The 2 enbloc sales in Balestier area have been successfully clinched as planned. Far East & Orchard Parade purchased Pastoral View together with adjacent OCBC land at an estimated $847 per square foot per plot ratio (psf ppr), and a local boutique developer bought Melrose Court at $665 psf ppr.
With the series of cooling measures introduced lately by Government, we expect to see more caution from developers in their land bidding. However freehold prime sites with sizeable areas are difficult to come by nowadays, therefore the recent enbloc at Pastoral …

Balestier is sandwiched in between of the 2 ‘prime areas’ of Novena and Toa Payoh. I start to have this crazy bold idea why we are not able to have a MRT station in the middle of the 2 MRT station. Underground construction wise if not a problem if this is well planned. And it would not cause much hassle to the Balestier area since the construction site will be much more localized in the MRT station area.

Zhong Shan Park as Balestier MRT station
And I am think the current Zhong …

You might have noticed that there is this industrial building, Leong On Building, sitting beside the up and coming Zhong Shan Park site. It looks pretty out of place, and will be even so after the completion of Zhong Shan Park. I would have thought that it would have been more efficient and integrated in terms of planning if the site to be amalgamated with the Zhong Shan Park during the URA land tender. However the wish was somehow not materialized.

However the owners of Leong On Building will be very …

We bypassed the Zhong Shan Park site, and found that the construction works is getting started. Looking at the scale of the development, I could imagine that the residents around may be concerned of the noise it could generate during the construction period. However it is the sacrifice to be made for the better amenities and convenience they are getting in future.

Would like to have a quizz with the keithyip.com readers. There have been so many construction sites around us. Have you ever wonder what is the nature of works …

Image by KeithYip via Flickr

Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall, which is also known as Wan Qing Yuan, is located at the Jalan Ah Hood, just off the Balestier Road. Tucked in the midst of HDB & private condominiums, it is sitting next to the Burmese Temple which is just by the side of the PIE flyer connecting to Toa Payoh. Surprisingly, Wan Qing is quite a serene and quiet place to enjoy in. 
 
 
I append the following from its website below:
 Wan Qing Yuan was built in late 19th Century. The …

I bypassed the site at Balestier Road & Jalan Ah Hood that day, and realized that the hoarding has been put up around the designated Zhong Shan Park. Not sure if you could recall, the land was released under Government land sales early 2008. I believe the project was put on hold for a period of time due to the economy downturn. However it seems that the site is going to kick start the project soon.

The site is of 4.6 hectares, is located across from the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang …