With a limited options for new launches in District 9 in this current season, Hill House is definitely one project to explore if you are after a brand new development that enjoys multiple perks and a first mover advantage. Future residents of Hill House will enjoy a high level of privacy and serenity with just a limited collection of 72 homes in District 9. The project aims to infuse modern living with tranquillity, positioning itself as a one-of-a-kind project focusing on lush landscaping and nature, with 7 unique garden oases to be planted across the entire development.
If you are interested to find out more about Hill House, read on as we delve deeper into the project details, location, site, price, and floor plan analysis.
*This article was written in June 2024 and does not reflect data and market conditions beyond.
Project Details
Location Analysis
Hill House is located on a slip road, Institution Hill, that connects to River Valley Road, providing future residents a quiet living environment away from the hustle and bustle, yet just within a few minutes walk to a whole array of amenities, extremely well-connected within District 9.
The project stands to gain from its excellent location, being in the middle of four prime spots in Singapore:
- Fort Canning: Just a short 9-minute walk away, residents can easily hop on the train at Fort Canning MRT (Downtown Line) and connect to the CBD and other parts of the city. Nature lovers can also enjoy an evening stroll along Fort Canning park.
- Somerset: Approximately a 12-minute walk away, or just a short cycle, residents can also enjoy a whole array of amenities and dining options along Killiney Food Street, which leads to Somerset and the Orchard Shopping Belt. Residents can hop on the train at Somerset MRT (North South Line) for transportation conveniences.
- Great World: Within a 15-minute walk, residents can enjoy the convenience of Great World MRT (Thomson East coast Line), and the recently revamped shopping mall, Great World City, providing more shopping options. Kim Seng Park is also a great spot for nature lovers.
- The Quayside & Singapore River: Within 1KM from the development, residents looking for a chill night out with friends and family can head on to The Quayside for dinners, weekend brunches, or perhaps an evening stroll along the Singapore River. Mohamed Sultan Road is also a short walk away, where residents can enjoy a variety of food options.
Located centrally amidst four prime areas, the locale offers an abundance of amenities that cater to a diverse range of lifestyle preferences for residents.
The location is also well-suited for families with school-going children, with the esteemed River Valley Primary School being within the 1KM radius. Other notable highly sought after educational institutions in the area includes Odyssey The Global Preschool, School of the Arts Singapore, Dimensions International College (City Campus) and Singapore Management University. This ensures quality education at every stage, right in the neighbourhood.
Site Plan & Facilities
With a total of 72 units in a single block (8 units on each level), the developers and architects have also carefully designed each home to ensure residents get to enjoy a quiet living space with good privacy. At the same time, residents will still get to enjoy beautiful facilities that are mostly located on level one, level two, and the roof terrace, which overlooks the Orchard skyline. The developers have also purposefully placed residential units starting from level three only, giving homeowners added elevation, privacy, and better views. The development façade element and colour are also selected to provide a nature palette to create a warm environment with lush landscape. Let us dive more into the facilities distribution.
Firstly, we want to highlight one of the key themes of Hill House’s concept – a Garden Oasis, featuring 7 Gardens of Wonder. The abundance and variety of nature at Hill House aims to create a joyful, verdant oasis. Inspired by the many beautiful gardens around the world, the landscape is made up of 7 unique gardens, starting from the arrival lobby and ending at the rooftop from the refreshing modern rainforest to the sweetly perfumed floral garden, each of the 7 gardens presents a different and immersive enjoyment of nature.
On the first storey, a dedicated grand drop-off point is in place, allowing for better traffic flow and residents to comfortably wait for a taxi or PHV right within the development, without needing to worry about the weather. Furthermore, the arrival hall will be decked with lush greenery, providing a sense of peace and comfort when returning home from a long day’s work.
The second storey is dedicated for social facilities, including a gym, function room, communal study terrace, hammock garden to unwind, children’s playground for families with kids, and a communal dining place, great spot to host dinner parties. In line with the theme of the development, a zen garden is also found on the second storey.
The roof terrace features water-based facilities, including the 20M lap pool that is nicely warped around the communal planters and garden oasis, allowing residents to unwind and enjoy the lush greenery and city skyline as it overlooks the panoramic Orchard Road view. The project also features water pods amidst its own modern rainforest, allowing those who do not wish to take a full swim, to still enjoy cooling off their feet on a hot day. The communal pavilion features its own Alcove dining with BBQ pit and a herb garden will be a beautiful dinner party setting to host and entertain guests.
Overall, despite being a low density project, Hill House offers an unparalleled living experience, combining thoughtful design, a variety of amenities, lush landscaping, to cater to the diverse needs of modern families.
