE ESTUARY is marketed as a “waterfront living” project, as it is fronted by the Lower Seletar Reservoir. And since the condo is built on elevated ground, it provides residents with unobstructed reservoir view. THE ESTUARY is supposedly about 8-mins walk away from Khatib MRT Station, and also within a few minutes drive from North Point (amenities, shopping & dining) and the Orchid Golf and Country Club.
The units in THE ESTUARY come in several different layouts and sizes:
• 1-Bedroom: 592 – 603sqft
• 2-Bedrooms: 904 – 926sqft
• 2+Study: 1119sqft
• 3-Bedrooms: 1184 – 1302sqft
• 4-Bedrooms: 1453 – 1528sqft

There are “bigger unit” of the various apartment types available, but the additional area is only a reflection of the size of the PES/open terraces.

The facilities at THE ESTUARY are very extensive, as you can see from the site-plan below. But what is most noteworthy is that the roof top of the multi-storey carpark (3-levels, located at the back of the development) actually houses the gym, club house, BBQ area and the 50m lap-pool/spa pool/aqua-gym. And bucking the trend of "no tennis court" in many new projects these days, THE ESTUARY actually has TWO tennis courts. But the wife and I reckon that it is far easier to be generous on facilities when you are sitting on such a big piece of real estate.
For parking, a total of 632 carpark lots will be provided for the 608 units – again rather generous compared with many other new projects.


There are 3 types of showflat on display at the sales gallery. The first is a 1528sqft, 4-Bedroom unit (Type D). As you walk through the main door, a short walkway leads you into the rectangular-shaped living/dining area. The area comes with 60cm x 60cm homogenous tiles flooring and 2.75m height ceiling, and looked rather cramp even with just a small sofa & 6-seater dining table. The balcony/planter area is huge, lining all the way from the living room to the adjacent common room and then the master bedroom beyond that. We were told that the large balcony is a feature of all the bigger (i.e. 3 and 4-bedders) units in THE ESTUARY, as this allows residents to maximize their view of the reservoir from their balconies.


The kitchen is quite good size and comes with “Ariston” hob/hood/oven, “Hansgrohe” faucets and top & bottom set of kitchen cabinets with anti-slam drawers. We were not particularly impressed with the look of the appliances/furnishing provided. A small yard is found at the end of the kitchen, with probably enough space for the washing machine and no much else – so you can probably forget about hanging and ironing of laundry here. The home shelter may not allow you to fit a standard single-bed if you intend to use it as the maid’s room, but she will at least have her own bathroom to wash up.

The common bath has homogenous tiles for floor and walls, and comes with a standing shower stall with wall mounted “hand-shower”. You also get “Hansgrohe” and “Duravit” bathroom/toilet fittings.

All three common bedrooms are regular shaped but rather small. This is especially with the one that is adjacent to the living room, which is probably more suited to be used as a study rather than a bedroom. And occupants of the three common bedrooms will have to share the same common bathroom.

The “small” theme extends to the master bedroom - you have hardly any space left for additional furniture after fitting in your “Queen” bed. But you can walk out to the balcony area to enjoy the view directly from here. The master bathroom is quite decent size, and comes with “His” and “Her” bathroom sinks (so no fighting over who gets to brush teeth first in the morning). It comes with homogenous tiles for walls/floor, “Hangrohe/Duravit” fittings and bay windows that line the walls behind the sink and long bath area. A separate standing shower stall is next to the long bath, and come fitted with wall mounted “rain-shower” – i.e. the shower head sticks out from the wall rather than from the ceiling.

And just like the kitchen, the wife and I are hardly impressed by the quality of furnishings and fittings provided in all the bedrooms and bathrooms. The bathroom sinks in particular are rather "Budget” looking (no offence).

For the sake of simplicity, we like to highlight that the furnishings and fittings for the other 2 showflats are identical to the 4-Bedroom showflat. So we are just going to commend on the layouts.

The next showflat is a 1216sqft, 3-Bedroom unit (Type C). The layout is quite similar to the 4-bedder – you get an even smaller rectangular shaped living/dining area and a square-shaped balcony. The master bedroom is adjacent to the living room, while the living room balcony actually extends to the rectangular balcony/planter area outside the master bedroom (see floor plan). The whole balcony/planter area is far too big if you ask us, especially in relation to the small living/dining area.

The rectangular-shaped kitchen is quite decent size, but there is little to no yard space to work with. It will be a challenge just to fit a washing machine in this yard. The home shelter/bathroom is about the same size as the 4-bedder showflat.

The common bath is fairly good size, while the two common rooms and master bedroom are again rather small. So while it will be relatively easy for you to outfit the bedrooms due to their regular shape, there will however not be much “room” to outfit. The master bathroom is rather compact, and comes with a single bathroom sink and standing shower stall only (no long bath).


The last showflat is a 926sqft, 2-Bedroom unit (Type B). The layout in this unit is quite different from the other two (understandably with the size) – a small rectangular living/dining area, a balcony/planter area that is probably too extravagant for a unit of this size, a small rectangular strip of a kitchen with just enough “yard” space to house a washing machine, a home shelter located in the living area opposite to the common bathroom and a small but regular-shaped common room. However, the wife and I were pleasantly surprised by the size of the master bedroom, which actually felt bigger than the one in the 3-bedder showflat. The master bathroom is also rather generous in size for a 926sqft unit.


