HILLCREST ARCADIA (DISTRICT 11)

Blk 251, 253, 255, 257, 259, 261, 263 Arcadia Road.

Hillcrest Arcadia - The Self-Sufficient Condo

• Consist of mix of town-houses, low-rise & high-rise buildings
  (up to 14 storey)
• Built in 1980
• Total 272 Units
• Huge plot of Land (LH)
• The only condo with high-rise buildings within the Hillcrest/Watten landed cluster
• Near Good Schools
  • Raffles Girls' Primary RGPS (0.6km)
  • Nanyang Girls Sch (0.9km)
  • Nanyang Primary (1.5km)
  • Hwa Chong Institution
  • National JC
  • German School (Swiss Club area)

Nearest MRT Stations:

• Botanic Garden MRT Station- 1.51 km
• Farrer Road MRT (EW21) - 1.96 km
• Future MRT (near Hwa Chong)

Nearest Amenities:

• Arcadia Restaurant (just besides the Guard House)
• Eatery / Restaurants at Greenwood Ave (8mins' walk)
• New Cold-Storage Super-Market at Greenwood Ave too.

Click here to View Larger Map (This is a live interactive map. You can click and drag around to pan.)

Hillcrest Arcadia is situated at the end of Arcadia Road, which means direct access to PIE to get to any parts of Singapore easily. Residents enter Arcadia Rd via the Adam Rd, which is off Dunearn Road. To get to City, Residents can enter PIE and exit Eng Neo Ave to return back to Dunearn Rd easily, or simply drive along up along Lonnie Road to reach Novena MRT in about 5-7mins' drive. What makes HILLCREST ARCADIA so valuable is that it is located within the clusters of landed houses, and it is the only condo there with high-rise buildings for views-lovers.

RGS Primary (directly besides National JC, and opposite of Hwa Chong Institute) is only 0.6km away, which means children of Residents here get the first entry priority (within 1km), while Nanyang Primary at 1.5km is within 2nd band of priority.. German School at Swiss Club area is just a short 5mins drive away from Hillcrest Arcadia too! Getting to Holland Village, Demsey Rd and Orchard is an easy 10mins drive via Farrer Road then to Holland Road/Tanglin Road.

In fact, a new MRT station is expected near Hwa Chong (opposite of RGS Primary), which is part of the new Downtown Line. Read more about this HERE. What this means is that an MRT station will be up likely within walking distance (See below for details).

The NEW Downtown MRT line (DTL), shown above in brown line, is a new line starting from Bt Panjang, travelling along Upp. Bt Timah towards Dunearn Rd while cutting along the Bukit Timah area (passing many good and prestigious schools along the way) bringing Hillcrest Arcadia residents all the way down to the City, passing stations at China Town, Bugis Junction, BayFront near Marina Bay IR, before travelling EAST-wards for easy change to Changi Airport.
Read about DTL in LTA's Press Release (Apr 2007).

TIPS: The best time to buy is when the MRT is still NOT ready yet!

Condo on Huge Land with only 272 units

As observed by the above Satellite image of the over-all condo land (marked by blue out-line), Hillcrest Arcadia, with just 272 units, is sitting on a relatively big plot of land (appx 41078.2sqm at plot-ratio 1.6), as evident by the relative size of the many small landed houses beside, one can immediately appreciate the huge potential, especially from the fact that it seems to be the only condo around there that have high-rise buildings (up to 14 floor). Notice the two tennis court and huge swimming pool besides the club-house.

TIPS: The best time to buy enbloc-potential condo is BEFORE the enbloc signature-gathering started again, for once the signature-gathering starts, most sellers will withhold and the only ones left selling will insist on huge premium (way above bank value). And since no matter which stage is the enbloc discussion, no one can be sure the enbloc will finally succeed, as even confirmed ones can fail (recall Horizon Towers). When enbloc fails, those who bought at premium during the 'confirmed' time will be stuck at high price. So be a smarter buyer, act now to avoid premium, while you can still secure a unit here at close to bank value (ie. fair value = lower risk).

A Little-known SECRET of Hillcrest Arcadia:

Click here to see the Live STREET-VIEW of this Road.

Most people didn't know this, but Residents here know. There's a backgate in Hillcrest Arcadia that allows a short-cut access directly to Hillcrest Road (near No.181 Hillcrest Road), which allows you to walk to the Greenwood Ave within 8mins for shops and even newly opened super-market (Cold Storage). Then another 2mins' stroll and you'll reach RGS Primary, where main road Dunearn Rd is. Hwa Chong is just opposite side of the road (where the new MRT will be expected).

Check out journery in/out of Hillcrest Arcadia, click here to see the WALK-THRU...

Full Condo Facilities makes this a self-sufficient condo:

• Deep Swimming Pool (3.1m)
• Children Pool
• Gym (Brand New Equipment for 2010)
• BBQ
• Playground
• Tennis Court x 2
• Squash Court x 2
• Basket-Ball Court
• Ballroom-sized Junction Room
  ( Yoga Lessons avail)
• Function Room 2 - with Table Tennis
• Post-Office
• Laundry Shop
• Mini-Mart

Open to Public:

• Arcadia Restaurant.

WHY IS THIS A SUPERB INVESTMENT ***?

This condo was attempted ENBLOC (aka 'collective sale') 2 years ago. According to owners here, they were offered close to $1520psf. If that's true, then it may mean we are still at least 40% below last enbloc discussion psf. At that time, like most owners in the peak times, nobody believe the price will drop so much. Now, their regret is your opportunity!

As reported by Straits Times today (15 July 2010) - "The number of collective sales is tipped to rise in the coming months as developers replenish land banks..."

Think about it. New launches since 2009 have been selling like hot cakes, this means developers' inventories have been decreasing significantly, so are their land-banks. A listed property developer who is low on land-banks usually have negative effects on its STI Stock Price, as many share-investors read this as the developer not having any new projects to sell in the near future, ie no future profit/growth!

As such, developer will seek to ensure their land-banks levels are sufficiently healthy. Yes, it is true our government been releasing new lands to cool land demands. But think again, these government lands are mainly in out-skirt or less-ideal locations. Ask yourself, as an investor, would you invest in out-skirt condo (as released by government such as in Sembawang, Seletar, Punggol, BoonLay, etc) or rather in prime districts like D9, 10,11?

Yet, the only way a developer can get good land at good location (such as D9,10,11) is to find enbloc sites, as these are usually situated in prime locations that's already matured with ready demands (ie lower risk for developer). Like a smart investor, developer will prefer to look for one in prime districts that's big in plot size, near good schools, ability to build high up for extra premiums, near future mrt, shops, etc.

Being one of the largest plot of land around here with high-rise buildings, and only 0.6km from good schools like RGS Pri, National JC, HwaChong and near German School, and even the future MRT, Hillcrest Arcadia's land will become very attractive for developers looking for big land at affordable price with such strong profit potential!

TIP: The best time to invest in enbloc-potential condo is BEFORE the enbloc-boom is here, waiting for the news to finally report that the boom is here will cost you dearly! Buy a good facing unit that you know will be easy to rent out in the event Enbloc take longer to materialise!

UPDATE: As reported Straits Times few months later (8 Nov 2010) - "The measures to cool the property boom have taken some of the heat out of the enbloc market but there is still plenty of interest, say industry experts."