Buckley Classique (Review)

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Project Name:   Buckley Classique
Tenure:   Freehold
Location:   9 & 11 Buckley Road
District:   11
Site Area:   71,800sqft
TOP (estimated):   31 Dec 2015
Total Units:   64
No. of Blocks/Storey:   2 blocks of 5 and 6-storey plus attic.
Car Park Lots:   76 (basement)
Developer:   City Developments Limited (CDL)

The wife and I visited the sales gallery of Buckley Classique over the weekend. This is a freehold project by City Development Limited.

Buckley Classique is located along Buckley Road, which is off Newton Road. The sales gallery is located on the actual site itself, which actually consists of 2 separate plots of land combined together. The apartments will be located on 11 Buckley Road, where the former Buckley Mansion is located. CDL bought the site via a collective sale in 2007 for around $633psf ppr. A colonial-style bungalow stands on 9 Buckley Road, which is owned by the Kwek family (Hong Leong Group, CDL etc). The bungalow will be preserved and converted into a clubhouse for Buckley Classique.

Buckley Classique consists of 2 blocks separated by the lap-pool in between. We were told that the two blocks are about 18.5 metres apart, which sounds like a good distance away. The outer block is 5-storey high, while the inner block is 6-storey. However, all the penthouses on the highest floor come with an attic.

The project offers a mix of 2- to 4-bedroom units as well as penthouses (4 or 5-bedroom). And unlike many new projects these days that have primarily smaller apartments, most of the units in Buckley Classique are 3-bedders. It also has a split-level (i.e. basement + ground) 4-bedder unit that comes with 2 private parking lots, and is the only one of its kind in the whole project:

• 2-Bedroom (9 units):   1098 – 1238sqft
• 3-Bedroom (45 units):   1399 – 1475sqft
• 4-Bedroom (4 units):   1959 – 2896sqft
• Penthouses (6 units):   3563 – 4359sqft

In terms of facility offerings, the highlight must certainly be the clubhouse. However, the number/types of facility available in the project are rather basic.

Parking is available in the basement, with a total of 76 lots (actually 74 if you exclude the 2 private lots for the split-level unit). So there is the odd chance that visitors may actually get to park within the development itself.

There is only one showflat on display – this is the 1475sqft, 3-bedroom unit with PES (Type B1). For those who are not really into ground-floor units, you be glad to know that the typical Type B1 unit (1410sqft) has the same interior layout as the showflat.

 
All apartments come with their own private lift/lift lobby. The other unique feature about the apartments is that you do not have a “main door” per se – you get a set of sliding glass partitions instead that is supposedly “lockable”. Once inside the apartment, another door directly opposite to the common bathroom opens into the stairwell. This will allow you access to your apartment (especially if you are on the higher floors) in case your private lift malfunctions.

The living/dining area is rectangular in shape and seems a tad small. It comes with nice 60cm x 60cm marble-slab floors and 3.25m ceiling height.

The kitchen is a narrow rectangular strip of an area and again seems somewhat small. However, the wife and I were rather impressed with the furnishing – you get good quality homogenous floor tiles/solid-surfaced worktop, very appealing set of kitchen cabinets that come with “anti-slam” mechanism and “Gagganeu” hood/hob/oven/fridge.

There is a proper yard area for you to do your laundry chores. For ground-floor units, you can access the yard from outside the PES (via a door next to the space for washing machine) as well as from within the kitchen. The home shelter (spacious enough for a single bed but not much else) and a bathroom are found in the yard as well.

The common bathroom is good sized and comes with homogenous-tile floors and ceramic walls. You also get “Hansgrohe” bathroom fittings and the “Kohler” toilet bowl is wall-mounted, which adds style. However, the developer can certainly do better than the ordinary looking wall-mounted shower set.

The two common bedrooms are very spacious – you can easily fit a Queen bed inside and still have lots of room. The floors are made of American white oak and there are no bay windows to contend with. The wardrobe provided are quite appealing and the doors even come with “anti-slam” hinges!

