Quite a while back, a reader asked for a tour of the Hillcrest area so today we’re headed to the Hillcrest and Greenwood estate for a look. It is part of a well-connected landed enclave between Dunearn Road, Eng Neo Avenue, Adam Road, and the PIE. (You can drive in via Dunearn Road or Eng Neo but not directly from Adam Road or the PIE.)
The highlight of the estate, besides the proximity to Nanyang Primary (not within 1 km of many of the houses in the area), Nanyang Girls High, RGPS, Hwa Chung, and NJC is the row of shophouses at Greenwood, famous for Greenwood Fish Cafe, Lana Cake, and other eateries, so let’s start our walkabout there.
There are 27 shophouses zoned for commercial use within this area and, if you’re thinking of branching out from residential properties, there are freehold commercial units along Greenwood Avenue for sale too, such as this $16 million F&B unit which was listed in 2022. This leaves me wondering how much rent the landlord has to charge to make the price worth it!! According to CBRE, the URA is no longer approving new F&Bs in the area so these are relatively rare.
There’s also a pet shop, Fair Price Express, Ka-Soh, Cold Storage, laundry, Nami Korean grill, antique shop, Pepperoni’s Pizza, and Baker and Cook in the area, so residents are pretty well-catered to. Personally, I would be very happy to have all these eateries within walking distance of my home!The area has a lovely residential/village vibe and I saw a relatively large number of people cycling around the estate. (You do get cars driving through the estate but I’m guessing it’s mainly residents as there are few enough that people cycle around.)Ah, spot another cyclist in the distance!
The restaurants and shops are separated from the houses by 2 small roads. The area can get pretty busy in the evenings so I wonder if the noise does spill over. Another thing to note is that parking is relatively limited and the shophouses are famous enough that people do drive to the area for meals, so many visitors do park outside the houses during peak hours, which can be rather annoying if you’re lucky enough to live here! (When I come here for dinner, I always have to drive pretty deep in to find a spot to park.)
Taking a photo of the houses across the road from outside the shops so you can judge the distance for yourself. This part of the estate is mainly semi-Ds.I guess the restaurants are aware of the parking issue too, as this restaurant offers complimentary valet!The parking issue doesn’t detract from the appeal of the estate though as properties here still command very high prices (and can sell, as the “Sold” sign in the background shows!)
Note: at the time of writing, a terrace house was asking for $7.8 million, an old semi-D for $8m, with prices going up to $17m. If you’re really keen on the area but have a budget, there’s also the 103-year leasehold cluster development, The Greenwood, (prices about $4m at the time of writing) as well as a few old apartments.
Here’s what the entrance to Greenwood Mews looks like. According to a sign, you can still buy or lease properties directly from the developer, Far East.
It’s located almost right at the end of the estate – about a 20 minutes walk out to Dunearn Road so, ideally, you’ll have a car if you live here. It’s also pretty close to the PIE. I couldn’t hear the road noise from the entrance but I wonder if the units closer to the PIE do. When I visited Clementi Park and The Arcadia, both of which are near expressways, the sound of the traffic was incessant even from within the (expressway-facing) units.
I really liked the shutters/privacy screens on this property so took a photo to share with you!Walk a few steps past the shophouses and you reach Greendale Ave, where we can find some bigger properties located on higher ground. (If you have sharp eyes, you’ll have noted that the house on the right is undergoing construction, something we’ll see quite a bit of in this neighbourhood. There are quite a few older-style properties in the area too, so we’ll probably see continuous rebuilding in the future to maximise the plot ratios and whatnot.)
The higher ground is pretty handy as, according to a 2022 Straits Time article, PUB warns that the Hillcrest area can have a high flood risk when it rains heavily and the drainage level in the area reaches 100% (as it did in November 2022.) There was also a flash flood warning for the area in 2021, so it appears this wasn’t a one-off occurrence!
Another cute house I thought I’d share a photo of!I think this Is NJC Boarding School and not a condo if my map-reading skills prove accurate…
(RGPS, NJC, and NJC Boarding School are pretty much right next to the road Greenwood Avenue. In fact, the houses opposite the commercial units are pretty much sandwiched between the restaurants and RGPS so I would recommend viewing properties here during school time and dinner time if you’re noise sensitive.)
