Foresque Residences: Review (Part 2)

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This unit in question is a 1432sqft, 4-bedroom (Type D2).

As you enter the main door, you find the living/dining room - this is a rectangular area that seems a tad small for a 4-bedder unit. However, it can still comfortably fit a 6-seater long dining table and a 3-seater sofa (see photo). The area comes with 60cm x 60cm compressed marble floors (Tree House only has homogenous-tile flooring) and 2.9m ceiling. 

The balcony is also rectangular-shaped and disproportionately large compared to the living/dining room - we reckon the area is about 100sqft. The marketing agent has suggested for the dining table to be pushed out to the balcony so that you get more living room space, which is a considerable option.

The kitchen is again a rectangular strip of an area and of fairly good size. You get top and bottom kitchen cabinets on both sides of the walls, which is quite generous. The kitchen also comes with "Turbo" hob/hood/oven/microwave from Italy (although we understand that some of their products are also manufactured in Taiwan) and a fridge (sorry but we forget to check the brand).

The "yard" area is actually just a tiny extension at the end of the kitchen, between the cupboard that houses the washer/dryer (separate units will have to be stacked one on top of the other) and the utility (aka maid's) room. The window in the "yard" provides natural lighting and ventilation to the kitchen. We were also told that an extendable laundry rack will be provided for you to hang your laundry outside the window.

One unique feature in the unit is found in the utility room - it comes with an attached bathroom! So the utility is probably designed with the maid in mind.

The common bathroom is decent-sized and comes with homogenous-tile floors and ceramic walls. You also get "Hansgrohe" bathroom fittings and "Bravat" toilet bowl/sink. We like the extra storage behind the bathroom mirror, in addition to the vanity cupboard below the bath-sink. However, you will have to make do with the standard wall-mounted shower in the shower stall.

The other thing we like about the common bathroom is a "feature wall" made from ceramic tiles with a "wood-like" look/feel to it.



The 2 common bedrooms are almost square-shaped and seem quite good size - the absence of bay windows may be a contributing factor. The bedrooms come with small timber-strip flooring, unlike Tree House where you only get laminate floors.

The junior suite is quite spacious (Queen bed recommended) , while the attached bathroom is also good-sized. But again you only get the standard wall-mounted shower in the shower stall.

The master bedroom will easily fit a King bed and it comes with a small L-shaped balcony that will allow you to place a small breakfast table and two chairs.

The master bathroom is huge and has compressed-marble floors and walls, which gives it a classy look. It also comes with a long-bath and an adjacent standing shower, which is nice. but what is even "nicer" is that the standing shower stall is fitted with both a rain-shower as well as wall-mounted shower.  

In case you are wondering what a 4-bedder in Foresque will cost you, here are prices for both a mid and high-floor units
• #06-10 (1432sqft, Type D2):   $1,484,000 or $1,036psf
• #21-10 (1432sqft, Type D2):   $1,656,500 or $1,156psf

We were told that for a limited period, developer is providing "stamp duty rebate" as incentive to buyers - this rebate will be given upon TOP of the project.

What we like:
• The layout of the blocks are designed to maximum the number of units with unblocked view.

• NO bay windows or planters for all unit types. This makes the apartments feel "bigger" than originally perceived. The 3- and 4-bedroom showflats are surprisingly spacious compared to the actual size.

• The quality of furnishing and fittings are definitely better than what we have seen in Tree House.

• Primary school wise, there are two within 1-km of Foresque: CHIJ Our Lady Queen (for girls) and Bukit Panjang Primary (co-ed)

What we dislike:
• Location - this is the main issue we have with Foresque, which is located almost in the middle of nowhere. The nearest amenities are those found around the Zhenghua HDB estate, which is probably a good 15 minutes' walk away. The Pending LRT station is at least a 10 minutes' walk, while you will need transportation to get to the nearest MRT Station (i.e. the upcoming Hillview Station, scheduled to be completed in 2015). The wife and I were told that a shutter-bus service to Hillview MRT Station will be provided to residents for the first year. However, we reckon that you are probably stuffed if you do not own a vehicle.

