But across Merchant Road, at Merchant Square, it is a dead town. Club Momo used to be there and there were big crowds. But it's closed down 2 to 3 years ago. The pubs around the area are very quiet. Why is it that business at Merchant Square is quiet, while just across the street, Riverwalk is rip roaring? This inequity may not last. Parc Regis is a 4-Star hotel that will open in a month or two's time.
It is a hotel cum office development just next to the project. Further along Merchant Road, just next to the Tan Si Chong Su Temple, another site was recently sold for hotel development. The area will see more commercial and retail action in several months' time. It is 5 minutes walk from 2 MRT stations, Chinatown and Clark Quay. It is 10 minutes' walk from Raffles Place. 2 minutes from an entertainment centre. When Parc Regis is completed, rental yields will rise because people want to live near where they work. There will be more demand from corporate leases.
Let's look at the prices around that area:
Soho @ Central: around S$1800 - 2200 psf. Leasehold. New. Panaromic view. Excellent location. Condo facilties. You pay for what you get.
Riverwalk Apartment: Around S$1400 - 1700psf. Leasehold. 1990 (old). Good view. Just across the street from Clarke Quay MRT. Condo facilities. Nearer to the city.
Riverside Piazza: Around S$950 - 1100 psf. Leasehold. 1994 (old). No view. Across the street from Clarke Quay MRT. No facilities.
UE Square: Around S$1100 - 1300psf. Freehold. Old. Not much view. 15 - 20 minutes walk from any MRT (i.e. not walking distance). Full facilities.
If you have a limited budget and but want a unit bigger than 1000sf for your family, 2 bedrooms or more, the obvious choice is to gun for Riverside. A 1000sf unit in Riverside will cost you only S$1.1m, but 1.6m in Riverwalk, S$1.8m in Soho @ Central and S$1.3m at UE Square with no MRT station nearby.
The Wife and I tried walking from my home to dinner at Riverwalk last night. Within 3 minutes, I reached Soho @ Central. Resisted the temptation to try out the Taiwan Food Fest. But I swore that I caught the whiff of smelly Toufu which brought back the memories HK / Taiwan / Beijing. Had a great dinner at Hot Stones. Walked to Beer Market for some beer. By midnight, I was a little high. Inevitably saw some friends / ex colleagues at the Beer Market / Riverwalk. Always seem to bump into friends there. The best thing was I didn't need to drive home after drinking Alcohol. I didn't need to leave my car at the carpark and hail a cab home. WE COULD WALK HOME!
It's a feeling you'd never get if you lived in, say Yishun, Ang Mo Kio, or Pasir Ris (no disrespect to those who live there). I've lived in Pasir Ris, Yishun, Marine Parade before. The CTE is a nightmare to drive every morning. It jams up after 8am and there will almost always be an accident. It's also a nightmare to drive home at night because there's only 1 highway serving the north. I can't understand why a condo in the north can sell for over S$1000psf in Ang Mo Kio because it's too far from the city. Toa Payoh and Braddel are at the fringes so location is good. Bt Merah, Redhill, Dakota, Lavendar, Holland V is cool. But any thing beyond 10km from the city is a no-no. A sea view is good too. Those HDBs along Marine Parade and Telok Blangah are priceless, and deserve their currently high prices.
With so many policy risks in Singapore, it may be better to buy shop houses / strata office spaces instead of residential. Heck,
Anyway, there's not much upside left in most properties in Singapore because further anti-speculative measures hang like Democles Sword over us. Most of the money will flow to stocks. So I'll talk more about stocks in my next posting. Break outs are around the corner.
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