HDB DBSS Review and Photos: Natura Loft

HDB DBSS Review and Photos: Natura Loft

Despite being launched before other DBSS projects like Parc Lumiere at Simei, we were tipped off that there were quite a few choice units left at Natura Loft, in Bishan. So we checked out the HDB DBSS project in Bishan, Natura Loft over the weekend to see whats holding back home hungry buyers. Natura Loft is a 480 unit DBSS project along Bishan Street 24. There are 4 room and 5 room units in this project.

When we arrived, there was quite a crowd still mingling about the showroom selecting units. Based on the model and site plan, Natura Loft was pretty decent. It's biggest pull was immediately apparent with the entrance of both Whiteley Secondary School and Catholic High School almost sharing the same address as Natura Loft. As a matter of fact, one of my personal friends expressed interest in Natura Loft due to the location one of the schools nearby - and its no secret most of the schools close to this condominium are renowned.

Just beside is a small little heartland 'central' with several shops and eating houses popular with Bishan residents. Getting to Bishan MRT station though, will require a short feeder bus ride.


The layout of the 3 blocks was north-south oriented, with a slight leaning towards the northwest. West sun shouldn't be too big an issue, as it beats down only upon bare walls and some master bathroom windows. Views were touted to be facing towards McRitchie reservoir or the city - although after checking out the views from surrounding 20 storey point blocks, one likely has to be on a very high floor to enjoy the McRitchie reservoir view fully. Natura Loft is surrounded by approximately 10 storey standard blocks and 20 storey point blocks. With just 4 units to a level, residents will not feel overcrowded and basement parking is convenient.

The showroom was pleasent but a little overdone, the 5 room showflat had two of its bedrooms radically combined to constitute one large bedroom to amplify the feeling of spaciousness. This defeated the purpose of allowing potential buyers to get a proper feel of their future home. The sales staff that served us was a nice guy, and wasn't too pushy. However it felt weird when one of the main highlights presented was the 'bamboo' flooring used.

Large balconies with planters is still the order of the day for DBSS flats it seems and overall the design was pretty straight forward much like other DBSS flats with slight tweaks. We appreciated how the living and dining areas were not completely exposed upon stepping into the 5 room units, although we were not quite sure what to make of the substantial planter space connected to master bedrooms in some variants. The kitchen was a little bit smaller compared to some of the other DBSS units from what we remembered, but had the option of coming with built in kitchen appliances. This space however went to larger bedrooms and living rooms it seems - which is a good thing for some.

As we came to the end of the showroom tour, we were introduced to which units were left. Apparently most if not all of the 4 room units were already picked. We were slightly disappointed as we were scouting for one ourselves. The shocker however came in the form of 5 room prices. The starting price for a 5 room unit started from roughly $600,000 as compared to $539,000 at The Peak @ Toa Payoh. But after checking the details, 5-room units in Natura Loft are 120sqm - larger than the 110-117sqm 5rm units in Toa Payoh.

So perhaps whats stopping people from snapping it all up, could just be a matter of the number "$600,000" being a psychological barrier to HDB upgraders rather than the units being truly unaffordable.


Construction on the foundation was in progress already.

Whiteley Secondary School and Catholic High School are literally next door.

Facing North.

Facing Northeast.

Facing East.

Facing Southeast (City view).

Facing South (City view).

Facing Southwest (Reservoir view?).

Facing West (Reservoir view?).

Looking down Bishan Street 24 (site on the left).

From Bishan Street 24, facing West.


Sample of 4rm floorplans.


Sample of 5rm floorplans.

(Floorplan, Artist Impression and Siteplans: Brochure)

Tags: HDB, BTO, NATURA LOFT

Posted on 06-05-2009 16:14 | By Francis

Wednesday Spotlight: Most expensive resale HDB flats - 13 May 2009

We bring you a snap shot of the most expensive HDB flats there are in the resale market at this point:

1. 750k 2 Storey Terrace, Balestier Estate, Blk 50 Jalan Bahagia - Garden

2. 692k 5rm, Kallang Whampoa Estate, Blk 3D Upper Boon Keng Road - High floor, renovated, sea view


3. 680k 5rm, Queenstown Estate, Blk 51 Strathmore Avenue - Near MRT

4. 680k 5rm, Queenstown Estate, Blk 58 Strathmore Avenue - Very high floor, Near MRT

5. 670k 5rm, Commonwealth Estate, Blk 80 Commonwealth Drive - High floor, renovated*

6. 665k 5rm, Queenstown Estate, Blk 59 Strathmore Avenue

7. 664k Maisonette, Clementi Estate, Blk 116 Clementi Street 13 - High floor, renovated

8. 660k 5rm, Tiong Bahru Estate, Blk 19 Jalan Membina - High floor

9. 660k 5rm, Ghim Moh Estate, Blk 13 Ghim Moh Road - High floor

10. 655k 5rm, Queenstown Estate, Blk 52 Strathmore Avenue - High Floor, selling below valuation

*we suspect this was a dummy ad by an agent, as there are unlikely any 5rm units in this block)

Tags: HDB, RESALE, WEDNESDAY SPOTLIGHT, EXOENSIVE

Posted on 13-05-2009 12:01 | By Francis

Midweek Spotlight: Most expensive resale HDB flats - 21 May 2009

Midweek Spotlight: Most expensive resale HDB flats - 21 May 2009

We bring you a snap shot of the most expensive HDB flats there are in the resale market at this point:




















1. 750k Maissonete, Bishan, Blk 222 Bishan Street 23 - Corner unit, unblocked view




















2. 680k 5rm, Tanjong Pagar, Blk 13 Cantonment Close - High floor, renovated, valued at 650k




















3. 680k 5rm, Tiong Bahru, Blk 8a Boon Tiong Road




















4. 670k 5rm, Bukit Merah, Blk 63a Lengkok Bahru




















5. 664k Maissonete, Clementi, Blk 116 Clementi Street 13 - High floor, renovated




















6. 660k Exc Apt, Jurong East, Blk 285a Toh Guan Road - Unblock view




















7. 660k 5rm, Tiong Bahru, Blk 19 Jalan Membina




















8. 650k 5rm, Tiong Bahru, Blk 131c Kim Tian Road - High floor, valued at 640k




















9. 643k 5rm, Tiong Bahru, Blk 121 Kim Tian Place - No west sun, A1 design (What is A1 design???)




















10. 640k 5rm, Toa Payoh, Blk 143 Lor 2 Toa Payoh - Very high floor, corner, north-south facing, unblock city view, valued at 610k

Note to readers: We are not marketing any of these units. We would just like to bring to your attention what some high-end units in the market are asking for.

Tags: HDB, RESALE, MIDWEEK SPOTLIGHT, EXPENSIVE

Posted on 21-05-2009 15:05 | By Francis

The Peak at Toa Payoh

The Peak at Toa Payoh looks for more 5rm flat buyers

There was an advertisement in the Straits Times today, calling for those interested to come for a walk-in selection of The Peak 5rm flats.

We initially assumed that being oversubscribed during the balloting, most if not all of The Peak would have been sold out.

However it now seems that The Peak @ Toa Payoh seems to be struggling on two fronts. On one hand there has been overwhelming demand for its 4rm flats. In fact it seems that most if not all 4rm units at The Peak has been snapped up. On the other hand, it is struggling to convince buyers to take up the excess 5rm units it had anticipated to sell.

The problem is that the majority of The Peak's units are 5rm flats (~63%), and according to some pictures taken by a forum member "fulltime" of www.myhometown.sg on the 17th of June, the take up of 5rms were less than desirable. Out of 20 stacks of 5rm flats available, only 5-6 stacks were well received. Meaning that there could be up to 70% of 5rm flats left unsold as of Wednesday.



Photos posted by "fulltime" in www.myhometown.sg. Green units without an orange dot highlights 5rm flats available.


Another photo of the other two blocks - the 5rm flats certainly don't look well received even after ballots were oversubscribed. On the other hand, the 4rm flats seem to have received overwhelming response and were sold out!

Perhaps it was a calculated move as 5rm flats carry a large premium over the 4rm flats which could translate into more profits. However it looks like the buyers have voted with their pockets, and this miscalculation could in the end prove costly to the developer.

If buyers could hold back long enough, it would be very interesting to see what kind of carrots the developer will dangle to get the cash register ringing again.

Images: "fulltime" @ www.myhometown.sg

Tags: DBSS, TOA PAYOH, THE PEAK @ TOA PAYOH

Review: HDB DBSS The Peak at Toa Payoh

Note to readers:
You can read the intro of The Peak at Toa Payoh here. This portion is dedicated to unit selection.

Facilities:
There were not many facilities that we would put as a plus point on the unit scoring chart. Only the playground, bus stop and fitness stations made it. We see the BBQ pit not as a facility one would use often and in fact sometimes a source of annoyance to residents living immediately adjacent to it.

We were a little surprised that a DBSS project did not offer basement parking, or at the very least direct lift access to every level of the multi storey car (even some premium BTO HDB projects are offering it). With no idea where the lift lobbies of the multi storey car park is located, we decided to also ignore accessibility to multi storey car park as a point of comparison.

Unfortunately we could not confirm the location of the substation or refuse chute collection points (where the truck backs in to collect rubbish). Readers might want to enquire on these points when selecting specific units. We also note that the locations of certain doorways are not clear.

Views:
Although we cannot be sure the wide open field north of the project will not be developed in future, this facing is preferable to the southerly view – which immediately faces a staggered row of blocks that can reach up to 27storeys. For south facing units, we recommend getting units at least on the 33rd floor to get a decent view.

East and west facings of the project are not an issue – at most low rise light industrial buildings.

Unit View, Door Facing map and Unit Scoring Chart:
A detailed Unit View and Door Facing map (North Facing). Red arrows are the Master Bedroom View. Blue arrows are the Dining/Living View. (Image: Brochure & Google Maps) Click for large image.

A detailed Unit View and Door Facing map (South Facing). Red arrows are the Master Bedroom View. Blue arrows are the Dining/Living View.(Image: Brochure & Google Maps) We deliberately left the stack numbers reversed, in case some people get it wrong! Click for large image.

Unit scoring in terms of desirability. Clickto download Unit Scoring Chart in excel format.

Scoring of unit desirability is relevant within this DBSS project only. Please do not cross reference scores. While we try our best to give the most accurate information, we cannot guarantee our materials are completely accurate and free from errors. Always double check with HDB representatives.

Tags: DBSS, TOA PAYOH, THE PEAK @ TOA PAYOH

Posted on 03-06-2009 16:32 | By Francis

Posted on 19-06-2009 14:42 | By Francis

The Pinnacle@Duxton

Those of you working in the Tanjong Pagar area would by now see these seven white 50-storey towers joining the already busy skyline of the Central Business District.





Image: HDB

Usually in this series of Architecture Feature, we always look for well designed buildings to talk about. Pinnacle@Duxton is not the prettiest face in town but we featured it here because of it's history, it's hype and it's uniqueness.

Located along Cantonment Road, it is built over what was then known as the Duxton Plain Public Housing - the site of the first two 10-storey HDB blocks in Singapore. Hence, this project carries a lot of historical significance - it marks the beginning of Singapore's wildly successful public housing policy and by year's end marks the 'pinnacle' of HDB's achievements.

From a humble pair of apartments built in 1964 to seven magnificent towers in 2009, this showpiece project is a great example of the 'Singapore Success Story' (No doubt there will be a documentary and two full page articles in our local rags illustrating said point once the Pinnacle is officially open, but I digress).


Seven 50-storey towers dominating the skyline. [Image: Surbana]

Designed by local firm ARC Studio Architecture, the 1848 unit project when completed will be Singapore's tallest public housing project. The seven blocks will be linked by skybridges on the 26th and 50th floor, complete with a jogging track and sky garden at the very top. For publicly funded housing, this is truly one of a kind. And it is, HDB said that this is a one-off project, so don't expect anything of this sort in the near future.

There is a ton of talk when this was launched five years ago in 2004, there is still. We found some Pinnacle@Duxton porn for you, pages and pages worth of discussion and photos dedicated just to this project. We've got some here for you, but to get your fix, hit the links below right after this article. These eager residents cannot wait to move in! And the views are amazing!


Panoramic views of the Singapore skyline. Who needs the Singapore Flyer? [Image: The Pinnacle@Duxton forum]


Workers putting the finishing touches on the towers. Notice the bridge linking the towers. [Image: The Pinnacle@Duxton forum]

They're also sitting on a pot of gold too. The units at The Pinnacle@Duxton were sold in late 2004, so the most expensive unit then was a paltry S$451,500. By comparison, a 19th floor 5-room unit at The Peak@Toa Payoh (the recent DBSS) costs S$645,900. The resale value of the Pinnacle in five years time will surely break some sort of record.

The Pinnacle@Duxton will be ready by the end of 2009, I'm sure when it opens people (myself included) will throng to the skybridges and take a jog around the sky gardens. It might even become a tourist attraction. I hope they built that bridge sturdy enough to fit all those people. It's slowly taking shape as the days go by, but for now we can only admire it from afar (and look at Pinnacleporn pictures online).

More images via The Pinnacle@Duxton Forum (image intensive), SkyscraperCity and Vmaxxum.com.
Information via Wikipedia.