Unit Distribution
With a dominant unit mix in the 1 bedder and 2 bedder unit type, Hill House is catered mostly towards singles, young couples, and investors. What this also means is that the 3 bedders here are a rarity, thus families looking to enjoy the coveted District 9 address would only have limited floor levels to choose from. There is only one stack catered for the 3 bedders, which is in stack 06, facing towards Institutional Hill.
There are 2 main facings in Hill House. Firstly, units facing toward Institution Hill enjoy the best setback distance from its neighbouring project Aspen Heights, approximately a vast 40m apart, allowing for added privacy and unobstructed views.
Secondly, units facing toward the conserved buildings along River Valley Road. Despite a shorter setback of 11m for this facing, the conserved buildings are only 2-3 storeys in height. With Hill House designed to start from level 03, this allows homeowners to also enjoy almost unobstructed views, especially for those who choose a higher floor elevation.
Furthermore as the project is built on elevated land, the residential development stands to gain for its natural elevation. The homes here are also designed to enjoy almost a true north-south orientation, minimising any western sun exposure.
The 2-bedders are situated on the ends of the project (stack 02, 03, 07), meaning to say homeowners would naturally get to enjoy the true corner units, suited for those who value privacy.
On the other hand, the 1-bedder and 1 + 1 bedders would be located in the middle stacks (01, 04, 05, 08, 09).
Each stack also comes with a unique floor plan of its own depending on which stack you choose to go for despite being similar in sizes in each of the bedder types. As a new launch project in the Core Central Region, naturally home sizes belong to the new age floor plans in order for developers to launch at palatable entry prices. Let us dive into floor plan analysis from here.
Floor Plan Analysis
In this segment, we will highlight various types of floor plans available at Hill House. Our aim is to furnish you with useful knowledge that will assist you in choosing the perfect unit tailored to your preferences and lifestyle needs.
1-Bedroom
For the 1-bedders, the two primary layout types A1 and A2 both stand at 431sqft. They come with a kitchenette, living and dining that opens up to a mini balcony. The main difference between A1 and A2 would lie in the master bedroom size. Type A1 comes with a double-panel wardrobe with the bathroom entrance facing towards the kitchen space, while type A2 features one panel of wardrobe space, with the bathroom door facing towards the dining hall. Hence depending on your preference of the bathroom entrance and wardrobe placement, you may opt for A1 or A2. Both layouts have the same facing towards the low-rise conserved buildings.
For the 1+1 bedroom type, there is only one layout type A3, standing at 452 sqft. This layout features an additional convertible compact bedroom or study room, compared to the 1 bedroom unit type. What we love about this unit is the dumbbell nature of the compact bedroom 2, which allows you to expand the living hall should you prefer, or simply use it as a study corner, providing ultimate flexibility for multi-purpose usage. This layout would also feature a more squarish living and dining place combined, with an open kitchenette, good-sized enclosed bedroom with Jack and Jill bathroom.
2-Bedroom
There are 3 different types of layout available for the 2-bedroom units. While they all stand at 624 sqft, they are each unique to its own. All three layouts come with 2 proper bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (one of it being a master bedroom ensuite), living and dining hall, kitchen, and mini balcony.
To quickly sum it up for you,
Go for type B1 if:
You prefer to have your living and dining hall together rather than apart, and you prefer a more regular-shaped balcony.
Go for type B2 if:
You prefer a complete segregation of living, dining, and kitchen space. Do note that the dining hall is along the entrance area, separated by the kitchen space, followed by your living hall.
Go for type B3 if:
You prefer a seamless one-sided open kitchen space that integrates with a good-sized dining corner, more wardrobe spaces in your master bedroom, with the master bathroom door facing away from bed. This layout is great for those who value more bedroom space.
3-Bedroom
There is only one type of layout available for the 3-bedroom units, which is the type C1 standing at 753 sqft. Despite its compact size, the unit features a highly efficient layout, with minimal walkways which reduces “wasted” spaces. The compact size would also allow buyers to keep their overall price quantum on a lower end versus those with larger floor plates.
What we like about this floor plan is that the balcony space is linked to both the living hall and kitchen, which allows homeowners who cook daily to easily ventilate the space, and enjoy an alfresco dining experience in the balcony space should they prefer. The 3 bedrooms are all tucked together with a segregation from the living and dining hall, allowing for a greater sense of privacy.
Price Analysis
Let us dive into the pricing comparison and what options are available to you as a buyer should you be considering a new project in District 9. Generally, you would have two main options: 1) Recently TOP-ed projects (already built, brand new condition, buying from a current owner) or 2) New Launch projects (to be built, brand new condition, buying from developer directly).