• There is no "wow" factor in the facility offerings in Foresque, which definitely pale in comparison to Tree House.

Our Verdict: At over $1000psf (which is a new price benchmark for 99-year projects in D23), the wife and I certainly expected more from Foresque Residences. Although the interior quality of the apartments are apparently better than Tree House, Foresque is still way too expensive if you take into account the project overall and especially the locale. Buyers of Tree House during its initial launch at average price of $830psf back in April of last year must be mighty proud of themselves now...

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Foresque Residences: Review (Part 1)

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Project Name:   Foresque Residences
Tenure:   99-year leasehold wef 10 Jan 2011
Location:   Petir Road
District:   23
Site Area:   244,000sqft
TOP (estimated):   2Q 2014
Total Units:   496
No. of Blocks/Storey:   5 Blocks with 24-Storey each
Car Park Lots:   Basement Parking with 506 lots
Developer:   Wing Tai Asia


When the wife and I look at Foresque Residences, we cannot help but compare this project with its next door neighbour - Tree House. Both projects are similar in terms of tenure, location, land size and even down to total number of units (496 for Foresque versus 429 for Tree House).

As some of you may recall, Wing Tai bought the Foresque site for $177.4 million (or $345psf) in October last year. The site is along Petir Road - this is where the main entrance of Foresque is located - whereas you enter Tree House via Chestnut Drive.


For those of you who are concerned about the possible traffic noise coming from BKE (especially the two 4-bedder stacks in Block 105), you be pleased to know that the Foresque site is about 160m away from the BKE and separated by Zhenghua Park in between.


Foresque is designed by Arc Studio Architecture & Urbanism - the same folks that gave us Pinnacle @Duxton - and consists of 5 blocks of 24-storey each (Tree House has only 4 blocks, also 24-storey each). The project was launched on May 15 with 7 stacks in 3 blocks released for sale
• Block 101:   Stacks #01, #02 & #05 (1-bedroom)
• Block 105:   Stacks #10 (4-bedroom), #11 & #12 (3-bedroom)
• Block 107:   Stack #14 (3+study)

The leasehold project offers a mix of 1 to 4-bedroom apartments as well as penthouses and cabana (ground-floor) units:
• 1-Bedroom: 463sqft
• 2-Bedroom: 667/ 710/ 732/ 743sqft
• 3-Bedroom: 1130 & 1184sqft
• 3+Study: 1238/ 1270/ 1281sqft
• 4-Bedroom: 1399/ 1421/ 1432sqft
• Penthouse: 1119 - 2573sqft
• Cabana: 1515 - 2013sqft

The penthouses and cabana units come with their own private Jacuzzis.


The other unique feature of the project is that there is no 2nd floor in every block - the cabana units occupy the ground floor of each block and thereafter, the next level is the 3rd floor, which is elevated by some 20m from the ground. So your 3rd floor unit in Foresque is effectively as high as the 8th floor unit in Tree House.

In terms of facilities, Foresque does provide your fair share of different "themed" pools and pavilions as well as 2 tennis courts (ala Tree House). The club house also boasts of a function room, AV room and gourmet kitchen. However, the facility offerings seem somewhat "plain vanilla"  (at least to us anyway) compared to Tree House.



Parking lots are available in the basement and you actually get a few more lots (506) versus the total number of units (496), which is quite rare these days.

There are three showflats on display at the sales gallery - this ranges from 2- to 4-bedroom units.

For the purpose of our review, we shall concentrate on the 4-bedder (Type D2) unit. Look out for the post tomorrow (or maybe the day after)!



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The Lanai: Review

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District:   23
Location:   Hillview Avenue
Developers:   Far East Organization
Tenure:   999-year Leasehold
No. of Blocks:   3 (6 towers of 10-storey each)
No. of Units:   214
No. of Parking Lots:   244
Expected TOP:   2014


The wife and I are not deliberately targeting Far East projects. But it just so happened that we were in Upper Bukit Timah last Saturday morning and decided to check out THE LANAI – a new project by Far East Organization located on Hillview Avenue.


