Wednesday, December 9, 2009

CYAN (Review)

District: 9
Location: Bukit Timah
Address: 6 & 8 Keng Chin Road
Developer: Far East Organization
Tenure: Freehold


The wife and I have actually seen this project about a month back when it was first launched. But since one of our very dear friend (you know who you are) has specially requested that we blog about this project next, I decided to make the trip down to the sales gallery at lunch today for a refresher.

CYAN is located along Bukit Timah Road, just after Honolulu Towers if you are driving up from Newton Circles. The sales gallery is located on the actual site itself. You enter via Keng Chin Road, which is also where the main entrance of CYAN will be. This freehold project, with expected TOP in 2013, actually resides on a very big piece of land – 162,000 sq ft to be exact – and supposedly is one of the largest residential sites around the area.

CYAN consists of two 24-storey towers (North and South), and offers either a Botanic Gardens or MacRitchie Reservoir view to some of the 278 apartment units. The developer has so far only released 150 units for sale. These consist of 1, 2 and 3-bedroom units from the 2nd – 12th floors located at both towers. The higher floor units, together with the 4-bedders and penthouses will only be released for sale next year. The average sizes of the apartments are
  • 1-Bedroom: 500 sq ft 
  • 2-Bedroom: 980 - 1,100 sq ft
  • 3-Bedroom: 1,422 – 1,528 sq ft 
  • 2-Bedroom Loft: 1,300 sq ft 
A total of 110 units are sold to date – these include all the 1-bedroom and many 2-bedder units.

Other than the prime location, CYAN is also within 1-km of supposed “good” primary schools like ACS and SCGS. It is also within 600 metres (according to the sales person) from the upcoming Stevens MRT station. Given that the two towers only takes up about 18% of the total land area, you can expect a lot of greenery and facilities galore. This includes standard fares like children playground, tennis courts (2), gym and a number of different “themed” swimming pools (hot, spa, dip, and even an aqua gym). But the following features stand out:

• 50m lap pool with 13 lanes.

• Rainforest & Pool bungalows – these replace the standard function rooms, and come with kitchen facilities.

• 2 Spa Suites – apparently there will be massage facilities available, and you can host spa parties using the Suites’ kitchen facilities and lounge decks.

• Sky terraces on each tower (#19 in North and #20 in South) with sky villas/terraces and hydro massage dip pools.

• 45m ingress between the North Tower and Bukit Timah road – this provides ample insulation from the traffic noises along this busy road.

The apartments are build elevated – the lowest (2nd) floor apartments are 12.6m from the ground. The carpark is underground (I was assured that Keng Chin Road is outside the flood prone areas of Bukit Timah) with one carpark lot allocated per unit for the 1 to 3-bedders. The 4-bedroom units get 2 carpark lots while the penthouse folks have 3 carpark lots. In addition, there are 10 visitor’s lots for those with friends.

There are 3 types of showflat on display:

2-Bedroom unit: This comes with 3m ceiling height, both wet/dry kitchen, large marble slab flooring in the living room, rain shower over a sunken bath in the master bedroom and Hansgrohe bathroom fittings. The developer has also thrown in almost 30K of kitchen appliances from Kuppersbush and Bosch.

3-Bedroom unit: Everything you find in the 2-bedder, plus separate shower cubicle and long bath in the master bedroom, natural marble for the living room floor and walls, laundry/drying area with washing sink separate from the kitchen area (this is also where the utility room/bomb shelter and the maid’s toilet are located). The 3-bedders are served by 2 sets of elevators – the main lift and a private lift that opens into the unit’s balcony or foyer, depending on the unit configuration/size.

2-Bedroom Loft: This comes with 6m high ceiling in the living room area, plus most of everything you find in the normal 2-bedroom unit. Other than the “cool” factor, it is actually not a good buy investment-wise – you have to pay for the entire loft area, half of which is basically the empty space on top of your head in the living room. This may explain why none of the loft unit is sold so far.

Before I turn this blog into a book, let me quickly get to the likes/dislikes. I will only focus on the 3-bedroom unit.

What we like:

• The regular layout, with good sized bedrooms tucked neatly away from the living room/kitchen area. The master bedroom is especially spacious.

• Usable balcony space – ample space for a 6 or even 8-seater dining table.

• Separate laundry/drying area that allows manual drying of clothes. If you have a maid, the utility room/toilet is located at the drying area so both your family and maid can have some privacy from each other.

• The quality of fittings (bathroom, wardrobe, kitchen appliances) provided.

What we dislike:

• The living room is rather small – this is understandable as you have to put in 3 good sized bedrooms, a balcony that is almost 100 sq ft and both dry/wet kitchens. So forget about that big sofa set and 8-seater dinning table if you do not intend to move the dining area to the balcony.

• While the natural marble slabs on the living room floor and walls do look elegant, maintenance may be a problem. As natural marble tends to be more porous (you can actually see the crevices on them), chances of moisture being absorbed into the marble is much higher (according to the expert, aka the wife). It can be a nightmare if you spill red wine on the floor, e.g., as you may have to live with ugly red patches that are extremely difficult to remove. However, you can also opt for the normal marble slab as an option – developer will be happy to oblige as the natural marble actually cost more.

In summary, there is very little to dislike about CYAN, except maybe for the price. At an average price of $2,140psf ($1,926 after 10% discount), a 3-bedder 1,442 sq ft unit on the 8th floor of the North Tower will cost you about $2.77 million after discount. But then again, this is Bukit Timah (District 9) we are talking about here. The monthly maintenance for a 3-bedroom unit (7 shares @ $55/share) is $385.

And if it is any incentive, you may just find yourself living in high society @CYAN, as I was told that several local celebrities and diplomats have bought units here. Expectation about price upside is also very high – the marketing agent believes that the 4-bedroom & Penthouses, when they are launched next year, will be above $2,500/sq ft.

But frankly, I cannot imagine myself paying almost 3 million for a 1,400+ sq ft condo unit, irrespective of location. I can buy myself a 5- bedroom 2,900 sq ft cluster house unit at Greenwood Avenue (still Bukit Timah… just further down) for that kind of money.

Photos of CYAN can be found here:     http://www.fareast.com.sg/FEOCorp.Web/index.aspx?page=home-prop-info&prop=182

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