Grandeur Park Residences is a new 99-year leasehold condominium with 720 units built in the matured Tanah Merah/Bedok region.
Continue Reading ⋅ 15 February 2017
CapitaLand is one of Asia’s largest real estate companies headquartered and listed in Singapore. Its diversified global real estate portfolio includes integrated developments, shopping malls, serviced residences, offices and homes. Core markets include Singapore and China with Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam being potential new growth markets.
Project Name: Bedok Residences
Address: 24 Bedok North Drive S465498
Type: Integrated Development
Site area: 268,047 sqft
Tenure: 99-years leasehold
District: 16
Configuration: 583 residential units in eight, 15-storey blocks
Unit types: 70, 1BR units (517 – 603 sqft)
110, 1+1BR units (592 – 980 sqft)
191, 2BR units (689 – 1,227 sqft)
140, 3BR units (1,076 – 1,970 sqft)
55, 4BR units (1,442 – 1,970 sqft)
17, Penthouse units (1,421 – 3,218 sqft)
Parking lots: 602
TOP: Sept 2015
Project Details
Bedok Residences is completely sold out where non-penthouse unit types are concerned. Due to overwhelming and unsurprising demand, most units were bought as soon as it launched in 2011. For the purpose of this review, we’ll focus on the larger of the two, with some minor comparisons where necessary. There were two penthouses viewed; a 2,680 sqft and 2,949 sqft.
4BR Penthouse (2,949 sqft)
All remaining penthouses are 4BR units located throughout the eight blocks and on the highest floor. The two fitted units have been immaculately designed to showcase the scope of the living spaces and it does this rather well. The smaller penthouse has a cosier atmosphere while the larger one is more modern-chic with a far more generous balcony and a fantastic hideaway spot for the kitchen. The spacious living is the first thing that is noticed.
4BR Penthouse living and dining
The layout of the unit is also interesting. From the living room, there’s a wide corridor to the two common rooms and junior suite. The master bedroom in this penthouse as well as the others sit in their own part of the house. In this unit, it’s to the right once you enter the main door and just after the incredibly generously sized powder room.
The master bedroom is a large, commodious space with balcony access and therefore, a straight path to the stairs outside that leads to the personal roof terrace, where the jacuzzi and teppanyaki grill are.
4BR Penthouse master bedroom
It has its own bathroom which comes with a bathtub as all penthouse master bedrooms do. The extra shelving and dressing area is part of the ID treatment so other bedrooms do not come with this but the wardrobe is built into all the units.
The bedroom is rather spacious, with plenty of walkable space. It is far from the typical claustrophobic rooms in many other developments. But this is after all, a penthouse so such things are expected.
Distance from foot of bed to sliding door of balcony
With that said, the common bedrooms (which tend to reflect regular bedrooms regardless of the unit type) in both fitted penthouse units are far bigger than usual. The first one was converted into a cosy entertainment room complete with a modest sized L-couch. This room is also the only other common bedroom that has access to the balcony.
Common bedroom turned into an entertainment room
The other bedrooms, one more common and one junior master, are simpler in execution, with a queen size bed in both. What is noteworthy is that both rooms feel far more spacious that typical common bedrooms. Part of it has to do with the higher ceiling but it’s also the bigger space overall.
Putting a super single in here means you’ll get far more space that will help turn the bedroom from a place of sleep into an actual room you can inhabit.
Common bedroom
The junior master bedroom comes with its own bathroom minus the bathtub. It is slightly smaller than the master bedroom and has no access to the balcony, but it’s a nice living space that can be spruced up with some more interior designing.
Bedrooms aside, this penthouse comes with a bar counter in the living room. The kitchen however is located behind the wall, through a secret panel that is flushed with the screen.
Hidden door to kitchen
While it may not be ideal for when you’re alone and have guests coming, installing an intercom or extra bell in the kitchen will remedy that issue. The best thing about this is that it keeps all of the kitchen sounds and smells firmly within. The kitchen has its own yard and if you open the doors separating the kitchen from the yard, you get sunlight, fresh air and a decent amount of natural ventilation flowing in.
Enclosed kitchen with access to yard
It’s a rather big kitchen with everything you see come included with the unit. The bomb shelter is outside and out of the way. This is one of the better designed kitchens of the year. The bigger space and good layout certainly helps and it having its own space separate from the living area is excellent. It’s simple but highly functional.
Location
If developing property is a competition and the steps to win that competition is for it to be close to public transport and a mall, then Bedok Residences win hands down.
Eight, 15-storey blocks sit four by four and facing each other directly on top of what is Bedok Mall. The mall is 3-stories, packed to the brim with retail outlets and restaurants. Its first floor is home to a Cold Storage and this level is further connected to Bedok MRT station. The mall is also connected to the Bedok bus interchange.
Bedok Bus Interchange
Saying Bedok Residences offers convenience would be a massive understatement.
