Trio of terraced houses at 15 Richards Avenue priced from $4 mil
By Cecilia Chow
/ EdgeProp Singapore |
SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - In October 2018, when a property owner bought a large corner terraced house sitting on a 6,319 sq ft, freehold site at 15 Richards Avenue, her intention was to redevelop it into three houses. “My plan was that my mother and I would live in one of the houses, my sister and her family could move into the one next door, and my brother and his family have the third,” said the owner, who only wants to be known as Ms Lim. “Ever since I was young, I always imagined that my family would live together, even after we were grown up and have families of our own.”
Artist’s impression of the three terraced houses on Richards Avenue, which are scheduled for completion by the end of the year (Picture: 15 Richards Avenue)
Her dream of this “kampong-style living” did not quite go as planned: Her sister decided she wanted to live within 1km range of the primary school that she wanted to enrol her son into, and bought a property in that locale. And it was not in the Kovan area.
Even though Lim’s family would not be moving to the property at Richards Avenue, she decided to go ahead and develop the three houses as she had originally planned. However, they will be offered for sale instead. “I still designed it as though I was going to move in, and I’m hoping that the houses would be appreciated by other multi-generational families,” she adds.
The three houses each sit on a freehold site ranging from 1,903 sq ft to 2,232 sq ft. All three houses come with 3.5 floors including a roof terrace, six en suite bedrooms and private lift. Lim paid development charges when she bought the site, so that she could maximise the floor area of the houses. Hence, the floor area of each house ranges from 3,868 sq ft to 4,482 sq ft.
What drew her to the site was the fact that it was on a slightly higher elevation compared to the surrounding houses. “The views are completely unblocked,” she says. “I made sure that every room in every house is regular, and that all the rooms have natural light,” she adds.
View of the landed housing area in the Kovan-Upper Serangoon neighbourhood (Photo: Samuel Isaac Chua/EdgeProp Singapore)
Terraced houses with six en suite bedrooms
She also paid particular attention to the fittings and finishing. Besides marble flooring for the living and dining area, and timber flooring for the bedrooms, she chose SMEG kitchen appliances, Grohe and Duravit for the sanitaryware and bathroom fittings.
The reason for providing six en suite bedrooms is to accommodate families with young children and aged parents living with them, says Lim. It is also ideal for growing families, she adds. “If a family does not need so many bedrooms, they can convert them into an office, a study or even a home entertainment room. Others may want to combine two of the rooms to have a bigger bedroom or a bedroom with a walk-in wardrobe. So we want to provide them with that flexibility.”
The Kovan-Serangoon area is famous for its burgeoning F&B scene and local fare such as Bee Kee truffle wanton noodles, Ah Seng braised duck rice and Finest Song Kee fishball noodles; as well as cafés such as Lola’s, The Plain Jane and Grapevine Café Bar and Restaurant.
Artist's impression of the living and dining area of the terraced houses of 15 Richards Avenue (Photo: 15 Richards Avenue/Surface ID Studio)
15 Richards Avenue is also just a four- to five-minute walk to Kovan MRT Station, the Heartland Mall and Kovan Food Centre, both of which have many food outlets. Good schools in the area include Rosyth School, Xinghua Primary School and Yio Chu Kang Primary School. Maple Bear Serangoon North, which offers the Canadian curriculum, and Dimensions Internationl College are also in the area. In addition to good schools, the Kovan area is well-served by tuition and enrichment centres, says Jenny Yeo, PropNex Realty group division director, and one of the appointed marketing agents for 15 Richards Avenue.
During the Covid-19 “circuit breaker”, people have come to appreciate having parks nearby. Richards Avenue Park is just a one-minute walk from the property, and is linked by park connectors, notes Lim.
Prices of the terraced houses at 15 Richards Avenue start from $4 million for the intermediate unit to $4.35 million for the corner unit. “The houses are at an affordable price given that there are six en suite bedrooms, a helper’s room, a home lift with access to every floor including the roof terrace,” says Cheong Choon Ghee, associate vice president of List Sotheby’s International Realty, the other appointed agent for 15 Richards Avenue. “They are also close to the MRT station, the FairPrice supermarket, hawker centre and eateries.”
Artist's impression of the master bedroom, one of six en suite bedrooms in each house (Picture: 15 Richards Avenue/Surface ID Studio)
‘District 19 — popular district’
Cheong sees interest from upgraders – those living in HDB flats or private condos in the Hougang, Kovan and Upper Serangoon areas. He expects the houses at Richards Avenue, which is in the Kovan-Serangoon area of District 19, to appeal to buyers who have been priced out of new landed property in the prime District 15 (East Coast) neighbourhood.
“District 19 has been a very popular district because it is near mature HDB housing estates like Hougang, Serangoon and Ang Mo Kio,” observes Cheong. “They provide a large pool of upgraders aspiring to have a landed property and who also want to live near their parents or in an area they are familiar with.”
According to Cheong, transaction volume of landed property in District 19 has overtaken that of prime districts 10 (the Bukit Timah, Holland Road area) and District 15 over the past nine years. Over the past three years, Cheong has brokered the sale of some 20 landed properties in District 19, including two semi-detached houses at Serangoon Gardens over the past two months. “At the moment the sweet spot for corner terraced houses are those with a land area of 2,160 to 2,800 sq ft; and for intermediate terraced houses, it’s land sizes of 1,615 to 2,200 sq ft,” he adds.
There was a handful of terraced houses that changed hands in the Kovan area over the past two months. The latest was a terraced house on Florence Road, sitting on a 999-year leasehold site of 2,293 sq ft, and it fetched $3.1 million ($1,353 psf), according to a caveat lodged on Aug 31. Another terraced house on Kovan Road sitting on a freehold site of 3,175 sq ft went for $3.66 million ($1,152 psf) on Aug 18, while an intermediate terraced house at Richards Avenue sitting on a freehold site of 1,862 sq ft changed hands for $2.27 million ($1,224 psf) in early August. Meanwhile on Glasgow Road, near Rosyth area, a terraced house sitting on a 999-year leasehold site of 3,961 sq ft was sold for $3.3 million ($833 psf), according to a caveat lodged in July.
The terraced houses come with a family room that can easily accommodate working from home or home-based learning (Picture: 15 Richards Avenue/Surface ID Studio)
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What makes the houses at 15 Richards Avenue stand out is the quality of the finishes and the space provided by the developer, says PropNex’s Yeo. Besides having six bedrooms, the houses come with a family room that can easily accommodate working from home or home-based learning, “which is very relevant for the current situation”, she says. The architect has also designed the houses with skylight so that the entire house will have natural light, she adds. “The layout of these houses is very efficient and caters to different family needs.” The car porch of two of the houses is big enough for two cars, and the intermediate unit has a car porch big enough for four cars.
She sees the terraced houses at 15 Richards Avenue appealing to upgraders in their mid-30s and 40s. “They want more space as their family size has grown,” notes Yeo. “At the same time, many of them will have aged parents living with them or nearby, who want to spend time with the grandchildren.”
While families who want to live close to each other and yet maintain their own privacy are the kind of audience that Yeo expects would be most drawn to the terraced houses at 15 Richards Avenue, she does not rule out individual families either. The houses are scheduled for completion by end of the year.
Check out the latest listings near: Richards Avenue Park, district 10, Bukit Timah, Holland Road area, District 19, Florence Road, Glasgow Road, Kovan MRT Station
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