(* Apologies but we were unable to get photos of the common toilet and bedrooms, as the security guard was standing too close for comfort *)

And if you think the common bedrooms are large, the master bedroom is huge! This is the only bedroom with bay windows but despite so, you have more than sufficient space to put a King bed, a TV console and even a small study table inside. We especially like the wardrobe provided, which comes with sliding doors with superb mechanism – unlike normal sliding doors that run on tracks, the doors are fitted with rolling hinges that grip the top and bottom of the wardrobe.

The master bathroom is spacious and comes with tile floors but marble walls. You get similar “Hansgrohe/Kohler” fittings, a bath tub and an adjacent standing shower. A set of windows above the toilet bowl ensures ample natural lighting and ventilation.

Price wise, a 1410sqft, Type B1 unit on the 2nd floor (#02-02) will cost you $2,886,000. This translates to almost $2,047psf.

As of last weekend, 26 of the 64 units have been sold. For those of you who are interested in the 2-bedders, only 1 unit remains.

And now for the other bombshell: The monthly maintenance fees for a 3-bedder will set you back $672, which is rather steep!


What we like:
• We are very impressed with the quality of furnishing and fittings as seen in the showflat. At least you are getting (in terms of quality) what you are paying for, which is more than we can say compared to some other projects that we have seen.

• We are pleasantly surprised by the spacious bedrooms despite the fact that the 3-bedder unit is only about 1400sqft. This is a departure from the tiny bedrooms found in many other new projects these days.

• Novena MRT Station and amenities within United & Novena Squares are about 5 – 10 minutes’ walk away.

What we dislike:

• Buckley Road is a fairly narrow one-way street, with several condo projects lining both sides of the road. So finding roadside parking (e.g. your visitors who are unable to find parking within the condo, or maybe for your 4th car etc) may be quite a challenge. The road may also be quite congested during certain times of the day.

• The living/dining area for the 3-bedder is a tad too small for our liking. But given the size of the unit and the spacious bedroom, something has to give.

• $675 monthly in maintenance for a 1400sqft apartment? The wife and I were already complaining like crazy when we had to pay 500 bucks a month at our last condo unit. And that was for a bigger apartment with private lift!

• The good news is that you have a choice of 3 primary schools within 1-km of Buckley Classique. The bad news is that all of them are boys’ school (i.e. ACS Primary, ACS Junior and SJI Junior). So parents needing to enrol their daughters into primary school may have a slight problem.

Our Verdict: Buckley Classique is definitely one of the better projects that we have seen in terms of location, quality and unit layout. But as with all good thing comes a price and at over $2,000psf, it is much too steep for our comfort. This is especially when the project is one of those low-rise, “boutique” developments, unlike Residences @Evelyn or Trilight for example, which are high-rise (with a view of sorts) and with better facilities.

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TERRENE @BUKIT TIMAH (Review – continue)

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We pick up where we left off yesterday.

The second floor of the sales gallery features what the upper level of a 4-Bedroom Penthouse will look like. 

The master bedroom is located on the upper level. This comes across as much smaller than the one we saw in the 3-bedroom unit. This is probably because of the huge roof terrace area that took up quite alot of space on this level.

The master bathroom is definitely more spacious than the one in the 3-bedder. However, the furnishing is similarly unimpressive.

There is no bathtub in the master bath even for the penthouses. The other thing that we find quite strange is the two wall-mounted showers in the standing shower stalls. The wife and I have seen our fair share of “His” and “Hers” bathroom sinks and even wardrobes, but this is the first time we have come across a “His” and “Hers” shower!

There is one other bedroom on this level but this felt more like a study given its small size. There is also a common bathroom outside the “study”.

The roof terrace area is huge, so much so that it can accomodate a big jacuzzi (which comes standard with the 4 and 5-bedroom penthouses) and still have enough space to hold a small party for 6 – 8 people.

What we like:
• Location – The wife and I are not exactly big fans of the Jalan Jurong Kechil/Toh Tuck Road area, but it is a relatively straight road from TERRENE to PIE/Dunearn Road/AYE (via Clementi Road), all of which are just minutes’ drive away. However, we understand that the morning traffic along this stretch of road can be quite daunting.

• The upcoming Beauty World MRT Station is supposedly less than 500m from TERRENE. It is also fairly close to eateries and amenities along Bukit Timah Road.

• For those with kids entering primary school come 2015, there is a choice of Bukit Timah or Pei Hua Primary that are within 1-km of TERRENE.

• The Canadian International School (Elementary) and German European School are also within a kilometre from TERRENE, which may mean rental demands from expatriates with children attending these schools.

What we dislike:
• This is the third project by UOL (i.e. after Waterbank @Dakota and Meadows @Pierce) that the wife and I have seen since we began writing our blog. And we are disappointed a third time with the quality of furnishing at TERRENE.

• The common rooms in the showflats are too small for our comfort and please do not even get us started on the tiny utility aka maid’s room in the 3-bedder unit.

• Given the low-rise status (i.e. 5-storey) of this project, the external view of all outward facing units at TERRENE are likely to be blocked. And if you look at the facility offerings and their layouts, there is nothing much to look into even for the inward facing units.

Despite our grievances about TERRENE, there seems to be quite a lot of people that disagree with our take on the project. This is reflected by the extremely strong take-up rate – we were told that developers have sold more than 10 units over last Friday and Saturday alone, so it is not far-fetched to assume that TERRENE will be completely sold out within the next 1 – 2 months.

Price wise, we understand that this ranges from slightly below $1000psf for the penthouses to over $1250psf for the smaller units. So one can buy a 2000+sqft, 999-years tenure, 2-level penthouse in district 21 for about $2 million dollars. Granted that TERRENE is not exactly located at the most fancied part of district 21, but it is still a relatively good deal if you consider the current property market situation.

However, TERRENE is not a project that the wife and I will consider buying into, for obvious enough reasons.
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TERRENE @BUKIT TIMAH (Review)

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District: 21
Location: Jalan Jurong Kechil/ Toh Tuck Road
Developer: UOL & LaSalle Investment Management
Tenure: 999-years
Estimated site area: 130,000sqft
Expected TOP: 31 March 2014
Description: 8 blocks of 5-storey each
Total number of units: 172
Total number of carpark lots: 172 + 4 handicapped (all basement)

The wife and I finally found ourselves at the sales gallery of TERRENE on Sunday morning. The much talked-about project was officially launched last Friday, but with only 42 of the 172 units left for sale.

The sales gallery is located at the actual site itself, i.e. the junction of Jalan Jurong Kechil and Toh Tuck Road. Entrance to the gallery is on Toh Tuck Road, but the actual condo entrance will be along Jalan Jurong Kechil.

The sales gallery was expectedly filled with both prospective buyers and agents alike, with many crowding around the site model and others roaming around the showflat.

The types of unit available at TERRENE are fairly standard. However, there is a vast number of penthouses (30) found in this project.

Unit Types & Sizes:
• 1-Bedroom (22 units): 506 – 624sqft
• 2-Bedroom (68 units): 915 – 1184sqft
• 3-Bedroom (44 units): 1109 – 1572sqft
• 4-Bedroom (8 units): 1550 – 1841sqft
• 3-Bedroom PH (14 units): 1733 – 2034sqft
• 4-Bedroom PH (11 units): 2067 – 2443sqft
• 5-Bedroom PH (5 units): 2659 – 3025sqft

In terms of facility, TERRENE has incorporated the standing offering found in most new condo project but in a nature setting. So you will find water-walls, gym that is set beneath a ridge and a “Bird’s Nest” – which is essentially a playground/treehouse built around a big tree. However, there is no sky terraces (given the low-rise status) or tennis court. The wife and I actually found the facilities quite basic.

The primary showflat on display is a 1539sqft, 3-Bedroom ground-floor unit (Type C7G).

The wife and I were disappointed the moment we stepped into the showflat – the living/dining area is real tiny for a 1500+sqft unit. We were also not impressed with the small-slab marble flooring. All units come standard with 2.9m ceiling.

The kitchen is squarish and decent size. The quality of the L-shaped worktop and kitchen cabinets are nothing much to shout about. The unit comes with “Tekka” hood/hob/oven and that is about all the appliances you can expect.

There is not much of a yard area to speak of, so doing laundry in here will be a challenge. The utility/maid’s room is quite pathetic in size – it is long and narrow and so will probably fit a custom-made bed but nothing much else. A small bathroom is available opposite the utility room.
The two common rooms are a tad small. It comes with a modular wardrobe with “foldable” doors – not exactly classy looking.

The common bathroom is good-sized and comes with ‘Grohe” bathroom fittings and a standing shower stall. However, we are not particularly thrilled with the quality of furnishing – e.g. the not-very-appealing ceramic wall/floor tiles, wall cabinet with very sharp edges and bath sink that looked very “old-school”.

The master bedroom is surprisingly very spacious – one of the few things we liked about this unit.
The wardrobe has sliding doors this time, but it is quite non-descript.

The master bathroom is quite small and you be disappointed if you are expecting a bathtub – it only has a standing shower stall with standard shower head. And unlike many other new condos, the master bathroom does not come with marble floor or walls.

The sales gallery of TERRENE also showcased what the upper level of a 4-Bedroom Penthouse unit will look like. We will review this section tomorrow and also tell you what we think about this project.
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368 THOMSON (Review)

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Given the hype surrounding 368 THOMSON, the wife and I decided to go check out the project yesterday morning.

The sales gallery/showflat is located on the actual site at the junction of Thomson and Balestier Road.

368 THOMSON is a freehold development consisting of a single tower of 36-storey with 157 units. It resides on a 60,000sqft plot with a plot ratio of 2.8. The expected TOP of this project is 2015.

The unit types available at 368 THOMSON is fairly straight forward:

• 1 + Study (31 units):  689sqft  – Face Jalan Raja Udang. 
• 2-bedrooms (62 units): 872/883sqft  – Face Thomson Road.
• 3-bedrooms (31 units): 1302sqft  – Diagonally facing Tan Tong Meng Tower & reservoir view.
• 4-bedrooms (31 units): 1722sqft  – Face Balestier Road and City/CBD but supposedly with 270-degree view. Private lift access.
• 5-bedroom penthouses (2 units): 3337/ 3391sqft  

There are 2 vehicular entrances into the condo – one along Thomson Road and the other via Jalan Raja Udang at the back of the condo, which is quite thoughtful and unusual for a small development.

368 THOMSON is marketed as a full-facility condo. However, the facilities are rather basic and are found either on the ground or the “sky terrace” level on the 3rd storey of the condo. Tennis enthusiasts will be largely disappointed as there is no tennis court in this development.

There are a total of 170 parking lots spread over 3 levels – basement, ground and first level.

The only showflat on display was the 1722sqft, 4-bedroom (Type D) unit. This comes with your own private lift lobby and lobby area. 

The first thing that struck us when we enter the showflat was how small the living/dining area looked for a 1722sqft unit. This is a long and rather narrow strip of an area, which looked rather “stingy” and a nightmare in terms of space utilization. However, both the wife and I were impressed by the good quality honed marble flooring provided. It also comes with 2.9m ceiling height.

The balcony is an odd-shaped area big enough to host a mahjong session comfortably. The only complaint we have about the balcony is the round pillar that stands out like a sore thumb in the outer corner. A long row of plant box surrounds the balcony, stretches across one side of the living room and wraps around the lift lobby area.

The unit comes with good-sized wet and dry kitchens. The wet kitchen is good sized and comes equipped with “Hansgrohe” kitchen fittings, “De Dietrich” hob/hood/oven and “Fisher & Paykel” fridge. The developer has even thrown in a “Brandt” wine for good measure. The solid-surface kitchen worktop and gross-finished cabinets have excellent workmanship and very pleasing to the eyes.

The yard area is one of the most generous we have seen for awhile, so you have plenty of space here to do and even hang up your laundry for drying. There is also a back door access through to the common lifts. The utility/maid’s room is, however, a tad small.

The two common bedrooms are tucked at one side of the unit, across from the master bedroom and junior suites. These two rooms are a bit small but regular shaped and comes with good quality wood floorings and wardrobe.

The common bathroom is sandwiched between the two bedrooms and is quite good sized with well thought-out furnishes, e.g. storage compartment behind the bathroom mirror. It also comes with a standing shower stall and “Hansgrohe/Bravat” bathroom and toilet fittings.

The junior suite seems a bit small and has a set of curved bay windows. The attached bathroom is decent sized and comes similarly fitted as the common bathroom.

The master bedroom is adjacent to the junior suite. This is very spacious and comes with one of the best looking set of wardrobe that we have ever seen in a showflat.

The highlight of the unit must be the master bathroom. It comes with a marble “feature wall” that blends well with the marble floor and gives the whole bathroom a very chic look. The furnishing is also well designed – the storage cupboard below the wash basin is actually compartmentalize, i.e. not just a “box with doors” that you normally get with other projects. And we loved the beautiful vanity top and oval-shaped mirror on top of the large rectangular wash-basin. The master bath also comes equipped with a long bath and an adjacent standing (rain) shower stall.

What we like:
• The well though-out designs and excellent quality of furnishings we saw in the showflat of 368 THOMSON, which is probably the best that we have seen since Parvis.

• The spacious yard area that allows you to confine all your laundry chores to.

• There is at least a choice of CHIJ Toa Payoh (for girls) or Balestier Hill Primary (co-ed) for primary schools that are within 1-km of 368 THOMSON.

What we dislike:
• Location – 368 THOMSON is in District 11 but it is located at what the wife and I deemed as the “least desired” part of District 11, i.e. right in front of the busy intersection between Thomson and Balestier Road. This is unless you find the sight and sound of traffic soothing.

• We are rather disappointed with the facility offering, especially when you only have one tower on a 60,000sqft plot. And “sky terrace” on the 3rd storey is kind of an oxymoron.

• The small living/dining area for the 4-bedders.

Pricing wise, following are two units of the 1722sqft 4-bedder that are still available as of yesterday morning:
• #11-05 – $2,312,400 or $1343psf
• #21-05 – $2,436,000 or $1415psf

The monthly maintenance for a 4-bedroom unit is about $496.

The project was opened to the public since last Friday and about 100 of the 120 units released have already been sold. All the 2-bedroom units are fully sold. This is hardly surprising – the developer (CDL) has obviously priced 368 THOMSON to sell, given the competitive pricing for this very high quality project versus other new developments in District 11. The wife and I are still somewhat uneasy about the actual site (i.e. at the intersection between two busy roads) and the unimpressive facility offering within the condo, but we reckon 368 THOMSON will be fully sold within the next 2 months.
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THE CASCADIA: Building Progress

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The wife and I happened to drive past the actual site of THE CASCADIA today, and thought we’ll show you a photo (or two).

Looks like the project is coming up nicely for year-end TOP.

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TERRENE @BUKIT TIMAH: Executive Summary

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This might come in handy for those who are interested in TERRENE @BUKIT TIMAH.

Our thanks to Knight Frank.