There’s so little need for residents of Bedok Residences to leave the general area of the mall since it is essentially its own ecosystem. The only thing it is missing (which the entire of Bedok is missing as well), is a cinema. The nearest one would be at 112 Katong, which is about a 25 minute bus ride away. With the bus interchange integrated with the building, hopping on buses 16, 197 or 196 is easy. The drawback here would be the bus wait times which seem to not follow any timing patterns and can range between five to 15 minutes. The display board with the timing also does not help since they’re incredibly small with so many things going on the screen.
Plus as it is mounted on the wall directly behind where people would enter the waiting lanes for the buses, you’ll likely obstruct others behind you if you stopped to stare. At this point, use the bus@sg app if you need to know timing. Or you could just drive. The roads around the building are quite narrow and since Bedok is a high population area, it’s often times going to be crowded but this eases up once you’re out on Bedok South Avenue 1 or further out along Upper Changi Road.
When the future Marine Parade MRT stations are up, there’ll be even less need to endure crowded roads when you can take the Thomson Line there. It may be a long-winded trip but buses and trains are like apples and oranges. The important here is that there is an option for everything. There’s even a taxi stand directly in front of Yakun which is next to the resident ground floor entrance/exit.
Bedok Residences private entrance and exit next to Yakun. Taxi stand on the right
While Bedok Mall and Residences is self-contained, it makes discussing the amenities around it almost unnecessary. But for posterity, a few of those amenities will be discussed.
The most popular (or notorious, depending on whom you ask) is the old Princess Theatre just behind the bus interchange. There’s a 24-hour MacDonald’s there and a karaoke centre. Across the street is a low-lying HDB block with a few banks, hawker centres and an Anytime Fitness Gym.
There’s an NTUC Fairprice not far away from that. It’s about the same size as Cold Storage but perhaps with more variety. A Sheng Siong supermarket is also down the road from Bedok Mall, in the direction of Bedok Point, along Upper Changi Road.
NTUC Fairprice
Again, there’s little need to visit those supermarkets but they’re there if you need to find something specific. Sheng Siong is considerably cheaper while NTUC has a larger selection of fresh foods. Cold Storage is the in-between and also the most convenient since it’s located in the same building. It does get incredibly crowded with people moving in and out around that level of Bedok Mall however.
The other mall – Bedok Point – has two floors of eateries, including a Korean BBQ place and a Thai restaurant with delicious $1 noodles that have a minimum order of five bowls. In the basement are a few electronics stores (from hand phones to television sets) and on the highest floor is the latest 24-hour Gymboxx and some hair salons.
Residents of Bedok Residences may have a self-contained ecosystem but there’s a whole lot more outside and within comfortable walking distance. It is easily said then that Bedok Residences is one of the best – if not the best – where location, amenities and transport are concerned.
Analysis
435 units were bought in 2011, 81 in 2012, 10 in 2013, 9 in 2014, 8 in 2015 and finally, 8 in 2016, leaving only penthouses which are the most expensive but also most impressive of all units.
Penthouses that have been transacted so far are no higher than $3.4m which for a project that scores a goal in every aspect is well worth the cost.
For posterity, the graph below will show the price ranges for the units that have been transacted:
Source: URA, PropertyGuru
Out of the 17 penthouses, 11 including the two fitted units are still available for purchase. The prices range from $1.9M to highest $3.45M with an average PSF value of $1,257.
Rental
URA rental yield is pegged at a good 4% for Bedok North though the monthly rental quantum for a 700 to 800 sqft unit is around $3,000 to $3,700. Bigger, 3BR units have been rented out at $5,600. Penthouse units are looking at north of $10K per month, depending on the size and how well maintained it is.
Summary
Bedok Residences is one of those extremely rare projects that sells itself, and it has. The penthouse units are crème of the crop while the regular units when shown at the showflat when it first launched have the same attention to quality and detail as the penthouses.
The fitted units will cost a little higher than the regular non-fitted penthouse units due to the interior designing already done. Even if the units weren’t delivered to the highest quality, the location and sheer convenience of Bedok Residences connectivity makes it a hard buy to ignore. But the units are excellent making Bedok Residences a good buy no matter which way you look at it.
The impression the development gives is one of respect. Respect of the residents need for space and privacy. Respect for their need for convenience. Even the security system is unlike the overly-paranoid types of other developments that require residents to tap entry into the lift or key in a code every step of the way. In this development, there’s only one point that requires a key code and that is from the car park to the lift lobby that brings you to the residences. Access to the unit is with a regular key.
And where its location is concerned, Bedok has numerous schools that are close by making it doubly a good place to put down some roots. Everything here is rather easy to get to and aside from the lack of a cinema, Bedok has everything else you would need. An upcoming building near the mall will also include a new library and an indoor swimming pool, as well as several new medical centres. The upcoming developments in Paya Lebar, which includes a cinema wil help to enrich Bedok residents since that MRT interchange is just four stops down on the same line.
Bedok Residences is a fantastic buy for investment but it’s an even better buy for a couple wanting to raise a family.