The below table shows the estimated sale prices of Hill House versus recently/upcoming TOP projects in the area:
1) Kopar @ Newton, 99-year leasehold, 378 units, Estimated TOP December 2023
2) Haus on Handy, 99-year leasehold, 188 units, Estimated TOP 2023
3) Cairnhill 16, Freehold, 39 units, Estimated TOP 2023
4) The Avenir, Freehold, 376 units, Estimated TOP 2023
5) The Iveria, Freehold, 51 units, Estimated TOP 2024
Very quickly from the table, you would notice that this season presents CCR buyers, specifically District 9 buyers, with an excellent opportunity to enter into a brand new launch with little pricing disparity with the TOP projects. Notably, 99-year leasehold TOP projects in the area are also inching closer to the new launch prices of Hill House, which is a 999-year leasehold project comparable to freehold status.
Nonetheless, we do note that the TOP projects above generally have larger floor plate sizes in each unit type, contributing to the larger overall quantum as well. If you are looking for bigger home sizes, with a brand new condition for your own stay, the TOP projects would be a great consideration. On the other hand, if you are on the lookout for an attractive entry quantum and a brand new project, Hill House would present itself as an excellent option, for both investors and own stay buyers.
Price Comparison of New Launches in District 9
There are 4 main new launches in District 9 in recent years, namely:
1) Hill House, 999 years, 72 Units, Est TOP 2027
2) Orchard Sophia, Freehold, 78 Units, Est TOP 2027
3) Klimt Cairnhill, Freehold, 138 units, Est TOP 2025
4) Sophia Regency, Freehold, 38 units, Est TOP 2025
Let us have a quick comparison on the available new launches.
Orchard Sophia and Sophia Regency are both freehold new launches with different floor plate sizes catering to different groups of buyers. Notably, Orchard Sophia offers rather attractive entry prices in the prime District 9, both in quantum and PSF outlook, while Hill House offers a wider range of unit mix that some of the other projects do not offer, allowing buyers to have more options based on their personal needs and budgets.
The key reasons why Orchard Sophia is able to enjoy more palatable entry prices might be due to its location and facilities provided. For example, Orchard Sophia and Sophia Regency would be catered towards homeowners who do not need many facilities as they come with rather basic facilities due to the project size. On the other hand, Hill House, despite its low density and project size, has been thoughtfully designed with more premium facilities across three levels of space in mind for its residents to enjoy.
Orchard Sophia and Sophia Regency are within walking distance of Dhoby Ghaut MRT and Plaza Singapura shopping mall, providing convenience for residents. However, as they are located up in Sophia Hill, it might not be the most convenient for residents who do not drive. Hence, for those who prefer to be within a shorter walking distance to public transportation nodes, Hill House might be a better option.
Klimt at Cairnhill is positioned as one of the ultra luxurious projects in Singapore, hence its premium designs and larger floor plates would naturally come with a much higher price premium. This would be catered towards homebuyers seeking for bigger home sizes and prestige.
When you enter into a new launch project, you will also be enjoying the first mover advantage in the sense that you get to enjoy everything brand new. A brand new home to live in with defects liability period, saving on renovation costings, brand new premium facilities to enjoy, which also means you do not have to worry about the project maintenance, and you also get to enjoy being one of the newest project in the vicinity, catering to a buyer audience who are looking for newer projects should you be interested to sell off your home.
Growth Potential
District 9 is mostly developed, with tons of existing amenities and residential projects, which is why it is coveted by both locals and expatriates, due to the convenience and prestige that comes with living in the area.
In the immediate vicinity, there are two plots that have been earmarked as a reserve site in the latest URA Master Plan. One right beside Dimensions International College, and The Herencia. When these plots are earmarked as reserve sites, it means that there is no confirmation of the zoning and land usage at present. However, any future transformations will be generally beneficial for the residents of River Valley, whether it is retail, commercial, or residential. If the land usage is retail, it will provide added amenities in the area, if it is commercial, new office spaces will boost the rental demand in the area, and if it is a residential project, new pricing benchmarks will be set in the area and allow the resale market to follow suit.
While we look forward to the transformations in the area, there is no doubt the majority of the local and expat community are already highly familiar with District 9 and regard this area as one of the most coveted neighbourhoods to live in.
Closing Thoughts
In summary, Hill House would be the project to consider if you are after a boutique project that is still able to offer an array of premium facilities, located on a little uphill for added privacy and serenity, yet well connected to District 9 in the heart of the River Valley area where there has been a lack of brand new launches.
Hill House is able to offer a rather attractive entry price considering it is in the CCR by offering compact yet efficient layouts that are suited for investors, singles, and small families. The closing pricing disparity of newly TOP projects to the new launches in the area also presents a growth opportunity.
In essence, Hill House presents a compelling opportunity for buyers to enjoy the coveted District 9 address while blending natural beauty, convenience, quality, and value in one of Singapore’s most
sought-after districts.
Let’s get in touch
If you’re considering buying, selling, or renting a unit and are uncertain about its implications on your property journey and portfolio, please reach out to us here. We would be delighted to help with any market and financial assessments related to your property, or offer a second opinion.
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