Executive Summary (Terrene) http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=33585643&access_key=key-14ikg3ytp5ku32qt9ln7&page=1&viewMode=slideshow

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THE CASCADIA (Review)

District: 21
Location: Bukit Timah Road
Address: 947 Bukit Timah Road (Management Office addess)
Tenure: Freehold
Developer: Allgreen Properties Limited
Number of units: 536 units
Number of Blocks: 13 of 10-storey each
Parking Lots: 567 (basement parking)
TOP: October 2010 (according to marketing agent)

THE CASCADIA is technically not “new” – this development was launched back in 2007 and about 187 units were sold then at about $1,500psf. Then came the property downturn and the developer decided to hold back on sales till about May of this year.

THE CASCADIA resides on a 300,000sqft irregular-shaped plot along Bukit Timah Road (next door to The Floridian), but the showflat is located off-site on an empty field at Old Holland Road.

The sales gallery was rather empty when the wife and I visited last Sunday morning. Units in 7 of the 13 blocks (total of 296 units) are still available for sale, but we were told that almost 60% of the project has been taken up.

There are quite a number of unit types and sizes being offered at THE CASCADIA:
• 1-Bedroom (38 units): 570 – 710sqft
• 2-Bedrrom/2+Study (109 units): 871 – 1162sqft
• 3-Bedroom/3+Study (81 units): 1173 – 1323sqft
• 4-Bedroom/4+Study (45 units): 1410 – 1593sqft
• 2BR/2+S Penthouses (12 units): 1679 – 2260sqft
• 3BR/3+Study Penthouses (7 units): 2346 – 2884sqft
• 4BR/5BR Super Penthouses (4 units): 3961 – 5231sqft

The 2 and 3-bedroom penthouses come in 2 levels, but the upper level consists totally of roof terraces (unless space to us). The Super Penthouses have interior living spaces on both the upper and lower levels and come with their own private lap-pools.

THE CASCADIA is a full facilities condominium, but the facility offering does come across as dull compared to some of the newer launches – you still get the basic facilities you would expect from a condo project, but there is no “wow” factor here. It does offers two tennis court, which is generous for a 500+ units project.

There are 3 showflat types on display at the sales gallery:
 1582sqft, 4-Bedroom+Study (Type D2s-a)

 1237sqft, 3-Bedroom+PES (Type C1-a)

 1162sqft, 2-Bedroom+Study+PES (Type B1s-a)

The layout of the 3 unit types is rather similar (supposedly unique for Allgreen’s development), so we will just concentrate on the 4-Bedroom+ Study unit.

As we stepped into the showflat, the wife and I was amazed by how huge the living/ dining area is – until we realized that it is “enlarged” by sacrificing the common bedroom adjacent to the living area. So this is effectively a 3-bedroom+ study unit. If one decides to keep four bedrooms, the living/dining area is actually a tad small. We were told by the marketing agent that even if we decide to do the former, we can only knock the wall down after the condominium obtains its legal completion status, and at our own cost (of course). The living/dining is at least regular in shape, and comes with 3.2m ceiling height. The floor is furnished with unique 60cm x 60cm “porcelain” tiles – this is supposedly tougher than granite (go goggle it, says our marketing agent) and looked rather nice.

There is no balcony in this unit – the “balcony doors” open out to a sunken planter box, which seems rather strange. However, this just means more interior living space so we aren’t complaining.

There is also no dry kitchen – the only kitchen you get is a rectangular strip that comes furnished with “Miele” hob/hob/oven and solid surface worktop.

The small yard area extends from the kitchen – not a lot of space to work with after fitting the washer/dryer (separate units will need to be stacked). The bomb shelter/maid’s room is short but wide – so you will need custom-made bed if this is the domestic helper’s quarter. A small bathroom is available in the yard area.