THE LANAI was first previewed back in October 2010, at an initial price of $1,290psf. The project resides on a 123,000sqft site that Far East bought from a unit of Cerebos Pacific back in 1996, which Cerebos was using for manufacturing previously. Towers A1 and C were the first two released, and units in both towers are fully sold.

We were told that Tower A3 was just released for sale, but we counted at least 21 of the 38 units in this tower already taken up as of Saturday.

THE LANAI offers a range of 2- to 4-bedroom units. And surprisingly, there are no penthouses in this project. The typical sizes of each unit types are:
• 2-Bedroom (73 units): 947 – 1151sqft
• 2+Study (35 units): 1044 & 1076sqft
• 3-Bedroom (76 units): 1109 – 1453sqft
• 3+Study (20 units): 1302 & 1561sqft
• 4-Bedroom (10 units ): 1378 – 1615sqft

Facility-wise, THE LANAI supposedly follows a “Hawaiian Theme” and the facilities are located in 3 separate zones within the development

• The Water Court – this is located at the centre of the development and is where you find all the different “themed” pools.
• The Atoll – This is located between Towers B & C, where you will find the sun deck, cabana and dining pavilion.
• Sport & Fitness – This is located at the far corner of the development, next to Tower A3. Here you will find the gym and tennis court.

However, the impression we get is a lack of “wow” factor as far as the facility offering goes – you get what is expected of a full-facility condo, but that’s about it.


For parking, you actually get more parking lots than units - 244 versus 214, with a combination of ground level and basement parking.

There are 2 showflat types on display at the sales gallery
• A 1109sqft, 3-bedroom unit (Type C2)
• A 1378sqft, 4-bedroom unit (Type D2)

Before we proceed with our review of the 4-bedroom unit, it may be worthwhile to note that Type D2 is actually not found in Tower A3. The 4-bedder type available is Type D1, which is 1308sqft. We will explain the difference between Type D1 and D2 in due course.



As you enter the main door, a passageway leads you into the living/dining area. However, it is merely a living room to us, as the small rectangular space will hardly allow you to fit a regular sofa set AND a dining table comfortably. The dining table in the showflat is actually pushed to the balcony area (for obvious reasons). We were told that the living/dining area of both the 3- and 4-bedder is of similar size.
 
 
The living/dining area comes with large 90cm x 90cm marble-slab floors, which is a pleasant surprise. Far East has also provided two colour options for you to choose from - you can either opt for the cream-coloured (as displayed in the 4-bedder showflat) or the white-coloured marble (as per what you see in the 3-bedder showflat). In addition, you also get a ceiling height of 2.9m.

The wet and dry kitchens form an L-shape with each other, and we reckon many buyers will end up using the "dry" kitchen top as the dining table. In addition to the nice looking cabinets (with anti-slam drawers) found in both the dry and wet kitchens, Far East has upped their ante here by providing an extensive range of kitchen appliances. So other than the "Bosch" hood/hob/oven, you also get a 2-door refrigerator, a wine fridge, coffee maker and separate washer & dryer.


The yard area is small but functional - we like the idea of the additional sink (for hand-washing of small items) and cupboard underneath (for storing your washing detergent etc).



The home shelter is definitely too small for a standard single bed, so you either have to find a bed that fits or adopt the Far East method of a customized "stored away/pull-down" bed (as per the showflat) if you intend to house your domestic helper in here.


The wife and I are impressed with the common bathroom - It is beautifully furnished with marble walls/floors and "Kohler" bathroom fittings (including a square-shaped tap), and even comes with separate toilet and shower cubicles. 


It is in the common bedroom #4 that one will see the diffference between the D1 and D2 unit types. The size of bedroom #4 in the showflat is actually what you will get for the D2 variant. For the D1 variant, you get a room that is about 3/4 the size - so Type D1 is more like a 3+Study unit.