What we like:
• The reservoir view is really quite pleasant – the developer has deliberately built the showflats on the second level of the sales gallery with full height glass windows looking out towards the reservoir. So you can imagine what the view is like if you have a reservoir facing unit on, say, the 10th floor.

• Kathib MRT Station is about 8-mins walk away, and it is about a 20-mins ride from here to Orchard and about half an hour to the CBD (we think, since we hardly use the MRT). This should be a good enough reason to ditch the car and save you from the hassle of traveling up/down the CTE especially during rush hours. The wife and I were told that traffic situation at the CTE is no longer that bad, but our experiences in using this expressway have been more bad than good thus far.

What we dislike:
• The internal living area of the 3 and 4-Bedroom units are too small for our comfort. Given the large balcony/planter area for these layouts, something has to give. But not many of us can sit in the balcony and stare at the reservoir throughout the day, especially when it rains.

• The quality of furnishings and fittings has left relatively little to be desired. Maybe this is the current standard for mass market projects (see our review for WATERFRONT KEY), but it is still quite difficult for the wife and I to come to terms with the fact that THIS is what you can only expect to get for an apartment costing slightly more than a million dollars these days.

• Having a large balcony for residents to enjoy the reservoir view is a good idea, BUT having a large balcony with little or no yard space is not. You will probably end up with owners hanging their laundries out to dry at the balcony, which calls for an ugly sight as you drive past the condo. For an idea of what we are talking about, just drive along Ulu Pandan Road and slow down as you hit Pandan Valley.

• We can only find just one primary school that is within 1-km of THE ESTUARY - Pei Yang Primary. The consolation is that it is co-ed, so equal opportunity for parents with son or daughter.

As of last evening, more than 480 units at THE ESTUARY have already been sold. The take-up rate is quite astonishing, as the project only started previewing last week and yesterday was the first day of official launch. And for those eyeing the 4-Bedroom units, you be disappointed to know that they are all sold out.

Price wise, a 1302sqft, 3-bedder (#13-16) will cost you $1,039,500. This equates to about $798psf. In comparison, recent transactions for similar size units at the 99-years leasehold Orchid Park Condo (just down the road from THE ESTUARY) were done at price range of $502 – $564psf. One can argue that Orchid Park is about 16 years old, while THE ESTUARY is brand new and much nearer to the MRT. But we will let you decide on which is a better deal.

In summary, the wife and I feel that THE ESTUARY will probably be popular with HDB upgraders living around the Yishun area. This looked to be the case judging from the crowd we saw at the sales gallery yesterday. There seems to be a genuine fear among HDB upgraders/first time buyers that they will miss the boat if they do not put money on a private property now, given the phenomenal increase in property prices during the past year. But to pay $800 - $900psf for an apartment in Yishun? The judgment is probably still out on whether this is a good call, but the wife and I will not wager on it.

View Slideshow of THE ESTUARY here:

THE ESTUARY: Sales Update

The wife just received the following text message from one of our many property agent contacts (we have no clue who he/she is - sorry to the person and thanks!).

15 stacks of THE ESTUARY were released last Monday (Feb 22nd) - a total of 233 units of various sizes. About 75% was sold by today, where buyers need not see the showflat. The balance units are all on the lower floors. New stacks will be released tomorrow. If keen, please go to the showflat early!

It looks like the showflat of THE ESTUARY is now opened to all, contrary to our earlier information.

So who's afraid of the big bad Property Market Interventionary Measures anyway? :)

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Confirmed: THE ESTUARY previews this week

As confirmed by The Business Times today, MCL Land will preview THE ESTUARY this week. And all eyes in the property market are focused to see if demand has been dented by last Friday’s anti-speculation measures.

One and two-bedroom units – which have typically been popular among some speculators at property launches over the past year – make up nearly 40% of the total 608 units in THE ESTUARY.

MCL will preview about 200 units in this 99-year leasehold condo located in Yishun at an average price of about $750psf.

Property industry watchers will be focusing on the demand for smaller units – especially the 85 one-bedders which range from 590 – 603sqft. Smallish apartments have often been targets for speculators over the past year as the lump sum outlay is relatively more affordable. And for developers, smallish units can achieve the highest psf price.

MCL is reportedly pricing its one-bedders at $835psf on average, translating to a lump sum investment of about $500,000. The two-bedroom units range from 904 – 926sqft and have an average price of $780psf. The three-bedders (1184 – 1302sqft) cost $722psf on average, while the four-bedders (1453 – 1528sqft) have an average price of $689psf.

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When will the showflat at THE ESTUARY be available for viewing?

XS has asked the question in our message box.

According to what little we know from our source, there will be an exclusive preview for The Developer's invited guests and business associates on 25th and 26th February 2010. So these people will get first pick of the cherries...or rather...apartments.

On 27th Februray 2010, the sales gallery/showflat may be opened to other potential buyers via special preview invitations by the marketing agents . And agents holding blank cheques from their potential clients will get the first opportunity to pick the apartment units on their buyers' behalf on 27th February.

Unfortunately, there is still no news on when the sales gallery/showflats will be open to the rest of us "normal, walk-in" folks. But the wife and I will try to do a status update as soon as we know.

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