Novena is fast setting itself as a distinctive medical cluster in Singapore with a number of leading medical institutions already located in the area. These include the Tan Tock Seng Hospital (Singapore’s second largest hospital), Thomson Medical Centre and specialist centres such as the Johns Hopkins International Medical Centre, Novena Medical Centre, National Neuroscience Institute (NNI), National Skin Centre (NSC) and the Renci Hospital.

The latest up and coming one is the Parkway Novena medical hospital, which is planned to be a world first class hospital with only A class single ward catered in the hospital. It is located at Novena Terrace/ Irrawaddy Road, a 1.7 ha site maximum permissible gross floor area of about 72,350 sq m. In the recent first phase soft launch, all 100 Parkway Novena medical suites were sold out. These suites ranged between 452 square feet and 1,431 sq ft and were priced between $3.588 psf and $3,828 psf, excluding GST.

The old perception of not wanting to reside near the hospital compound has somehow died off. In the past, people have the thinking that the chance of getting virus and germs is higher with many sick people patronizing the area. However in the case of the Novena Medical Cluster, we are seeing a healthy spillover of price increase to the surrounding property asset prices.

Just take a look at the Sinaran, Moulmein and Balestier areas, the property prices surged upwards instead of taking a beat back with the many hospitals coming up. Of course it is mainly to do with the re-branding of hospitals and medical centres, as well as the brilliant tying up of other land use such as retails, offices and hotel operations. We have so many shopping centres at Novena catering to different classes of people, as well as the convenience of MRT station and the proximity to city. That is the reason why we are seeing the Zhong Shan Park at Balestier also aiming their clientele at the super rich foreigner patients receiving treatment in the Novena Medical cluster.

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