The wife spotted an oddity in the other two common bedrooms. The supposed "Queen" bed in each room looked a tad small and after doing another take, she realized that it is more a "Super Single" rather than a standard "Queen" bed. And if you are anything more than 1.5m tall and try to sleep in the exact orientation as shown in the photo, your feet will probably be sticking out in mid-air! So yes, the common bedrooms are too small for our liking and come with bay-windows too.


The master bedroom is decent in size (comparative to the other bedrooms) and comes with timber-strip flooring (as per all the other bedrooms). And the "King" bed in here is of standard size - yes, the wife did check!


The master bathroom is again very beautifully furnished, much like what you will find in most 5-star hotels. We understand you can opt for concrete wall partition instead of glass (if you are shy), and the bathroom comes with a long-bath plus adjacant standing shower stall. The wardrobe provided is not really sufficient but extremely eye-pleasing, although those who cannot keep their clothes tidy may have a problem with the see-through cupboard doors.


Pricing wise, Far East is currently giving about 11% discount off their list price for THE LANAI. On top of that, a “furniture offset” of 2% on the unit purchase price is also given upon TOP of the project.

And now for the shocker – the current price for the 3- and 4-bedders, after all discounts, is in excess of $1430psf. And this is for a project in District 23!

Here is a sample of “nett” prices for units still available as our last Saturday:
• #02-11 (1302sqft, 4-Bedroom) -   $1,871,044 or $1437psf
• #04-11 (1302sqft, 4-Bedroom) -   $1,897,776 or $1457psf
• #06-12 (1109sqft, 3-Bedroom) -   $1,604,081 or $1446psf


As a comparison, below are the latest transacted prices for similar-sized units at developments nearby to THE LANAI:
• Hilltop Grove (99-year, TOP 2003, 1238sqft):   $723psf (Jan 2011)
• Hillview Residence (999-year, TOP 2003, 1238sqft):   $759psf (Feb 2011)
• The Amston (999-year, TOP 1998, 1313sqft):   $647psf (October 2010)

What we like:
• Owners can certainly be proud of the quality of furnishing for their units at THE LANAI. Then again, why would anyone expect less for the kind of money he be shelling?

What we dislike:
• The exorbitant price, the small unit sizes and the “run of the mill” facility offering. Need we say more?

• The main road that The LANAI faces, i.e. Hillview Avenue, is quite a busy road throughout the day. Thus units facing the main road (#16, #17, #18, #20 & #21) will likely bear the brunt of the traffic noise.

• THE LANAI is supposedly surrounded by the magnificent panorama of greenery, with Bukit Timah Nature Reserves on one side and Bukit Batok Nature Park on the other. But from what we can see, the actual site is actually surrounded by buildings on most sides, with very little greenery view to speak of. And seriously, the wife and I are not particularly impressed by the “view” of the surrounding.


• The nearest MRT station (i.e. the upcoming Hillview Station on the future Downtown Line 2 to be completed in 2015) is about 1-km away. So not exactly a stroll especially on a hot humid (or worse, rainy) day.

• The only primary school that we know of that is within 1-km of THE LANAI is Lianhua Primary, which (pardon our ignorance) we never heard of until we do our research for this review.

In summary, the wife and I have nothing much good to say about THE LANAI. We must admit to being surprised by the supposed good take-up rate for this project. But then again, quite a number of units were previously sold via a bulk purchase (possibly by some investment funds) and not anywhere near the $1430psf that the project is asking now. Although we were told that the project is “open to offers” (meaning developer is willing to listen to offers less than $1430psf), we will rather take our chances on, say, The Cascadia (a freehold project along Bukit Timah Road and District 21) that is currently transacting at $1400+psf.
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The Lanai: 3-Bedroom showflat photos

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The wife and I were at the sales gallery of The Lanai yesterday.


This is a 999-year project located at Hillview Avenue and developed by Far East Organization.


Below are photos we took of the 1,109sqft, 3-Bedroom (Type C) showflat.












Do look out for photos of the 4-bedroom showflat and our review of The Lanai tomorrow.

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