One of the main attractions of many developments in Singapore is a home’s proximity to amenities like bars, restaurants, supermarkets, dry cleaners and day-care for children. You have to be pretty far out from the centre of town not to have at least something on your doorstep. But there is a trend for developers to bring these things even closer, and to house them in the same building. Does this work for or against you?
Culture, weather and topography conspire to make Singapore a land of close-knit communities and the amenities to go with them. Unlike many cities around the world, everything in Singapore tends to be within easy reach.
So why in the modern age do you need mixed-use buildings at all?
Because the nature of those facilities is changing. Gone are the days of a few tawdry retail outlets and a 7-Eleven. In the most recent developments, amenities are world class, and not necessarily eye-wateringly expensive.
Take North Park Residences. This behemoth offers 88 shops and restaurants, and Adventure and Family Coves for kids and their parents, with a playground and children’s pools between them. Indeed developer FCL is also building Singapore’s very first Community Club within a shopping mall to provide residents of North Park Residences with a fully air-conditioned environment for recreational activities.
Add a 50-metre lap pool surrounded by a generous water deck and pool deck, as well as an indoor gym, tennis court, yoga deck and an outdoor fitness station, and you start to see elements of a holiday resort and shopping mall merging into one.
Price is an issue here too. The development is priced to sell, and only 2 and 3-bedroom units are left on the market for the currently launched phase because of this. But the fact that the end-result will have 100 Studio units, 90 one bedroom + study units, 40 two bedroom units, 240 two bedroom deluxe units – all the way up to 20 five bedroom units – indicates that FCL is serious about creating affordable private sector housing for as wide a community of people as possible. It even has handicapped parking lots and 300 sheltered bicycle spaces. They have thought of everything.
The Venue Residences and Venue Shoppes is another such development where its scale is reflected in the onsite amenities.
Source: developer sales brochure
And so it should. City Developments Limited (CDL) has been in the market since 1963, and has since developed more than 36,000 luxurious homes. It also owns close to 7.2 million square feet of commercial, retail, residential and hotel space locally and globally.
Not quite as large as North Park Residences, it has 266 residential and 28 commercial units, making for a pretty high ratio of residents to amenities, almost regardless of what those amenities will be.
Source: Developer sales brochure
And with 24 one bedroom, 120 two bedroom, 86 three bedroom and 28 four bedroom units and 8 penthouse, once again, the aim is for a diverse group of occupiers rather than a barracks for the super-rich. And the building is at the focal point for many roads, including highways, as well as an ample number of bus stops.
Shops along Tai Thong Crescent
The stiffest competition Venue will come across is from Pavilion – another mixed development located directly across the road from Sennett Residences, and just next to the MRT station exit. Pavilion TOPs a year after Venue Residences, so the trend continues. It also means Venue residents will have yet more modern amenities on their doorstep.
City Gate on Beach Road has the same approach. It contains 311 Residential units on 25 stories, 157 shops, 29 restaurants, a food court and supermarket. It dominates Beach Road and commands a panoramic view of Kampong Glam including the north and west sides of the city area, infusing the area with fresh blood – and plenty of air conditioned coolness.
Golden Mile Complex interior
But it is at Marina One Residences that the idea of multi-use takes on a whole new meaning.
Located at 21 & 23 Marina Way in District 1, Marina One consists of 1,042 luxury residential units in two 34-storey towers and 140,000 sqft of unique retail space at podium level (alongside two 30-storey prime Grade-A office towers).
Marina One Residences 4BR living, dining and balcony
It is M+S Pte Ltd’s magnum opus, with astounding finishing and attention to detail filling its beautifully laid out spaces – and topped off with an abundance of green space. If you are looking for Singaporean international living (read opulent), look no further than Marine One Residences.
But please, don’t call it mixed use.
Edited by: Christopher Chitty
