The up and coming high end residential enclave at the fringe of Balestier- Part 3
The part continues to cover the project Thomson 368.
UNIT PLANS
The architect has managed to submit Thomson 368 in time and enjoyed the GFA exemption of bay window and planter box.
1+Study:
The 1+Study unit of 689 sf comes with an open kitchen concept. For a size of this type, the occupiers are expected to be single or newly wedded couple with no kids. Therefore open kitchen with basic appliances may work well for you. However I do not like the idea of walking through the longish corridor along kitchen before reaching the rather small living space. The placement of the dining table is also not so appropriate, blocking the corridor access to bedroom.
Masterbed room is pretty spacious, and many would like the option of the study room able to accommodate a single bed.
I was pleasantly surprised to find a yard provided for this unit type. However I would have thought this is more necessary for bigger units like 2 bedders, where the yard provision is lacking. There is no clear hierarchy in terms of spatial provision in the project.
In a one bedder and studio unit type, many would prefer toilet to be made accessible without getting through the bedroom unit. It is especially inconvenient when you have guests at home.
2 & 3 bedroom Apartment
There are 2 bedroom unit types of 2 bedders of 872 and 883 sf respectively. As mentioned earlier, yard is missing from this unit type.
This 3 bedroom unit type comes with an utility room, 2 baths and one WC.
Living and dining spaces are not spacious but functional, with a spacious balcony area cum planter.
The units will be the stack facing the full blast of west sun, especially for stack 2. Therefore it is not easy to miss the extensive RC ledge across the façade, which could be a sun shading devices to cut down the heat.
The usual master bath tub is missing from all unit types except the 4 bedroom apartments.
4 bedroom Apartment
The 4 bedders boast to have 270 deg view towards the city. This unit of 1722 sf comes with private lift. This unit comes with a balcony with extensive planter area. Surprisingly for many showflat viewers do not find the living and dining room spacious with a unit comes with 1722 sf. It is due to the layout of living and dining being sandwiched by wall and balcony.
This unit comes with a dry & wet kitchen, and a yard that many home makers will be very happy of. And this is the only unit comes with a bath tub for the master bath room.
PRICING
CDL has again hit it right with the pricing strategy they set. With each of projects starting from the Arte, Cube 8 and this time round 368 Thomson, they are progressively setting off a new price hike to the Balestier and Thomson property transactions. As to date, 368 Thomson has been fully sold at an average price of $1400 psf, which is the highest among all three projects.
THOMSON 368 SELLERS
Have to do a bit of advertisment: If you are the lucky ones managed to purchase a unit from the Thomson 368/ Cube 8, and intend to sell prior to the TOP, welcome to contact me as I haver ready buyers in hand ready to purchase them.
Hi Keith,
Any review on the other side of balestier as in developments such as De Paradiso and Ecoville?
Also, if possible, can help review kovan residence if you have the time?
Thanks.
Keith, i think the internal layout of cube 8 is better albeit the external more squarish and hence less interesting, well something’s gotta give. Also, the fact that 368 thomson has very little open ground space due to the carpark makes the development appear more cluttered comparatively. Why is it that brochures do not show layout of lift/stairs lobby ?
@ Kelvin,
Will take note of your comments, and inform you when the articles are up.
As for the Kovan Residence, it may be tough as I am more familiar with Novena & Balestier real estate:)
Cheers,
Keith Yip
@ Rocky,
In a way I agree with you. Cube 8 floor plans are more efficient than Thomson 368. However I do not think regular floor plans equate to less interesting facades, or more irregular floor plans will make up interesting architecture. From the perspective, I found Thomson 368 less exciting than the former. Of course we need to see the completed to do a fair assessment.
The carpark podium raise the open space from street level with swimming pool. Podium design has become less popular as the time goes.The tower does not look as majestic and grand sitting on top of the carpark podium. It may appear pretty gigantic when relating to the street.
Normally CDL brochures do not show lift location for all developments. Developers will show the minimum to avoid committing design and construction details during the launch.
Thanks Keith, point taken, podium does take away some grandeur, imagine driving pass the main entrance into a carpark! I think showing layout of lobbies is important, eg. some lift shaft could be part of an apartment wall and hence may contribute to some degree of noise transmission which a purchaser has a right to know.
Yeah, beauty of fascades are subjective and dependant on the creative skills of the architects, sometimes a mix of designs in a cluster makes it very interesting. That said, the Arte looks bland whereas Vista is better looking.
Reading the Edge article u posted, the Balestier area will look really different in the not too distant future, hope an MRT station is in the works, what are the chances ?
@ Rocky,
Ya lo… A pity that MRT station is not in the near pipeline for Balestier. Thought that the authority should review it carefully, as the high density of population Balestier will get should grant another consideration then jamming up the existing limited road lanes.
Hi Keith
Yes I agree with you that the facade of Vista looks nicer than the Arte but the funishings is better for the arte which is CDL, well known for that. When I visited Vista residences showflat, I realise the psf is already 1400. It makes me wonder is there still a difference whether Vista is in District 12 and Thomson 368 is in District 11? Any views on this?
If you were given a choice to purchase a unit, which would you have chosen?
Michael
@ Michael,
The workmanship in the Arte is quite good. However most of time the end product of buildings also very much depends on the quality of main contractor appointed.
One has to remember The Arte was priced to sell at average $800 psf, therefore the fittings/ appliances/ materials finishes are of mid range market. As for Vista residences which was priced higher, the specifications they have for the units are actually better.
Hi Keith
There seems to be so much excitement with the announcement of the downtown line stations. And according to the papers, sales has picked up for condos around these new stations, one of which is the Bedok reservoir area. It seems like we will never go wrong if we buy a condo near to MRT? But people seem to neglect the fact that the downtown line will only be ready in 2017 so investors with a shorter time horizon may not take the bite in buying a unit near one of these stations.
Michael
Keith, maybe you can enlighten me as to what is generally meant as ‘near to MRT’ or ‘within walking distance of the MRT’ ? Again i think this is rather subjective, would a distance of say, up to 1 km be regarded as within walking distance and up to 500m be near to MRT ?
Is there a standard guideline or are developers at liberty to make their reasonable or unreasonable assumptions ?
Leave your response!
keithyip
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