Looking into another side road on the right – you can see the land here is not flat as the houses on the right are again on higher ground.Walk down a bit more and you see this on the left. I wonder where it goes so I decide to take the path and see.You end up crossing a large drain.Ah, the path actually takes you to Oriole Crescent, which leads onto Ash Grove then Linden Drive. They say comparison is the thief of joy and, indeed, though the houses at Greenwood looked spacious earlier, the ones in this estate look even bigger!
Oh well, they’re not part of today’s walkabout (and probably out of the budget of 99.99% of Singaporeans) so I’ll head back!
Back at Greenwood. As you can see, although I mentioned that parking may be an issue during peak hours, it was not a problem when I visited in the early evening (about 5 pm) and the roads were relatively empty and easy to drive through.More construction. I also think it’s interesting how this house is located on a slope (we can see how the hedge is not a perfect rectangle.) I wonder if they had to excavate part of the ground to build it.There is also a decent-width pavement here for those who like to take strolls around their neighbourhoods. (Some estates don’t have any pavements for pedestrians and you need to share the road with the cars, which can be a headache for both pedestrians and drivers!)Heading deeper in – as you can see, yet more construction on my right and, as it’s a dotted white line, both your visitors and visitors to the Greenwood eateries can park right outside the houses.There are also several cul-de-sacs off the main road where one can park.Ah the road to the left, connecting Greenwood Avenue and Oriole Crescent is called Sunset Avenue – not to be confused with the other Sunset area in D21 near Clementi Park Condo (Sunset Way, Sunset Drive, etc.)
As you can see, the road to the left here goes upslope too, and, several photos ago, we saw that the roads to the right also incline upwards, so it seems that Greenwood Avenue (or at least parts of it) is located at the bottom of a shallow valley.
Here’s a better photo if you’re wondering how steep the incline is!Finally, we see some terrace houses! They were only detached houses and semi-Ds previously. Even though this is the higher density bit (terrace vs detached/semi-Ds), the roads were still very clear and I didn’t experience the cluttered parking/congestion issues that I’ve seen at other terrace housing estates.Although the way this car is parked is certainly interesting! (Or should we say considerate (assuming it’s the car of the house owner/guest, that is)? As it’s parked in such a way that it doesn’t obstruct the flow of traffic at all, even though, legally, it’s allowed to park on the road properly.More terrace houses.
Before the tour, I was thinking it would be mostly bigger houses, given the exclusivity of the area but, actually, I would say at least a quarter of the estate is terrace units! (And without the congestion problems I’ve seen at other terraced estates. Yes, there are probably fewer parked cars because I went about 5 pm when many people are at work. However, I’ve been to other terrace estates during working hours too, and found the area so full of parked cars that I could barely drive through!)
We reach Greenwood Crescent, where you can find more terrace houses as well as a large playground.It’s a good size but not as impressive as the ones at Jurong Park or Greenleaf. (No basketball or badminton courts here!) Having said that, the plot sizes here are large enough that I passed several houses with make-shift basketball hoops in their yards.There are houses bordering the playground which is just outside the picture, on the left. At 5 pm, there was no one using the playground so the area was pretty quiet.As you can see, there is no lack of choice if you want a terrace unit here (although the prices aren’t much too different from semi-Ds. At the time of writing, a corner terrace was asking $7.8m- $8m whilst semi-Ds started from $8m for old units.)
After the playground is The Greenwood and Greenwood Mews, 2 leasehold cluster housing developments. We take the road in between, Greenwood Lane, to loop back around the playground and head back to the commercial shophouses. (Greenwood Avenue leads on to Greenwood Lane then Greenwood Terrace and then on to Greenmead Avenue before reaching the shophouses again, forming pretty much a closed loop, with several streets located off these 3 main roads.)
Bye bye terrace houses – Greenmead Park has more spacious properties.To the left is Greenpark Avenue, a road that leads onto Hillcrest Road and then joins Greenmead Avenue again, when we’re nearer the commercial shophouses (i.e. the road forms a closed loop)
As you can see, Greenpark Avenue looks really lush and green as we’re looking toward the small green plot near Arcadia Road and the PIE. (Arcadia Road is the road parallel to Greenpark Avenue/Hillcrest Road, but there is no vehicular access between the 2. There is a small footpath that connects the 2 roads though, making it very easy for residents of The Arcadia and Arcadia Hillcrest to get to Greenwood. Residents of Greenwood/Hillcrest may also want to head over the Arcadia Hillcrest as there’s a small Chinese eatery and deli there.)
This is the path I mentioned – it may look secluded and “scary” but it’s actually a very short walk.
Anyway, I’m going to continue going down Greenmead Avenue and not detour off Greenpark Avenue for now.
Heading back down Greenmead. As highlighted previously, we’re back to semi-Ds here.Quite a few of the houses along the left side of Greenmead Avenue are situated beautifully. They’re perched on higher ground and have unblocked views!As this photo shows, most of the properties here have not been rebuilt and are still 2 stories so they can potentially be expanded by building higher. As we head closer to the shophouses, we see Arcadia condo in the background, so the view here isn’t quite as unblocked. Having said that, Arcadia is still far enough away that you won’t feel hemmed in.
As mentioned before, there are a few condo developments within the neighbourhood but those are (currently) mostly low-density, so the neighbourhood doesn’t feel congested. In fact, quite a few developments within the area make it to the annual lists of “most likely to en-bloc!”
This looks interesting. Let’s see where it leads!Quite a steep flight of stairs! Do you see what I mean about Greenmead Avenue being on higher ground? (That’s Hillcrest Road below us.)Houses line both sides of the stairs.Some have backdoors leading out towards the steps!
Side note: if you’re confused and need help locating where we are, here’s a map of the area. We’re on the dotted line connecting Greenmead Avenue and Hillcrest Road.
This is what we see when we reach the bottom. If I turn left ahead, I’ll reach Greenpark Avenue and the path that brings us to Arcadia Road (see photo below for the view to the left.)More choices for terrace units here, although I personally prefer the ones at Greenwood as these have a high rise looming right behind them and are located on lower ground.Close-up of the house so you can judge the proximity to the condos yourself.Remember what I said about rebuilding/plot ratio maximisation? Here’s an example for you – the new houses look like they’re twice the size of the older ones!See what I mean about the leisurely, residential feel of the neighbourhood?Walking back to the shophouses, part of the road slopes gently upwards. On our left, we see another playground, the Watten Heights Playground (this road leads us to Watten estate.) That’s great for residents of Hillcrest Road as you don’t have to brave the steep steps to reach Greenwood Crescent playground, which we saw previously!And this brings us back to the shophouses (the shorter row in the background of the photo), where we started our journey!Remember I mentioned limited parking? The spaces on the right are pretty much all the designated parking spaces the shophouses have! Barely enough for one restaurant let alone so many!Take this road, in front of the shophouses, and we will see NJC and RGPS. (Literally a stone’s throw from the shophouses!)The blue building on the left is RGPS and this road here brings us to NJC!
We’ve now reached the end of today’s tour. How did you find the area? I’ve been here many times but never realised that there are so many small connecting paths between the roads, so that was a nice surprise. Being located in Bukit Timah, I’m sure the area needs no introduction but some of the amenities in the area are Green Fairways golf course (10 min drive), The Grandstand, Swiss Club, Hollandse Club, Coronation Shopping Plaza, Guthrie House and more.
Tan Kah Kee MRT also makes the area more accessible for those without a car. I’m (sadly) old enough that I remember when Tan Kah Kee MRT was built and my then-boss, who has a property here, celebrated how much more easily she could commute to work! The MRT is a 10-minute walk from the Greenwood shophouses and you can obviously find many buses plying Dunearn Road. (No bus stops within the estate, unlike Opera Estate.)
Bye for now and see you again next week!
P.S. If you’re like me, this area is obviously out of your budget, so don’t feel shy to let me know if there are other areas you want tours of! (I’m slowly making my way down the list of requests!)
TJ’s interest in property was sparked after returning from the UK- where balconies are not counted in one’s square footage!- and finding that the Singapore property had totally changed in the 7 years she was away. When not reading and watching articles & videos about property, she is busy cooking and baking for friends, family & her blog Greedygirlgourmet
TJ
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