The common bathroom is decent size, with ceramic tiles floor and walls. It also comes with good quality “Damixa” bathroom fittings – we may be partial here, since we have the same brand of fittings installed in our master bathroom…

The 2 common rooms are regular and good size, so fitting a queen bed inside will not pose too much of a problem. It comes with nice wood strip floors, but we are not particular impressed with the modular “open” wardrobe system (read: no doors). Just thinking about the dust and having to keep the wardrobe tidy (or out of sight) made the two of us cringe.

The study area is about the size of a small store room. Maybe that’s why it is not enclosed (again: no doors). The developer has deliberately hacked the wall between the study and the junior suites to increase the perception of space.

The junior suite looked rather small and comes with the same modular wardrobe system. The attached bathroom is also small but comes with good quality “Damixa/Duravit” fittings. The standing shower stall may pose a challenge for “bigger individuals” to maneuver inside (kudos to the wife for spotting this).

The master bedroom is very good size and has a set of “rounded” windows on one side. It also comes standard with transparent glass wardrobes but again with no doors. The master bathroom is also good size, fitted with granite floors/walls and comes with a bath tub and adjacent standing shower stall. The usual “Damixa/Duravit” fittings apply.

What we like:
 All units in THE CASCADIA are primarily North-South facing, which means you do not get the direct morning/afternoon sun.

 All the rooms are regular shaped with no odd-corners.

 All the showflat types come with the same good quality furnishings and fittings.

 Even the 2-bedroom units come with long bath and adjacent shower stall in the master bathroom.

 Within close proximity of the upcoming King Albert Park MRT station (part of the Downtown Line Stage 2) that will be completed by 2015.

What we dislike:
 The living/dining for all 3 showflat types are quite small. This is especially disappointing with the 4-bedder unit, unless you sacrifice a common bedroom to enlarge the living area as per the showflat.

 Only 1 primary school is within 1-km of THE CASCADIA – Methodist Girls’ Primary.

 For investment purpose, the rental yield may not be fantastic – although many do prefer rental units in a new development, THE CASCADIA will probably face severe competition from Maplewood and Nexus as well as The Floridian when this is completed.

Price-wise, a 4+Study unit in Block No. 943 (#06-49) will cost $2,161,320 or $1445psf. This unit will get the main pool view. Maintenance for this unit (7 shares) is around $266/month, which is quite reasonable.

As we have mentioned earlier, 60% of the unit in THE CASCADIA are already sold as of last Sunday. The developer has allegedly increased their selling price by 1% since last Saturday. Deferred payment Scheme is still being offered for this project.

In summary, both the wife and I are rather impartial about THE CASCADIA. We are quite happy with the unit layout (other than the small living/dining area) and the quality of furnishings/fittings provided, but we still think that the facilities within this project are somewhat “old school”. This may be a consideration for buyers who are big on facilities. And who can blame them, when they have to shell out almost $1500psf for their apartments?

THE CASCADIA (Showflat Photos)

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

Here are photos of the showflat units. We will post the review tomorrow (hopefully) – kinda jaded these couple of days.

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Coming Soon: The Concorde @Thomson

The wife has received one of them email informing us about the impending preview of THE CONCORDE @THOMSON. This new project occupies the combined sites of the former Concorde Residences, Bright Building and Balestier Court.

Preliminary details of the project as follow
District:  11
Land Tenure:  Freehold
Site Area:  Approx 60,000 sqft
Plot Ratio:  2.8
Description:  36-storey Tower block with 157 units

Expected  TOP: 31 Jul 2015
Developer:  City Development Limited
Unit Types:
1+Study: 689 sqft (31 units)
2-Bedroom : 872 – 883 sqft (62 units)
3-Bedroom : 1302 sqft (31 units)
4-Bedroom: 1722 sqft (31 units)
Penthouses (5BR): 3391 sqft (2 units)

Facilities:

• Ground Level
• Playground
• Multi Purpose Deck
• Outdoor Fitness Station
• Garden of Solitude
• Eco Stream
• Lattice Walk
• Sky Terrace Level (3rd Storey)
• Main Pool
• Therm Jet Pool
• Children’s Pool
• Sun Deck
• BBQ Area
• Alcove Seats
• Gymnasium
• Clubhouse
• Outdoor Lounge
• Changing Rooms with Steam Rooms

Unit Features:

• Good quality fittings and kitchen appliances from Hansgrohe and De Dietrich.
• Ducted air-conditioning to living and dining for Type D (4BR) and living, dining and Master Bedroom for Penthouses.
• Well-planned layout that maximizes the interior space of each unit.
• Private lift access to the 4-bedroom units.
• Within 1 km from CHIJ Primary (Toa Payoh) and Balestier Hill Primary School.

The 4-bedrooms sound reasonably good sized (unless they contains exceedingly large balconies) while the 5-bedroom penthouses are rather unique. These definitely make it worth our trip to check THE CONCORDE @THOMSON out… once it’s launched.

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CUBE 8 Floor Plans… if it is not too late!

A friend of ours (thanks Elaine!) has sent us the floor plans for CUBE 8 last month. Thinking that the wife and I will get to this project in good time, it did not occur to us to put the floor plans on our blog until we get the chance to review the development.

However, it has been a case of “too many new projects, too little time” for us. And our recent attempt to visit the sales gallery of CUBE 8 was unsuccessful as it was closed – we are not sure if they are just closed for the CNY period or are now on a “view by appointment” basis, since we understand that more than 167 of the 177 units in this project are already sold. And in the spirit of  “better late than never”, here are the floor plans for CUBE 8.
Cube8_Floorplans http://d1.scribdassets.com/ScribdViewer.swf?document_id=27147652&access_key=key-6wr6m0pwfmy6tja9h5r&page=1&viewMode=list
For the uninitiated, and those who just returned from Mars, CUBE 8 is possibly THE hottest selling project when it was launched in January this year. This freehold project developed by City Developments Limited is on Thomson Road (almost right next to the Thomson Road/Balestier Road junction) on the site of the former The Albany and Thomason Mansion. It is located next to The Arte (another CDL project) at Thomson, which was launched for sale in March last year. While the two projects are adjacent, The Arte is in District 12 wile CUBE 8 is in District 11.

The 36-storey CUBE 8 has 177 apartments, comprising 39 one-bedroom units, 58 two-bedders, 67 three-bedders, 9 four-bedroom apartments and 4 sky villas (2-level penthouses).

The unit sizes are
• One-Bedroom: 560sqft
• Two-Bedrooms: 893 – 926sqft
• Three-Bedrooms: 1335 – 1475sqft  (* walk-in closets in Master Bedroom for the 1400+ sqft layouts)
• Four-Bedrooms: 1905sqft  (*Actually a 4-bedroom+Study)
• Sky Villas: 3025 – 3229sqft  (* Powder room, large open roof terrace c/w private Jacuzzi)

Just going by the floor plans alone, we quite like most of the unit layouts although there should be a powder room provided in the 4-bedroom unit (in an ideal world at least). The location of CUBE 8 is also quite central and well served by the nearby PIE/CTE. It is also within 15 – 20 minutes drive of Orchard and CBD under normal traffic conditions. But the constant heavy traffic along Thomson and Newton Road (especially the stretch just in front of Novena church), not to mention Lornie Road during the morning/evening rush hours, may put paid to any desire to get anywhere fast.

The wife and I can probably deal with the traffic. But what concerns us most is the fact that CUBE 8 is located way too close to comfort to a certain old condo that is supposedly…now how shall we put this gently…resided by not just human occupants and their pets. So it is probably the main reason why we will give this project a miss.

The average transacted price for CUBE 8 in January was reportedly around $1250psf, valuing the three-bedroom units at $1.6 – $1.8million, while the four-bedders cost around $2.5million. The sky villas will set you back by $3.6 – $3.8million. But we reckon the prices would have increased, probably by more than once, by now.

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